New Belgium Lips of Faith - Grand Cru Abbey Ale
3.8
342 reviews
Fort Collins, United States
Community reviews
Enjoying at JLBeers in Fargo. Great tap. Kind of simple, but with all the expected aroma and favors. Banana and a hint of spice and sweet bubblegum, malt and a hint of old barnyard straw. Just what I was hoping for,
From beerlicious iphone app: amber color. frothy tan head. sour from start to finish. long duration. medium body. creamy stick texture with a bit of bitter aftertaste.
Bottle gift from SJ. Drank at xmas party 2012. Really good. I love Belgians. As always a nice bready aroma and flavor mixed with dark fruits (Cherry and raisin) and spices. A sweet caramel finish , but with a kick. YEAH BOY!
22 oz bottle to taster
Aroma of Belgian yeasts and tangerine. Clear reddish amber with no head. Taste is yeasty, slightly sweet.
July 7th, 2011 - The Lips of Faith series seems to alternate between Dogfish Head style experiments spearheaded by one of the brewery’s mad scientists, and refined interpretations of beloved classics. The Grand Cru Abbey falls into the latter category, leaving the NBB six-pack lines in the dust and ascending to a category of excellence that even the most stringent beer snobs will find to be quite good. Rich yeastiness fills the air just moments after the bottle cap is removed. The basic bouquet is identical to the regular Abbey, but it’s augmented with keener, better balanced smells of soy sauce, grapes, cedar, molasses and even a breath of juniper. A sip of the dark amber (and just a bit short of crimson) body reveals a flavor profile with clear links to the dubbels of tastings past - umami abounds, limned with a dry woody taste on one side and a subtle parmesan cheese taste on the other. These are kept in check by a strong alcohol bite - a deviation from those dubbels I mentioned earlier - to make a beautiful flavor with more flavor and punch. American style? Probably. This is a great Lips of Faith, and though the experimental beers made from cacti and ground toucan bills and amethyst are good, remixes on the classics can also be amazing.
Bottle shared by MrPickles...thanks Andy! - Pours clear amber with a thin off white head. Nose is tropical fruit, light baking spice, and a bit of sugary sweetness. Taste is the same--sweet and sugary tropical fruit. Tastes kind of like the sugary dried tropical fruit you can buy, with a lightly boozy, warm finish. Slick and thick, with a bit of carbonation.
The flavor of tea and bitter is the dominate flavor. Proper malts with hardly any hop. The bitter taste like black tea. It's a winner
The aroma is caramel like with tea, grassy hops, and toasted malt. The appearance is dark amber with a small head. The taste is like the aroma. The palate is smooth. Overall this is drinkable but barely.
Shared by some dude at darkness. Some head in pour, caramel and dark fruit in aroma and yaste.
Sampled at Atomic coffee in Moorhead. Pours a clear brown. Bubble gum and some dark fruit aromas. Watery and thin though.
Golden pour with long lasting white head. Aromas of bananas and yeast. Delicious beer with citrusy bananas and some spice. Will buy again.
In short: An very good classic example of the Abbey Dubbel style. That simple
How: Bottle 22oz. Consumed when around 6 to 8 months of age. Bottle from either tyler_mm… or maybe oakbluff… one of those two losers
The look: Mostly clear dark copper body topped by a persistent small beige head
In long: Nose has a nice roastiness (roasted almonds) and fruity yeasty esters. Taste has delicious creamy mixture of toasted malts in fluffy yeast, roasted almonds, soft cashews, fruity notes of red and darker fruits, juicy hops resin, very nice pillowy monthfeel with a lot of soft bubbles. Nourishing. Not too sweet. To me this bottles was a rare example of an American brewery nailing this elusive Abbey Dubbel style just right down to the mouthfeel. Another beer I acquired in a trade, and don’t think that trading and rating beers is all I’m capable of, because I’m actually pretty handy when you need to repaint your apartment and you need someone to come over to sit there quietly and drink your beers while you repaint your apartment.
dark brown color. Lots of estry, plantines, very malty, rich, but never cloying. Full bodied. Very enjoyable.
I looooove this beer! The flavors are like nothing I’ve had before! Plus the big bottle? Get outta here!
More garbage juice from pepsiedcan. Pours a clear amber with a generous sized off white head. Aromas of banana, esters, clove, yeast. Taste is your standard abbey dubbel... Some dark fruit, yeasty, spicy, cloves. Average at best. Man, I hope this wasn’t real expensive because i wouldn’t pay more than $5 for a bomber of it. Would not seek out again. I think Abbey Dubbel is my least favorite style, followed closely by Abbey Tripel.
Lips of faith you have finally come through with a well constructed, rich, nutty, lightly sweet, classic dubbel that renews my faith in this brewery a bit.
