New Belgium Lips of Faith - Brett Beer
New Belgium Brewing and The Lost Abbey brewery from San Marcos, California have a shared passion for a variety of things, not the least of which is the wild Belgian yeast brettanomyces. So they decided to join forces and collaborate. Lost Abbey Collaboration is brewed simply with pale malts accompanied by Target, Centennial and Sorachi hops for a hint of citrus. Focusing on their mutual respect for the ingredient, the spotlight shines on the brettanomyces, where a full brett fermentation offers bold pineapple overtones and funky, sour edge. The beer is a shining, golden shade and is warming and dry. Lost Abbey Collaboration is available on draft and in 22-ounce bombers.
3.2
338 reviews
Fort Collins, United States
Community reviews
Pours a slightly cloudy yellow from the growler with thin white head that leaves moderate lace. Aroma is really bready biscuit, a hint of mushroom earthiness. Taste follows, biscuit on biscuit on grain. Meh.
Alright, supposed to be a BFD.
Pours a near crystal golden ale with dissipating white sheeting. Smells of manure, straw, mushroom, pear juice and unleaded (the good part) no indications of lemon for me. Wowza, sweet estery juice. Lots of sweet wheat character, yeast and saccharine like sweetness. Sooo sweet. Where did this even come from?! Hints of straw and yeast with a little lead character. Full bodied for the style with low carbonation. This beer is a disaster. I’m giving this an overall 1.0 despite any other ratings because the beer is composed poorly. Drain pour. What a disappointment for two renowned breweries.
Serving type: bottle
07-13-2012
Bomber into tulip. Pours a straw color with a lasting white head. Slight pineapple/grapefruit on the nose but at the forefront of the aroma here is puke. Like actual vomit. Luckily there’s none of that in the flavor. However, there isn’t much of anything in the flavor. It’s kind of vaguely saison-ish, with dusty grains and mild esters and a sort of soft tart body. Mineral water and dust in the finish, maybe a rubbery phenolic tinge. Tastes and feels dirty in the mouth.
Bottle, shared by Greg. Thanks? This was uniformly described as some variation on "pineapple and grapefruit left out in a garbage can on a hot summer day. Incidentally, the following day when I dropped my son off at daycare, I noted that the daycare diaper-change area instantly reminded me of this beer the next day. Truly awful.
Draft in shaker. Ugly, yeasty, translucent. Sour, fruity nose; lemony sour milk taste. Okay, but not interesting after the first few sips.
22 oz bottle, aged for approximately a year and a half- Pours slightly hazy golden with a thin white head and loads of carbonation bubbles. Aroma is white wine grapes, vinegar, floral and fruity. The taste is like a sauv blanc grape, very floral and somewhat fruity, dry finish. What is really disappointing is not getting much if any brett, no basement flavors or dusty old books or barnyard funk. Very disappointed.
Bottle @ home. Pours a golden color, looks like apple juice. Aroma is citrus, sweet, funk. Flavor is funky, sweet, tart, citrus. Not bad.
On tap: The aroma consists of Belgian yeast, citrus, and light lemon peel. It’s a transparent golden-orange with a small white head that quickly fades to a thin film outlined by a thin ring. The flavor starts with some Belgian yeast and some sweet honey notes. The finish has light-moderate citrus, light lemon peel, and a touch of lemon. It’s medium bodied with mild carbonation. Overall, a little too much on the sweet side for my preferences.
Bouteille de 22 oz partagée lors d’une dégustation Ratebeer Montréal. Arôme: Légère odeur de fruit et d’agrume. Apparence: La couleur est orangée voilée. Présence d’un mince col mousseux et d’une fine dentelle sur le verre. Saveur: Léger goût de citron et d’orange. Durée moyenne de l’arrière goût. Palette: Le corps est moyen. Faible effervescence en bouche. Arrière goût sucré. (Rating #5089)
Bottle at Brewdown. Pours cloudy gold with white head. Nose and taste of bready citrus, lemon candy and light wild yeast. Lighter medium body.
