New Belgium / Three Floyds Lips Of Faith - Grätzer Ale

New Belgium / Three Floyds Lips Of Faith - Grätzer Ale

It’s not dead, but Gratzer is definitely a long-buried style from Poland. And together with 3Floyds we have unearthed the best of beer zombies. Full of bold flavors from oak-smoked wheat, and along with Midnight Wheat, this beer presents a pure black pour. A subtle, spicy note from the Polish Lublin hops hides in the aroma, just below the dark and smoky surface. Despite all appearances, the Gratzer is very drinkable at 4.5% ABV, and walks itself with a nice, light body. Cheers to drinking smoky, undead beers. Prost!


Hops

Target, Polish Lublin


Malts

Pale, Midnight Wheat, Oak-Smoked Wheat


Special Processing

Add a small amount of Lacto (souring bacteria) to a portion of the overall wort, which produces lactic acid that gives a characteristic aroma and sourness. That acidic portion is then added to other portion of the wort that was fermented with the German Ale yeast.
3.4
362 reviews
Fort Collins, United States

Community reviews

3.3 650ml bottle. Pours out near black with a finger of tan head. Aroma is smoky, blackberry fruity. Taste is roast, cola, chocolate, blackberry. Sourness is fairly low. Carbonation medium to high. Not nearly as weird as I expected it to be, but then not quite as good as I hoped either.
3.4 Draft to taster. Looks solid; a very cloudy brown with foamy light beige head. Smells malty and smokey with notes of chocolate alongside a bit of tartness and a touch of toast. Tastes like it smells with a medium-bodied mouthfeel. Solid beer.
3.6 Draft at Henry’s. Pours very dark nearly black with a small brown head. The aroma has quite a bit of smoky salty notes. The taste has a huge smoky flavor, a bit salty, a bit sweet, toasty, roasted. A cool brew.
3.2 Sampled at Keyaki. Pretty weird stuff, roasted, smokey and sour with a decent dose of funk, earthy finish. Quite a confusing one, don’t know the original style but I doubt this was a wise idea...
3.5 Sampled July 2014 A steady pour into my New Belgium glass produces a fat-two-finger thick, pale brown tinged, dark tan colored head. The beer is approaching black in its concentrated brown color; when held up to the light the beer shows quite opaque. The aroma has a rich smokiness to it up front, but seems to finish with a rich, cherry like fruit character. The aroma has a toasted whole grain character and a rich toasted nuttiness. Toasted straw aromas, a touch of cocoa, and some and a bit of roasted, coffee leaning, dark malt character, all of which support the smoky notes that are dominant in the nose. The beer is quite dry, and fairly light bodied, but does have just a touch of viscosity to it. Smoky, with a bitter burnt character, and a touch of sourness that comes from the roasted malt. The finish has a lingering toasted straw character to it, as well as a burnt grain husk like, and dark malt richness to it. There seems like there might be a touch more tartness to this beer than a purely straight beer might produce, but it might just be the wheat and burnt malt. This is a pretty tasty beer, I was expecting something that wasn’t so roasted in character, and was hoping for something that was sour & smoky; at least it is smoky, and the roasted character actually adds some richness and complexity that actually works here. I am not sure how much of a traditional example this is, but it is fairly tasty.
4.0 Pretty much opaque black with a nice tan head. Light roasted porter like aroma. Some roast and a little smoke in the flavors. Light but smooth and creamy pallate. A touch of late astringency at the end. Interesting sub style of smoked/roasted beers
3.0 Bottle shared at chriso’s Easter 2015 tasting - London. Thanks to Kenny for this one. Pours deep brown with a creamy, tan head. The nose has light smoke, rubber, ash, earth. Light sweet flavor with some ashy roast, eathy bitterness, stones, cigarettes. Medium bodied with average carbonation. Dry and ashy on the finish. So so.
3.4 On tap at Craft & Draft, Amsterdam. Aroma of slightly roasted malt, mild smoke, peaty notes, chocolate, lactose. Flavour is moderate sweet. Easily drinkable and rather well-balanced. A fine smooth smoked beer.
3.4 From 22oz bottle to English pint. Pour is a black with a brown thick head. Nose is roasted malt, smoke, resin. Taste is medium bodied, sour. Very smooth mouthfeel, smoky finish. Different style
3.2 Pitch black color with light brown foam. The smell is roasty and malty. The taste is quite roasty, a little watery and very tart. The aftertaste is roasty.
3.6 Bottle at SinH4’s Goodbye Event. Smoky nose, some roast notes too. Has the air of a porter to me, but very nice for the ABV.
3.6 Brown color with tan head. Coffee, some plums, smokey. Bitter bite, full taste and refreshing at the same time. Nice!
3.6 Originally rated on 6/29/14. "UMM.. interesting, yet strange..aromas of faint smoke, wheat, dark fruits, leather and toast.Deep black body, with a thick frothy head. Flavors are all over with the dark fruits, wheat, biscuits, and smoke hint floating throughout.The most noticeable flavor was used coffee grounds. Overall if you were to cross a Belgian dubbel with a smoked wheat, and toss some used coffee grounds in the beer you would have a version of this. Weird thing is that i kinda liked it..
3.5 Tap at Churck Key. Deep brown pour with a sticky tan head. The aroma is softly smoky with a touch of light roastiness and a hint of salt. Not a lot of tartness in here. Lightly roasty. As it warms, the tartness does pop up a bit. Has a little bit of cocoa and a stylish sort of spice on the back.
