Lips Of Faith - Prickly Passion Saison - New Belgium Brewing

Chaney

District of Columbia

1.75/5  rDev -48.8%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 2

I poured this into my cracked DuClaw snifter... once again.

A: This poured out much, much dark than I expected. It looked like a fairly clear amber ale, through and through. The head was a mere white sawdust.

S: Wow, talk about differing from expectations! I expected this to be sort of tropical paradise, farmhouse, floral drink, but what I got was dank, spicy, low-grade Belgian one.

T: One would have to have a microscope to detect any farmhouse saison quality in this one. I'm not sure how to describe this mess, but I'll try: Diluted Belgian ale, with melted cherry "Jolly Rancher", with peach and coriander. None of this worked, by the way.

M: This was completely devoid of any sort of spritzy, bubbly carbonation, and the sweet grossness just lingered and lingered to no end.

O: This has my vote as one of the worst brews of the year. I tried and tried but I could not finish. Drain pour...

Serving type: bottle

12-17-2011 04:04:10 | More by Chaney

jayhawk73

Maryland

1.9/5  rDev -44.4%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 1.5

Pours a medium amber color w/ a thin off white color in my CBS snifter.. Completely clear in appearance, with very little carbonation and very little lacing. The nose is yeast, coriander, some slight funk, and somewhat sweet. The taste is a trainwreck. Super, overly sweet- with yeast and spices coming through w/ a little fruit. Awful. Feel is thin, syrupy, and no carbonation... Overall, this is a horribly out of whack brew that I drainpoured 80% of. I can't imagine anybody voluntarily drinking this. Avoid at all cost.

Serving type: bottle

12-20-2011 01:57:44 | More by jayhawk73

stakem

Pennsylvania

1.95/5  rDev -43%
look: 4.5 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Bomber shared with friends and poured in a tulip. The brew appears a clear bright orange with a finger of white froth and lots of webby lace sticks to the glass.

The smell is wet dog and canned peas. Honestly was not ready for that. More sniffs bring out a light melon character mixed with veggies. A tinge of fruit and yeast emerge as the brew warms up.

The tastes includes notes of dirty melon like cantelouoe mated with canned peas. It is earthy and yeasty but not in the expected saison way. The fruit inclusion is more vegetative than anything. Faint yeast imparts some clove and spice. Some herbal hops emerge as it warms with almost a buttery caramel, toffee and awkwad sweetness.

This is a medium to fuller bodied offering for the style. It has a modest amount of carbonation and really just a horrible arrangement of character. I did not care for this at all despite the alcohol being well intgrated. Everything about this is off including the thick feel. I man'd up and consumed my portion. The others opted for the drainpour.

Serving type: bottle

08-28-2012 19:23:11 | More by stakem

RussBecker1

2.2/5  rDev -35.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2

Served on tap at Kudu Charleston, SC

A-Pours a dark amber with a nice finger of clean white foam, that dissipates rather quickly. A darker saison with a pretty nice body.

S-Plenty of pear in the nose. It does mix very well with the farm house yeasts though which hides the fruit in a nice manor. Maybe a bit of apple here as well, and definitely a hit of sweetness to round it out.

M-pretty bland, carbonated enough to keep in refreshing but nothing to really bring to the beer.

T-Pretty nasty. The beer starts off with a nice hit of fresh pear which is very much appreciated and surprisingly not too sweet or tart as I had feared. From then on out though this thing is gross. The pear combusted into a horrifically bitter and flavorless mix that tastes damn near identical to a macrobrew. The aftertaste leaves you sucking your cheeks for any saliva to get it off your palate.

O-Deceiving looks lead to a disappointing and pretty tough to consume brew.

Serving type: on-tap

09-23-2012 23:46:45 | More by RussBecker1

hwwty4

Missouri

2.28/5  rDev -33.3%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2

Served on tap in a New Belgium globe at Martin City Brewing Company.

This beer pours a rather pinkish copper with almost zero head and very little lacing. Starting off as a bit of a disappointment. The aroma is very fruity. Notes of nectarines, peach and star fruit. I really don't know what a Passion fruit smells like but I would assume its fairly close. Very boozy notes as it warms. The taste just falls flat. Overly boozy, fruity with a spicy yeast undertone. It really just doesn't play well together. The mouthfeel is the biggest disappointment for me. It finishes sweet and full. No dryness. I love saisons but this is another in a line of larger craft brewers making mediocre to sub par saisons. If your going to make the style, at least put out a decent product.

Serving type: on-tap

01-07-2012 17:47:13 | More by hwwty4

vette2006c5r

Wisconsin

2.4/5  rDev -29.8%
look: 3 | smell: 1 | taste: 3 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5

Prickly Passion Saison pours a bit of a hazy golden color, with very small head. The smell unfortinuly was one of the worst things i ever smelled, it was sour baby vomit smell, mixed in with some flowers. The taste is very complex. There are some fruits, pears and plums mixed in there, with some flower like flavors, very complex, I cant pick out everything that is going on here. I found it left a strange taste on the tongue, and its just too complex and everything mashes together in a way that conflicts. Overall iam pretty confused about this one, some parts of the taste are good, while others are bad, not sure I would recommend this one.

Serving type: bottle

03-10-2012 03:06:58 | More by vette2006c5r

VncentLIFE

North Carolina

2.42/5  rDev -29.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

On draft at Sams. The only interesting thing they had for once.

Pour is a little dark for a Saison, more toward orange. Nice white head.

Smell is loaded with Belgian yeast. Smells like it has a bite to it. Uh oh.