Bottle to stange glass
Brett, of course, pineapple, wheat, grape. Yellow with loads off small and medium particulates and a long lasting creamy white head. Mango, grape, and Brett.
Bottle - Passion fruit, dried pineapple and citrus. Cloudy yellow with a thin head. Dried fruits, citrus, Sorachi hops and little else except a bit of yeast. A very mellow understated beer, maybe to much. I expect bold flavors and great sourness from a Brett Beer.
This is the last note left in my text messages to myself. Huzzah!! Too bad the beer wasn’t worth celebrating. If you call a beer "Brett Beer" you should probably try and make the brett shine through a bit more. Pours pale amber. Scent is earthy and sweaty. Brett flavoring is weak. This beer is a mess. Draft - Brick Store Pub - Decatur, GA
22oz split with my wife
Served in a Southern Tier tulip
A - Pours a cloudy golden straw with 2 fingers of mounded bubbles. Lots of suspended specks.
S - Sweet pale malt, wheat, hay, vitamins, citrus fruit, dusty grains, slightly astringent alcohol.
T - Spicy yeast, bittering and floral hops upfront, tropical fruit, lemons, limes, very sweet malts, finishes peppery with a lemon citrus kick.
M - Full doughy body, bulky and smooth feel.
Well this wasn’t what I was expecting. The brett was there but very subtle. It was sweet with a semi-dry finish and a bulky mouthfeel. It had a rustic sense about it but was a little on the sweet side.
Serving type: bottle
01-12-2013
Appearance:
Unfiltered and cloudy with orange and yellow hues. A bubbly clumpy white collar fades into just a few spots of film.
Nose:
Mild overall for proclaiming to be a Brett beer. Faint dunk and musk in the middle. Biscuits and sourdough rolls. Old leather and chamois.
Palate:
Medium to medium-light weight and on the thin side which doesn’t help carry the already mild flavors. Cornbread with a slight sour twang. Soured lemons and mandarins. Soft wheat and sourdough in the middle. Ferns in the back.
Final Thoughts:
From first sniff to last quaff, I kept asking the beer “Where’s the Brett?” because I had trouble finding any. New Belgium’s Lips of Faith series usually produces more robust flavorful beers than this. Back to the brewing board maybe?
(An original written work by Beer Ambassador, LLC. Plagiarism is not tolerated.)
Bottle: golden color with a large white head. Lots of suspended particles. Nose is grainy, dusty, dirty florals/herbs, and yeast. Taste is more or less the same... gets this oddly medicinal note though. I didn’t find this to be offensive, but it wasn’t good either. Not much wild or sour comes through at all. Dissatisfaction with this installment in the LoF series.
Bottle shared by a friend. Chunky gold appearance with a medium white head. Malty and creamy nose with funky brett. Creamy flavor with a funky finish. Not bad by any means, but there’s just not much going on here.
Blonde voilée, peu mousseuse. Nez fruité avec des vapeurs d’alcool... à friction! En bouche, c’est très sucré avec un fond d’alcool. Le corps est intense, l’acidité vient tardivement l’amincir. Je n’ai jamais rien goûté de tel... mais je ne sais pas si c’est positif.
Orangish yellow pour with a small head and lots of small floating sediment. Aroma was malt, citrus, belgian yeast and some brett. Taste was consistent with aroma, much heavier on the spice / belgian yeast and fruit than the sour, which was minimal. Texture was full bodied and chewy. I had let this set for almost a year before opening, and it was very smooth. Most similar to a Belgian strong ale without the high alcohol. Wildness had been tamed dramatically. Loved the beer.