3.3 Pour out of 22 oz bottle, dark brownish black pour with tan head, aroma brought notes of dark chocolate, coffee, smoked malt with a hint of bacon, touch of spice into a bit of yeast, grain, some slight tart lemon notes. Taste was a mix of more smoke, raisin, oak into some earth, spice, touch of meat with some cocoa, coffee, slight vinegar, finishing dry.
3.3 22 ounce bottle Meh. This New Belgium Lips of Faith beer falls short of the standard set by the rest of the series. That does not even take in to account the participation by Three Floyds. Instead of elevating this to a new level it falls into the middle of the pack. Aroma / Appearance - A black base pours freely and loosely. Creamy mocha head rests on top like a finger of icing. Light smoke, wheat, and chocolate rolled in an ash tray fresh from the dishwasher leave mild traces in the air. Flavor / Palate - Carbonated ash and wheat refresh very briefly. They then fade leaving the taste of rinse water from a back alley smoking pit. This was worth trying once but it does question my faith in the Lips of Faith series. From now on I may be sampling pours on draft before committing to a full bomber.
3.5 Bottle, shared with heavylaevy, phantomhennes, and Shea at game night. Dark brown with copper highlights and a greyish-tan head. Aroma is charred and chocolatey, a touch of smoke and manure. Flavours are similar, with some dark fruit acids and a tannic dryness in the finish. The tannic quality really becomes prominent, almost leathery. Interesting brew.
3.2 Bottle split at Chriso Easter tasting, thanks to the Ken, 04/04/15. Black with a decent tan covering that dissipates then retains. Nose is toffee, cocoa rub, light smoke, spice, dark fruit tang. Taste comprises light smoked malt notes, raisens, light spice, toffee, dark fruit peel, tarte fruit vibes, tea bag effect. Medium bodied, fine carbonation, drying close. Ok.
3.0 Bottle at Chriso easter tasting. Many thanks to Kenny for this one. Dark brown coloured pour with a sticky light tan head. Aroma is nutty, light caramel, dusty, little meaty, roast. Flavour is composed of tart raspberry, dusty, nutty old dull malts,. Palate is semi sweet, moderate carbonation, decent. Bit dull malts. Meh. Lingering smoke.
3.5 Very unique, and lots of flavor for a 4.5% brew. Smoky and a bit sweet with just a note of tartness on the palate. Malt is present but light, don’t get much hops as the smoke overwhelms. Solid though.
3.6 Bottle courtesy of Falco242. Coffee, sweet and smoke in the nose. Dry palate, not unexpected for a 4.5% abv beer. A fair amount of flavor for a lighter beer. Takes a few sips to pick up the sour notes. Not bad.
3.6 750ml bottle. May 2015 code date. Appearance: Black as night, opaque, with a khaki foam cap. Aroma: Combination of dark roasted and smoked malt, bacon like and woody. Only the faintest hint of lactic acid. Taste: Lactic acid tartness up front, which turns to light roasted malt and coffee, and finishes with a light smokiness. Mouthfeel: Light in body, with a low carbonation Finish: Lactic acid fades quickly leaving smoked, roasted malt flavors lingering on the tongue. Overall: Dark for a Gratzer, which lends to roasted malt flavors I haven’t experienced in other styles. Lacto is mild, but the roasted malt nicely accentuates the smoke flavors.
4.3 Look - I like the look on this one. It has different head. It looks like chocolate milk after bubbles are blown it in. It is very fine bubbles that mist for lacing. The color of the body is darker than cola, lighter than coffee. Smell - Smoky, dark chocolate. Sour milk is there too, but light. Taste - It is a little light. Smoke, wheat, chocolate, milk. Feel - It is watery. I am surprised with the lack of foam with how much head it yielded. Overall - I like this collaboration. It is light because it is 4.5%. Drinkable with taste.
2.8 4th April 2015 ChrisOs Easter Tasting. Hazy dark brown beer, small pale tan head. Palate is airy and fairly dry, mild fine carbonation. Mild dark malt tang, modest tangy fruits. Dry and slightly spicy finish. Okay.
3.0 Bomber from Imbibe Wine. Nose is very light cocoa, coffee, and tartness. Black with a small tan head. Flavor is fruity with hints of bitter and tart.
3.8 Tap at Sidedoor. Nice 500ml pour. Deep brown, approaching black body. Way deeper than any previous Gratzer I have had. Sort of a Dunkel Gratzer. Steady beige head. Creamy on the palate. Chocolate, mild smoke, lacto comes out the more you sip at it. A pretty good LOF. The roasty brown and black malts kind of weigh down what I think of as a crisp, refreshing style.
3.0 Bottle thanks to Kenny. Consumed at ChrisO’s joint. It pours deep brown/nr. black with a thick beige head. The nose is earthy, toast, cocoa, smoked action, meat and honey-glazed ham. The taste is bitter, earthy, wood, meat, smoked ham, mild acidity, dark fruits, mouldy wood, funk, damp leaves and a touch of spice with a dry finish. Medium body and moderate carbonation. A bit of acidity or sourness would lift this a bit. OK at best.
3.4 Bottle share at ChrisO’s. Black or very dark brown, small white head. Aroma is coffee, musty toffee. Body is medium, foamy, low carbonation. Taste is light with bourbon biscuit, floral, touch of smoke, dry ashy finish. Nice enough.
3.4 Bottle at chrisO... Deep black... Thin tan lacing... Dark roast dark chocolate.. Light bitter chocolate roast... Dark dry chocolate roast.. Dark dry roast malts
2.9 Draught at Södar om Småland. Dark brown colored with a medium sized off-white head. Fruity aroma of caramel and dried fruits with notes of berries Fruity flavor of caramel and cocoa powder with notes of dried fruits. Fruity finish.