Lips Of Faith - Tart Lychee - New Belgium Brewing

wagenvolks

Texas

4.58/5  rDev +15.4%
look: 3 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

On-tap at the Draught House 41st Anniversary party.

Pours with the cloudiness and color of a banana-smoothie. Headless, except for a scant wisp of foam that dissipates quickly into the murky depths below. The aroma immediately makes up for what the appearance lacks, delivering a tart blend of pineapple, mango, and sweet cherries. A hint of lactic acid and pale malts in the background make for a solid, enticing nose.

Admittedly, I'm not the hugest sour ale fan. But this beer is good...really good. Lots of citrus fruits on the front of the palate, with suggestions of tangerine and grapefruit. A spicy, tropical fruit mix rides across the back of the tongue before a puckering bite of sourness sweeps in for the finish. Perfect mouthfeel, with a medium-thin body and a tight carbonation level. Juicy finish, not as dry as most Wild Ales (which I like). Overall, another insanely impressive sour from New Belgium. These guys know how to make 'em...

Serving type: on-tap

11-08-2009 17:22:08 | More by wagenvolks

harrymel

Washington

2.65/5  rDev -33.2%
look: 2 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5

Heard this was different from bottle compared to tap.

Pours solid haze purulent yellow. No foam save some surface etch. Nose is overdone with the cinnamon. Some tart and sweetness in the back, but this time, cinnamon dominates (waaay different than tap for me). Tart with more cinnamon and some lychee juice to help pucker me up. Medium on full bodied with light carb and a semi dry finish. It's quite the novelty.
2/2.5/3/2/2.5 -

Serving type: bottle

06-13-2012 22:49:15 | More by harrymel

Sean9689

Illinois

4.1/5  rDev +3.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

On-tap at Sheffield's. Poured into NB tulip/snifter.

A - Pours a darker orangish/reddish color with a white head. There's little to no retention and no lacing to speak of.

S - More sweet then sour, but still a good nose. Tart/sour, lots of fruity sweetness, funk.

T - Similar to nose. More sweet then sour, but still funky.

M - Light, crisp, lighter carbonation then I prefer.

D - Nice because it's not quite as funky as the La Terroir and a bit easier to drink.

Serving type: on-tap

12-02-2009 22:36:08 | More by Sean9689

scottfrie

California

3.98/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

22oz bottle.
A: Pours a hazy apricot color with a finger of bubbly bright white head that quickly fizzed away into nothingness.
S: Extremely fruity and complex nose. I get notes of stone fruits, peaches, apricots, lemon, dry oak, ambiguous berries and a splash of lychee.
T: Follows the nose. Fruit comes through strong alongside a nice blend of buttery oak, dry barrel, sweet lychee and a hint of cinnamon and other spices in the aftertaste. Very smooth and well integrated. Tartness is mild but refreshing. I love the complex fruit profile.
M: Medium-full body, drying mouth but still a good amount of slick butteriness, carbonation is soft and balanced.
O: One of the better NB beers I’ve had in a while. I could drink this all day. Not huge lychee notes but very flavorful none the less.

Serving type: bottle

07-17-2012 00:54:04 | More by scottfrie

rudzud

Massachusetts

3.95/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Received a bottle of this as an extra in a trade. Poured into my Duvel tulip.

A - Pours a nice hazy orange golden hue with a big, creamy two finger head that faded to leave a nice creamy white blanket and solid lacing.

S - This really, really has to warm up in order to get the cinnamon aromas. Get nice La Folia style sourness that is pleasant, getting NO lychee though but the cinnamon is quite nice and different.

T - Interesting. Not really quite as sour as I like from these guys, with maybe some slight sweetness from the lychee. There is an odd flavour that must be the lychee. Not bad. The end note with cinnamon was pleasant, surprisingly so.

M - Mouthfeel is a bit thin/flat for my liking. A bit too lowly carbonated.

O - Overall this was a good beer but like other Lips beers the recipe doesnt quite translate over for me. Glad to try this though.

