New Belgium Lips of Faith (Dunkleweisse 30°)

Brewed by New Belgium Brewing Company
Style: Dunkelweizen
Fort Collins, Colorado USA

On tap at stone. Pours a dark brown color, small of-white head. Sweet and malty, with spice, toffee, hints of dark fruit, and banana. Pretty good.

On tap @ 1702 a couple months ago - Pours a hazy brown color with a small off white head. Nice layers of lacing is let behind as the beer is drank down. Aroma and flavor is banana, light yeast and spice, and some toasted malt. Medium body. A nice beer.

On tap at Stone. Pours a murky dark brown with no head but an off white film. Aroma is very spicy with clove, banana, and dark sugars. Some bubblegum in there too. Flavor is pretty sweet with bubblegum again and clove, brown sugar and caramel, bread and a bit tart. Palate is big and sticky, almost cloying but not too bad. carbonation is low.

Tap @ Stone today. Pours deep brown muddy looking with a tan ring. Nose is sweet and spiced. Taste is sweet, spiced, with lots of flavor, cinnamon, great taste, lots of spice, too much spice for me. With a good punch of pumpkin in here as well it feels like a cheaper imitation of 2008 Ichabod from Alpine.

Sampled at 1702, Tucson, February 2009
This beer arrives from the tap a fairly dark color (even for a Dunkel Weizen), it is a bit hazy and has a murky brown color. The head is a pretty thin wisp that is a pale, tan color. The aroma has lots of bubblegum notes to it as well as some banana notes and a backdrop of clove. This smells like a hearty banana bread, and is quite nice. There is also a touch of tart, wheat aromatics here as well.

The flavor has a light tartness to it that is balanced by a chewy malt character that is sweet, but more in a bread / caramelized malt way than a simple sugar sweetness. This is nice and chewy, it is not quite light enough to be a session beer, but I would be happy to drink a couple of these in an afternoon. This is a great beer to pair with food as the mat keeps the beer going strong even with he savory soup I am enjoying right now. There is a nice toasted malt character here (not really roasted though) with lots of chewy, bread like notes. The traditional Weizen flavors of clove and banana are nicely noticeable and there is a bit of spicy pepper to this beer as well.

This is just a fantastic example of a Dunkel Weizen. This has easily exceeded my expectations of this beer and I will be happy to drink this a couple more times before it leaves my local.

Tap @ O’Brien’s. Pours a deep hazy brown with a 2 finger off white head. Nose was like banana pancakes.......seriously. Sweet with some clove spice and toffee. Flavor was like eating a loaf of banana bread, nice and sweet with a fruity/ sweet finish. Another great one from those guys that ride their bikes to work...haha.

Sampled at the 2009 AZ Strong Beer Fest on February 28th. Malt, banana, chocolate, yeast and spice are all there. A nice Dunkel.

On tap at Papago. Pours a dark shade of brown with a creamy off-white head. Overwrought with bananas and cloves in the nose. Tastes malty, with a watery plum mouthfeel and further notes of banana, baker’s cocoa, and wheat. Not my bag.