New Belgium Lips of Faith (Jonnys Voodoo Ale)

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

On tap at the brewery. Pours clear, golden yellow, lightly hazed and glassy. Almond frosting, cotton candy, and banana in the sticky aroma, chased with an appropriately dry presence of green bitterness to bring it back somewhat. Bubblegum, honey, and waffle dough with powdered sugar in the flavor; lots of jointly tart and sweet fruit flavors of pear and apple. Palate is lightly syrupy and surprisingly dense; very sweet and prickly. Finishes with dried out mate tea and bitter herb sensation; some acidity, and overall dominantly sweet, as is the base tripel.

Growler courtesy of Dragonstout. This one poured a cloudy golden color with a thin white head. The aroma was of bananas, clove, sweet malts, and spices. The flavor was similar with a distinct taste coming through probably the yerba mate. A tiny bit of hops comes on the back end as well. This one is medium bodied with a good amount of carbonation and had a spicy finish to it. Pretty interesting take on the style.

Sampled from growler courtesy DragonStout. Pours a clear straw color with very little head. Spicy Belgian aroma, golden raisins, grapeskins, some phenols. Bubbly carbonation. Thin body for a tripel. Interesting spice mix here, there’s something in there that gives it a bit of a mild fresh ginger-like zing. Some white pepper tastes also. Weird in a good way.

Growler, courtesy DragonStout. Pours a clear, light golden body. Skinny lines of lacing mark the glass. Aromas of bubblegum, banana, clove, and Materva (a Cuban Yerba Mate soda) were very fresh and inviting, yet somewhat strange. Flavors followed down that same path, with the Yerba Mate becoming more and more obvious. The bubblegum is slightly minty, and it gets annoying pretty quickly. A mild hoppiness emerges on the finish. Medium bodied, this one feels slightly prickly in the mouth. I concur with PhillyBeer2112’s observation on the empty glass.....it did indeed smell just like gingersnap cookies. Strange.

Thanx to BlackForestCo for sending this my way.Poured from a growler.The poured with carbonation and was still fresh.Since i just had the regular tripple, this beer definately was the tripple base.Bananas, clove and spice on the nose.The flavor was the same as the trippel but had a little more spice and hop character to it.The mouthfeel was medium and the finish was refreshing.

Growler. Bright gold, good carbonation still with a foamy head, yet it faded somewhat fast. Aroma of bananas, bubblegum, hints of phenolic clove, but also a weird vegetal herbal quality, reminiscent of cassis - it must be the yerba mate? Those same notes are in the flavor too. And then wham - the finish is long and very bitter, far more hoppy than I’d expect in a tripel and it seems to clash some. Alcoholic strength picks up near the end. Not as good as their regular tripel. A weird afterthought - the empty glass smelled just like ginger cookies.

On tap at NB. Paired side to side with the regular Trippel. Pours a very clear pale yellow golden with barely a head. Very minimal aroma of belgian candy sugar, wheat, and sweet malts. Flavor is very sweet, with banana being an interesting characteristic within the very slight Earthiness taste. Hops come in through the end just like their regular Trippel. Smooth, not very carbonated body, fairly light, especially for a supposed 8.5%. Interesting concept...not bad, but nothing to flip over.

Draught. Head is mostly diminishing. Body is medium yellow. Aroma is lightly to moderately malty (toasted grain, cookie), lightly yeasty (cobwebs), with notes of banana/gum, clove, and candy sugar. Flavor is moderately to heavily sweet, lightly acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is lightly to moderately sweet, lightly acidic, lightly to moderately bitter. Medium body, watery texture, lively carbonation, lightly to moderately alcoholic. Relatively pleasant strong golden Belgian brew, but too sweet for my liking.