Serving type: bottle

07-04-2012 03:06:28 | More by rudzud

homebrew311

Illinois

4.15/5  rDev +4.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Poured into New Belgium globe glass. Pours cloudy yellow, fizzy white head that dissipates quickly. No lacing present, poor head retention. The aroma features a swift kick of lactic acid with tart fruit. I pick up some pear, grape, and lemongrass with a presence of cinnamon at the end. The cinnamon makes for quite an interesting twist to this American Wild Ale. The taste starts with moderate tartness which is quickly balanced by the sweeter side of the fruit character. Fleshy fruits come through with some melon and orange. The cinnamon again makes its appearance at the end, but is much less present on the palate as compared to the nose. The mouth feel is light and refreshing with a swift kick of carbonation. Overall, this is a unique offering to the Lips of Faith series. It is another solid sour ale, but not quite at the level of La Folie, Le Terroir, or Eric's Ale. Still a great brew and a great value.

Serving type: bottle

05-09-2012 04:50:13 | More by homebrew311

merc7186

New York

3.71/5  rDev -6.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Bomber into snifter glass.

A: Hazy Golden Straw Hue, Passes Some Light, White Head Ring, Some Lacing

S: Grassy, Hay, Yeast

T: Apple, Apricots, Mild Hay

M: Average Carbonation, Medium Bodied, Mildly Bitter, Mildly Sweet

Overall, a pretty nice balance of sweetness and sourness for this beer...good not great.

Serving type: bottle

01-10-2013 04:31:04 | More by merc7186

AgentMunky

Alabama

3.83/5  rDev -3.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Served in a snifter at City Beer Store.

A: Murky matte yellow.

S: Brett, sweet fruit.

T: Malty, smooth, sweet-tart. A bit of funky yeast and some fruit. Dead ish yeast leads you out for a flattish finish.

M: puckery. Pleasant.

O: a good beer, but a stellar one.

Serving type: on-tap

11-19-2012 00:27:19 | More by AgentMunky

Phelps

Arizona

4/5  rDev +0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

To get to know many of New Belgium's sour ales, you must first acquaint yourself with Oscar and Felix. An odd couple of beers (see what I did there?), these two act as the base for a majority of the wild ales released under the brewery's Lips of Faith flag.

Though Oscar is a dark ale and Felix is pale, both are rather plain until they spend a year or two inside New Belgium's foudres (large wooden casks used for beer-aging) playing with souring bacteria. When they emerge, nicely tartified, the beers are ready to become the foundation for some of the brewery's most popular ales. Oscar, the dark sour, is blended to become La Folie, while the pale Felix is made into beers like Eric's Ale, Le Terroir, and Tart Lychee.

For that third one, Felix is acidified for more than two years in oak barrels. A portion of it (44 percent) is blended with lychee juice and Ceylon cinnamon sticks for a few weeks, then added back to the whole. The resulting brew, when poured into a tulip glass, is coral-orange and clouded with suspended yeast. Two full fingers of clean white head are dense, yet they fizzle away pretty quickly, decorating the side of the glass in bubbly streaks.

If you're not familiar with the lychee, you really should try one out. Each fruit has a rough, reddish-pink rind covering translucent white pulp with a sweet, perfumy flavor that emulates the floral, citrus-y bite of American hops -- which makes it great for beer. In Tart Lychee, the fruit is the main aroma contributor, packing the nose with a tropical blend of lemon and perfume. Other notes include peach, tangerine, and raw sugar, while a touch of vinegar is the indication of the "tartness" to come in the flavor.

A disappointment here is the absence of cinnamon -- it doesn't appear at all. The brewers must have wasted it all attempting the cinnamon challenge. Lychee is again the major flavor, lending its citric bite to a smooth fruitiness from wheat. The barrel-aging has done its work -- a touch of horsey funk plays off subtle tartness tempered by an impressive amount of dark sugar. Carbonation inside the light-bodied brew is gentle -- just a soft caress on the tongue. It works with the beer, keeping the tartness less intense.

I'm surprised it took this long for someone to make a lychee beer, considering how well it works here. Tart Lychee's an interesting sour that, while a little expensive and upsetting in its lack of cinnamon, is worth a try.

Serving type: bottle

05-13-2012 06:32:41 | More by Phelps

wedge

North Carolina

4.35/5  rDev +9.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Pours a nebulous apricot color with a nice white slab of a head that drops down to a patchy creamy covering. Acidic and sweet fruit aromas and a smooth, warming spiciness from the cinnamon. Plenty of woody, sour ale characteristics as well. Flavor leans towards the sweet fruit, but just enough to counterbalance the sourness. Really a pleasure to drink and quaffable for 7.5%. Tart, juicy fruit (Lychee, I assume...never had it), spice, a hint of vinegar-like acidity. Dry, lightish in body, and very refreshing. I drank it down too fast. Pretty simple, but skillfully executed.