Bottle on my balcony with Eddie, John, and Ryan. Poured a deep mahogany with a small off-white head that quickly dissipated. Smell is fruity, light banana, spice, clove, bready malts, and anise. Taste is spicy yeast, banana, clove, dark fruits, roast, licorice, and rye. Mouthfeel is medium with high carbonation. Really a nice American interpretation of a Belgian dubbel. I thoroughly enjoyed this one; well-done NB, well-done.
Bomber purchased a year ago at Holiday Wine Cellar ($9.99). Pours a nice clear mahogany hue with two fingers of light beige foam. Aroma of sweet dark fruit, yeast, dark bread-y malts, and some spice. Flavor of dark fruit (cherry stands out), rich dark caramel, banana, and some tangy spice. Spritzy carbonation. Actually quite similar to NB’s very good regular Abbey Ale, but with higher alcohol (though the 9.5% is hardly noticeable at all here). Very nice dubbel. (307, 708)
Bottle. amber colour with a beige head. Aroma is hop, yeast, caramel, alcohol. Flavour is hop, yeast, roasted malt, caramel, alcohol, dried fruits. Nice beer.
Pours reddish brown. Hints of toffee and almonds. Also full of dry fruits, spices and malts along with nut flavors. Creamy and rich.
Pours muddy red-brown (chestnut) with a small off-white head. Smells mild, fruity and somewhat of bread made with fruits. Taste is fruity, bready, and has a bit of candy sweetness. Medium-bodied with a slick texture and mild mouth-carbonation, New Belgium Lips of Faith - Grand Cru Abbey Ale finishes with a mild sweetness that is not overpowering.
Bottle cellar aged for 6ish months pours a brilliantly clear copper with a quickly fading head, leaving only a ring of bubbles. Aroma is heavy candy caramel, plums, figs, cinnamon, some abv, very mild yeast character. Taste is browned biscuit, plum, caramel candy, some notes that border on chocolate but never become apparent as such, and a long fruity spicy finish. Body is light to medium, assertively carbonated, long dry complex finish. Overall. a very delicious brew.
In full Lips of Faith mode at Dexters. Kinda filtered amber-ruby red. Patchy beige head. Bigtime rugged raisin prune aroma, intense. Delicate, creamy mellowed carbonation. This beer is awesome! Approaching Trappist level of quality. Take the NB Abbey and Trappify it. Creamy and drinkable, not sure if it would be quite as mellow from the bottle, A touch watery, but very true to style.
Bomber, non Lips of Faith version, shared by Butters at Slutfest 3, Richmond, VA, 4/21/12. Pours a hazy copper color with a medium sized frothy tan head. Decent head retention. Aroma of spice, banana, bread, herbal hops. The taste is spice, bread, banana, toffee. Medium bodied.
On tap at Dexters. Pours a deep brown with hints of amber. Sweetnees and dark fruits come through in the flavor. No surprise it continues to improve as it warms. Solid brew.
I had been looking forward to trying this one but found it to be fairly disappointing for the style. From the 4/2012 3R6P tasting. +++ Sampled from a 22 oz brown bottle this beer poured a caramel-brown color with a medium sized soapy tan head that left decent lacing. The aroma was ripe dark fruits though a bit muddled with a caramel presence and a slightly medicinal element. The flavor was nutty with notes of caramel, bread and a touch of honey. The beer then turned dryish and chalky with undertones of banana and a hint of vague dry spices. The finish was medium length banana, bread and nut. Medium body. Ok.
Pours a clear dirty brown with a off white top. Aroma is almonds, grains and slight hop. Taste is slightly sweet, caramel even with the malts, hop flavouring is present and tastes big with the alcohol.
Much better than their regular abbey, which I found a bit too mild for the style, this one is excellent. Tremendous complexity of flavor with fruits and malts balancing each other wonderfully. Wish it wasn’t so hard to find - blew me away more than most at a festival and took special notes on it.
A reddish brown ale with a thin off white head. In aroma, a sweet caramel malt with treacle, fruity ester and smooth light funkyness. In mouth, a nice sweet maple malt with fruity esters, molasses, fudge, very smooth alcohol, quite nice. Tasted with the Bartowel crew at Pushkinwow’s, March 23, 2012.
A - Pours an almost clear ruby-mahogany color with a thin finger of frothy brownish head. The head fades down at a normal pace leaving behind some lace.
S - Aroma is a mix of sweet dark fruits, raisin, dark candi sugar, Belgian yeast, spice, clove, banana, and some booze.
T - Starts off with some sweet dark fruit with some prune and raisin with some banana and clove flavor. Through the middle some candi sugar with some more dark fruit and some cherries. The finish is a mix of clove, banana, sweet dark fruit, and a touch of booze.
M - Medium-full bodied with moderate-minus carbonation. Smooth with a sweet and lightly warming and yeasty finish.
D - Very drinkable. Surprisingly smooth with a nice super rich malty flavor. The balance is really nice all around.