Slightly hazy golden orange coloured body with a thin, half centimetre tall white head and some small bubbles on the sides of the glass. Aroma of sour lemons, light mash, grass, herbs, cherries and raspberries and a hit of pungent yeast notes. Medium-bodied; Assertive metallic and earthy malt with a pungent and very strong deep alcohol note followed by some light white grape and corn flavours - not too pleasant. Aftertaste shows some herbs and yeast, coriander seed and a hint of citrus - but this is strong and showing a lot of alcohol still. Overall, tastes like a slightly lemony malt liqour or european strong lager with some fruity smells but nothing that translates in the taste. Not really worth trying, and this would be the first from this series that I didn’t care for at all. I sampled this 65 cL bottle purchased from Total Wine in McLean, Virginia on 01-August-2012 for US$6.99 sampled at home in Washington on 24-June-2013.
Bottle share by Ryan, Golden pour, lots of residue. Aroma of Brett, grain and malt. Taste is very similar, sweet finish.
Appearance: Golden pour
Aroma: Funk, yeast, citrus
Taste: A bit of tartness
Palate: Good carbonation, light body. Dry finish
Overall: Not a sour, not really belgian, not much exciting or interesting here.
A steady pour into my Teku glass produces a three finger thick, pale tan colored head. The beer is a pale amber hue (like a very light honey), that shows a lightly hazed, bright version of the same when held up to the light. The aroma smells of funky / earthy notes, then pineapple (with a touch of tartness wrapped up in this), and in the long finish with a touch of dried hay or weed like notes. The main character here in the nose seems to be a combination of things that make me think of some sort of rotting fruit; this isn’t really at an offensive stage of ripeness, but is definitely a bit on the funky side.
The flavor has that same, rotting food-stuff like flavor; in the flavor it seems to be more a mix of both grain and fruit, really combining to make me think of vomit. The fruit flavors have a touch of pineapple to it, perhaps a touch of Durian, and papaya, as well as a honeydew and cantaloupe like note. Soft malt notes contribute a touch of cracker like grain, and perhaps a touch of hay-like character. The body is fairly light, with just a bit of palate-presence / viscosity to it; this would be drinkable, if you can ignore the flavors, but has some texture to it.
Wow, this is quite an interesting flavor profile for Brettanomyces Anomalous; the vomit and rotting fruit is quite a bit different than I would have expected. Really this is fairly bad, I was expecting this to be at least somewhat enjoyable. Not horrible, but definitely disappointing.
Deep straw gold. Nose of light Brett with some lemon citrus. Lemon and black pepper on round malt core. Thought this was quite enjoyable. Don’t get all the haters.
Tap at Clips. Hazy yellow-orange. Frothy white head. Not much of an aroma, mild pineapple maybe. A pretty boring Belgian Blonde, mellow carbonation, mild, faint brett. Yeast tones are a lot more in the Lost Abbey camp, peppery and funky. Overall this one isn’t so impressive. Seems young and unrefined.
On tap. Ugly, clear-yellow appearance; weaksauce head and lace. Green apples and sweet raisins dominate the nose. Applesauce. Meh.
Sweet, Bretty, buttery on the palate. Random Belgian spices dance around aimlessly. This doesn't know what it wants to be. Go back to the drawing board.
Bottle. The look is golden in color, whitish head, and a lot of floating sediment. The smell is pineapple, funk, fruit, leather, pith, melon and rind. The taste is fruit, melon, smoothie, mango, pineapple, dough.
Goldenrod in color with an average sized white head. Aroma is peach, pineapple, light hay and funk, grain, and lemon. Taste is peach, tropical fruit, citrus, earthiness and light funk.
Hazy pale gold with a thin and patchy head. Mild carbonation. Syrupy. Cloying cobwebs. Doughy, yeasty and estery. Malt notes of bread and light nuts. Pleasant fruit notes from the esters and hops (lemon, pineapple, pear, and a mix of passion fruits)
24th September 2012
Hazy gold beer, big white head. Softish palate, semi dry. Mild carbonation. Soft semi sweet tripel like malt. Somewhat insipid orange. Some mild yeast. Dry finish. Insipid.