Serving type: bottle

06-03-2012 23:38:33 | More by wedge

JayQue

Virginia

4.03/5  rDev +1.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

This one is a winner!!! Poured from a 22 oz bottle into a wine glass. Color is dense butterscotch with some light getting through. Nice head, delicate small bubbles but overall accumulating so as to look a bit frothy. The head don't last that long, but while it is there, the beer looks like a photo in an advertisement.

Aromas is fairly strong, citrus fruits, a little funk/sourness and the lychee nuts.

Tastes very good. The lychees provide an unusual flavor, the sourness is present but not off-putting for someone like me that don't like real "vinegary" beers. There is an unusuial blend of fruit flavors with a mild amount of "funk". Oak barrel flavors come in as the beer warms but are not that pronounced.

Mouthfeel is just right, tart, fairly rich...goes down real nice.

A great summertime sipping beer. I had it with nectarine slices and cheese on the balcony of my Outer Banks NC timeshare. Vewry nice experience.

Serving type: bottle

09-01-2012 13:32:09 | More by JayQue

jsanford

Georgia

4.3/5  rDev +8.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

On-tap at Brewvival 2011. This was on my "Must Try" list, sounds like something that would be right up my alley. Supposedly a one-off (for now) experimental batch.

Pours a dark, unfiltered apple juice color with a thin white head. Nice aromas and flavors of tropical fruit (don't know if I'd pick Lychee, what the hell is that anyways? I'd go with passion fruit), lemons, oak, green apples, and tart, funky Brett. Wonderfully tart and puckering, with a medium body and crisp, sharp carbonation. Finishes dry. Very drinkable, I went back for this one a second time, and could probably have done a third. One of the highlights of the day for me!

Serving type: on-tap

02-27-2011 23:31:08 | More by jsanford

Beaver13

Colorado

3.58/5  rDev -9.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

22 oz bottle. Pours a hazy orange gold with a medium creamy white head that goes to a thin film and laces the glass.

The aroma is dry tart fruits with maybe some brett and cinnamon.

The flavor is tart sour tropical fruits with a dry almost vinous and slightly acidic finish. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with low carbonation.

Overall, a nice tart fruity and dry sour. More fruits than sour.

Serving type: bottle

08-21-2012 05:38:51 | More by Beaver13

yemenmocha

Arizona

2.95/5  rDev -25.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Doing best to review to style here. Pours a pale honey color with slight haze, minimal head. Nose is somewhat timid, which was a surprise. Some candied fruits there. Palate offers a weird sour fruit with cinnamon flavor that leads to an off-putting aftertaste resembling a bile vomit taste that doesn't exactly evoke positive memories. Wish it wasn't there but I can't get past it. Maybe I let this beer warm too much.

Serving type: bottle

12-28-2012 03:19:10 | More by yemenmocha

brewcrew76

Wisconsin

3.75/5  rDev -5.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A - Murky straw yellow, orange without much head or lace.

S - Tart lemon, wet hay, tropical fruit and some tartness.

T - Mimosa like, tart, sweet orange juice, hints of lychee and cinnamon.

M - Medium to light body, fizzy carbonation, dry tart finish.

D - Nice refreshing summer beer but a bunch of these releases seem a little watered down compared to the draft versions had years ago.

Serving type: bottle

05-20-2012 23:14:50 | More by brewcrew76

Gobzilla

California

3.83/5  rDev -3.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

A: poured a pale golden yellow in color with a thin head that left a little lacing sticking to the glass.

S: there was lots of bready character upfront on the nose with lots of fruit notes coming through and spices were noticeable as well.

T: lots of fruit flavor on the first sip that I am assuming was lychee alongside grain and spice accents.

M: the brew was light to medium in body with a low amount of carbonation which had a fruity, bready, mild spice, and mild tart finish.

O: overall it was an interesting beer and was glad to have tried. I would have more for sure.

Serving type: on-tap

06-19-2012 00:05:27 | More by Gobzilla

kbutler1

Minnesota

3.95/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Growler at Where the Wild Beers Are. To begin with the beer in the growler is a crazy opaque, murky sediment rich tannish orange color. As it is poured the same appearance fills the glass. It almost looks like coffee with a bunch of creamer added. No real head to speak of. The aroma is fairly muted but it does have a slight sour aroma with maybe a touch of fruit. The initial taste is much more tart/sour than I expected and leaves me slightly puckered. Acetone and fruit notes. Some what lemony with some sweetness. Light/medium mouthfeel.

