Brew Review - NB Lips of Faith La Folie

Vinegar, spoiled yogurt, bitter and sour…not exactly adjectives that elicit a positive response when describing a beer’s smell and taste. In fact, in almost every case those are the exact adjectives that beer brewers try to avoid at all costs. But just as music evolved and expanded from its symphonic beginnings, so too has beer and its many brewers chosen to expand their horizons and push the envelopes of what is “cool” and even drinkable – Hipster/Indie music please meet Sour Ales.

Saying that Sour Ales have been invented in the last few years would be inaccurate and disingenuous as Flemish Red and Brown ales have existed for years in Belgium. However, the American beer drinker’s desire to willingly consume these beers has increased dramatically as of late, and New Belgium’s Lips of Faith La Folie offering is a direct result of that desire.

Sour Ales are brewed using bacteria strains called Lactobacillus and Pediococcus and the Brettanomyces yeast strain. These strains cause acidic and sour flavors to be present in the beer and give it its barely tolerable smell and taste. To put this beer style in perspective, the very smells and tastes that brewers of most other beer styles try to avoid are the same that lead purveyors of this style to surrender $7-8 dollas to drink willingly.

Suggesting that I enjoyed this beer at first smell and taste would net me the “Wayne Campbell shaaa, right” award (if such an awesome award existed) - It was bitter, extremely sour and smelled like a cross between bad yogurt and something else where the “good” bacteria had crossed over to the dark side. If I’m not exactly talking up this beer it’s for a reason. The smell and taste were so horrifyingly shocking that it led to the following exchange with my fiancé:

Me: “This smells like baby diapers and bad yogurt.”
Beautiful: “Really? Sounds delicious…drink up beer blog man.”
Me: “I really don’t think I can drink it – I’m not even kidding. Maybe if I let it fester for awhile longer I’ll decide I REALLY want it.”
Beautiful: “Man up.”

Done and done. After taking her advice and a beating to my always fragile manhood, I continued to sip and became surprised as I watched its rating go slowly up and up (see post-freshman year college GPA). Eventually, it gained “lemon” status as something that you never quite love to eat/drink, but you can tolerate and maybe even crave occasionally.

I originally had zero idea where to go with this one musically – Aqua – "Barbie Girl” because I hated it so much? As I hated the beer less and less, a trio of songs popped into my head that all had a commonality to them – they were all definitely not mainstream and all took a few listens to fully appreciate:

Of Montreal – “Gronlandic Edit”
Neon Indian (who you might see show up in another review) – “Deadbeat Summer”
Gorillaz – “Stylo”

Known for their penchant of inventing new genres of music, Gorillaz and its first single from its new “Plastic Beach” album became the pairing of choice. The song’s repetitive synthesizer-driven beat, Damon Albarn’s original voice and lyrics, and the randomness of Bobby Womack and Mos Def, all supported a beer that was random, risky and “new”, originally grating, and eventually even enjoyable (the song more than the beer).

Serving Type: 22 oz bottle
Glassware: Smokestack Series goblet
Color (hue and head): light brown, no head
Clarity: opaque
Aroma: heavy heavy citrus notes, "clean" smell, herbal
Taste: very sour and bitter, bad lemon
Grade: 82 (B-)
Musical pairing: Not mainstream, different, risky music that takes a few listens to get used to…Gorillaz – "Stylo”
Surroundings: At home, about to watch an overpriced movie on Time Warner On Demand