Serving type: growler

10-18-2010 12:25:42 | More by kbutler1

Proteus93

Virginia

3.98/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A: I don't know why I would expect a beer to be dark simply because it talks about this percentage aged, and that percentage brewed with... but I thought it would be, and was quite surprised when this very blonde ale flowed from the bottle. The head was a very fizzy white (and quite loud, as well!) which formed about a half-finger tall and then almost immediately pulled back to nothing. Maybe it was the glass, but it was a bit odd. A little more unusual was that I poured it into a Delerium Tremens snifter, and the little nucleation elephant caused a little sheet of head to re-form.

S + T: Having never tried a lychee, I don't really know what to expect as far as aroma and flavor go. Wikipedia tells me that it should have a "perfume" flavor, and this seems wickedly unpleasant as far as things that I might want to put in my mouth. The scent is rather sweet, though... not like any 'fruit' I can think of off the top of my head, along with a whiff of that typical barnyard-like aroma of wild yeast. A nice tart flavor, again, with a bit of added sweetness that is different from what I experience in things like a Flemish red or oude bruin. What I find particularly surprising is that I am really not picking up a lot of specific oak notes. That's not really a bad thing... it's just not what I expected.

M + D: Medium bodied... carbonation could have been a hair 'crisper' to give it that really nice, lip-smacking sensation that I tend to love in a tart beer. Nonetheless, it's an enjoyable brew, and I do intend on enjoying it again.

Serving type: bottle

05-16-2012 02:31:12 | More by Proteus93

thecheapies

Pennsylvania

4.13/5  rDev +4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

750ml bottle into tulip glasses. Can't find a bottling date, but this is obviously a new release. Thanks again to Brian for hauling this one back for me!

On the pour, it looks peach amber with some haziness. Fizzy head falls back to a thin layer from an inch-and-a-half.

Picking up a lot of cinnamon in the nose. Fleshy tropical fruit aromas come forth like cherimoya and lychee. Acid component behind the fruit esters and spices smell a little like candle wax. Definitely an exotic nose, overall. Getting wafts of backend Brett and oak.

More sweet than sour, the taste follows the nose. Pulpy lychee fruit, cherimoya, cinnamon candle wax, lemon peel, and goat cheese. Enough sweetness to kill any puckering effect, but there definitely is a nice dose of acidity in here. Semi-sour.

Very smooth for a wild ale. The body has some girth to it. The carbonation is right around medium.

A wild ale that accentuates the added fruit and spice. Quite the fascinating pairing from a palate standpoint. Nice subdued sourness and funk.

Serving type: bottle

07-22-2012 04:40:58 | More by thecheapies

Rutager

British Columbia (Canada)

4.2/5  rDev +5.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Appearance. Pours a hazy straw with a little amber. Just a thin bubbly white head on this one that fades quickly to a thin collar.

Smell. Light sour fruits, apples, pears and peach, some nice light funk. Smells pretty good.

Taste. Sour light fruits again. Some woody funk is there, a hint of spice. Medium sourness. Tastes pretty damn good.

Mouthfeel. A bit lighter than medium body with medium-strong carbonartion.

Overall. Nice fruity sour but I wouldn't have nailed the fruit as being Lychee. Even knowing what's in it make it hard to pick out the lychee specifically, but it is there especially in the finish.

Serving type: bottle

05-21-2012 01:30:36 | More by Rutager

tobelerone

New Jersey

4.35/5  rDev +9.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

A great looking, great tasting beer and a super summer refresher. Hazy, burnished orange gold body, big white head with terrific retention and lacing. Aroma is fruity and tart, citrusy, with pepper and subtle oak and cinnamon. Modest funkiness.

Very complex and highly gulpable at the same time. Tart fruity flavor; moderately sour and puckering but not over-the-top; a trace of oak character; light sweetness dries up in the finish and has you coming back for more quickly. Nice spiciness with cinnamon and pepper notes, some restrained brett funkiness and lemony acidity. Very well-balanced between all of its flavor characteristics.

Medium bodied with crisp carbonation and a clean, quenching feel. One of my favorites of the summer, multiple bottles have been shared and enjoyed. This is one bomber I can easily have all to myself as well!

Serving type: bottle

07-26-2012 17:06:50 | More by tobelerone

inlimbo77

Delaware

4/5  rDev +0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

22oz painted bomber bottle. No date, but released Spring 2012
Lost Abbey tulip.

A: Pours out completely hazy golden, yellow/orange color. Only a ring of bright white is left. Leaves some mild lacing bits. Seems like there good carbonation even though I can't see it.

S: Tartness for sure. And you do get the cinnamon. Smells like passion fruit, or other tropical fruit.

T: Nice tartness right up on the tongue. It's not overly sour or tart. Definitely get those tropical fruit notes. Some funk. Clean finish.

M: Light to medium bodied.

Serving type: bottle

06-04-2012 15:09:55 | More by inlimbo77

hardy008

Minnesota

4.2/5  rDev +5.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Hazy orange marmalade color with a thin white head which fades quickly, and leaves no lacing. I can't say that I know what lychee fruit smells like, because I don't, but I assume I am smelling it, along with cinnamon, and tartness.

Once again, I am not familiar with lychee fruit, but I know I am tasting it here, along with cinnamon, tartness, and some oak. Some sweetness, balanced nicely by some tartness.

Acidic, light bodied, tart, with low carbonation. Very refreshing, and would be great to have on a hot summer day. There is no hint of alcohol in the taste, and this is the type of beer I could drink again and again.

Serving type: bottle

08-19-2012 01:38:18 | More by hardy008

SpeedwayJim

New York

3.43/5  rDev -13.6%
look: 2 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.5

22oz bomber into a Cantillon flute. Shared with schen9303.

.5 finger foamy white head with moderate retention. Beer is a slightly cloudy pale pear color. Lacing is patchy and thick with no cling. A bit poor on all fronts for the style.

Nose is slightly sweet with some yeast and cane sugar notes. Some very mellow tartness (which I can't attribute to anything distinct) lingers in the back. Very very mellow.

Opens sweet with a spiciness upfront. A flavor that I'm guessing is lychee sweetness in the middle. Brett in the back that's overpowered by the sweetness. Some cinnamon notes in the end coupled with a brief tartness. Brett with a sweet sour aftertaste. Decent but a touch one-dimensional. The fruit is barely noticeable.

Light bodied with moderate to high carbonation. Prickly and effervescent in the mouth and slick and messy in the finish. Lingering aftertaste. Really refreshing and easy drinking.

Lychee fruit is one of my favorites so naturally, I was very excited when this beer first got made. Sadly, the fruit flavors are a bit lost in this beer and all that's left is a big, sweet brew with a slight hint of tartness at the beginning and end. Decent but I'm a bit disappointed since my expectations were rather high.

Serving type: bottle

07-11-2012 22:55:53 | More by SpeedwayJim

jjanega08

Minnesota

3.68/5  rDev -7.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

No freshness dating

A= Pours a hazy light amber orangish color with a small half finger of a head that holds some sketchy retention but it's there and a snipple of lacing.

S= The smell is interesting. A nice tartness comes through the nose right away. An acetic vinegar sort of tartness to it. Cinnamon may be making a small appearance but it light as well as the lychee. Lychee doesn't really have much of an aroma and the flavor is sort of candy sweet so it should be interesting to see how the taste goes. The oak is missing completely in the nose.

T= The sourness comes through mostly with a nice tart punch. The sourness seems to be less vinegar and a little more lactic now... The Lychee is totally lost in the flavor and the cinnamon comes through in the finish to sort of complement the wheaty malts. The oak is again lost in the flavors but it seems to work.

M= Maybe a little light on carbonation for a sour.

O= I've worked in a gourmet produce area before and I know a lot of strange produce. Lychee looks and feels like an eyeball in your mouth but the flavor isn't bad. The pit makes the difficult to eat and sort of takes the joy out of it for me... Putting something like that in a beer is pure genius. This however doesn't do the lychee justice. It's almost like they did it for the sake of doing it. Let the lychee play a role instead of killing it's subtle flavor with tartness. The cinnamon addition is great but again let it come through a little more. Solid beer and a nice step outside the box. Keep the experiments going because they make drinking beer fun though.

Serving type: bottle

05-24-2012 01:01:16 | More by jjanega08