Taste is loaded with spicy, peppery yeast. Kind of feels like a Over-yeasty Belgian Pale. I dont get much fruit, its all taken over by the yeast. so disappointing.

Serving type: on-tap

01-13-2012 01:24:54 | More by VncentLIFE

ms11781

Massachusetts

2.48/5  rDev -27.5%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Thanks to duff247. 22oz bottle poured into a tulip glass.

Pours a clear golden orange color with a small head of white foam. The head dissipates rather quickly and ends up disappearing almost completely after 10 minutes or so. No real lacing to speak off except for a few small specks of foam here and there.

The taste is extremely yeasty throughout but it's particularly strong right off the bat. A bit of banana and bubblegum along with a bit of spice. There is a good dose of sweet fruit as well. It's tough to put a finger on which fruits exactly. It seems to be a few different fruits that are blended together pretty well.

The taste follows along closely with the nose. There is a huge yeasty character that is present throughout each sip. The sweet fruit comes in, along with a touch of almost clove-like spice before the whole thing seems to just completely fall off into a pretty bland finish. It's really odd as there seems to be a burst of flavor that hits a brick wall and disappears.

The mouthfeel is a bit fuller for the style and the carbonation seems low. It almost has a slick feeling to it. Despite all this, the beer dries out a bit at the finish. Not many beer with a fuller mouthfeel and low carbonation dry out like this one.

Overall this one was a bit odd. The yeast is perhaps too much in both the taste and the nose. The nose is ok but the same characteristics are in the beginning of each sip and then just disappear into a near flavorless finish.

Serving type: bottle

12-23-2011 02:50:00 | More by ms11781

BearsOnAcid

Massachusetts

2.48/5  rDev -27.5%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

Amber hue with a cream tightly packed head. Head retention on the lower side. A frenzy of bubbles rising to the surface.

Estery saison yeast aroma. Citrusy with some vanilla.

Peppery saison flavor dominates the beer. Any fruit flavor is pushed into the background and doesn't add much. Lingering vegetal, slightly phenolic, bitterness on the finish. Somewhat sweet straight-forward malt profile.

The bitterness on the backend and little fruit flavor sort of kills it for me. Man this beer sucks.

Serving type: bottle

01-20-2012 15:43:45 | More by BearsOnAcid

GrumpyJunglist

California

2.6/5  rDev -24%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

A: poured a very clear light brown color. Looked very frizzy on the initial pour. very bubbly head that faded way too fast.

S: smelled like more like a wheat beer with big fruity tones.

T: I hate to say this because it admits i drank it, but it kind of reminded me of Budweiser wheat w/ some fruit juice.

M: very confusing mouth to me, the finish was nothing like a saison.

O: Has to be one of the worst lips of faith beers I have had, Kick was awesome, clutch was okay, the dry hoped pale was pretty good, but this is junk.

Serving type: bottle

01-15-2012 02:16:47 | More by GrumpyJunglist

dirtylou

Washington

2.63/5  rDev -23.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

22oz bottle, split

appearance: served in hopleaf tulip, strong amber body with a 1/2" beige head. Appearance certainly off-line with style

smell: medicinal, light tartness

taste: the most hit or miss series in all of beer - this beer is a fail. If it's a saison, it's one of the worst saisons I have ever had. The flavor profile is medicinal and artificial with no real yeast crispness - the tartness seems forced. Drinkable, but obviously really derivative for the style, and not in a good way.

mouthfeel: bigger than a saison without any of the desired traits

overall: pass

Serving type: bottle

12-02-2011 17:35:14 | More by dirtylou

Huhzubendah

District of Columbia

2.7/5  rDev -21.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Bottle shared by Sumner. Thanks man.

The beer is clear and golden orange hued with a small head that fades rapidly. The aroma offers dank hops, earth, fruit, alcohol. The flavor offers fruity hops and booze. Not too good. A few ounces of this beer is more than I need. Out of balance. Low carbonation with too much alcohol in the flavor. No thanks.

Serving type: bottle

12-17-2011 00:02:48 | More by Huhzubendah

WastingFreetime

Wisconsin

2.7/5  rDev -21.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Reviewed from notes.

Pours out an orangish-amber with a flash head and minimal lacing. There are some medium sized sediment floaters in the glass, as well. Heavier side of medium body and carbonation levels.

Smells and tastes of sweet pineapple and passionfruit with a caramel malt and lemon verbena herbal accents. The flavor has an additional emphasis on green appleskins and musty malts that wasn't apparent from the nose. There is also a significant cooked vegetable off-flavor that I would have expected from a macro, not from New Belgium. It could have been a good brew if not for that off-flavor, and sadly I cannot recommend this one because of it.

Serving type: bottle

10-24-2012 21:17:31 | More by WastingFreetime

TheGordianKnot

Tennessee

2.73/5  rDev -20.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5

Poured from bomber into FFF XV pint...

A- Golden orange color with a two finger, light off white head. Foamy and spotted lacing about.

S- Smells like an American saison, yeast and esters are subtle and soft. Definitely get the light fruit prickly pear aroma. Peppery in the end.

T/M- A little sweeter than I like my saisons. Nice fruit flavors and yeast funk, though still not as full of farm flavors and phenols as the real deal. Bitterness is on the back end, but dissolves before finishing too harsh. Hops contribute floral flavor. Alcohol genuinely shows its face, not my cup of tea in a saison... Body is medium and a little too full per style. Carbonation could be kicked up also.

O- Would have enjoyed this more if released during summer months I think, but still wouldn't have loved it. Just too full, sweet, and alcoholic for a saison. Drop the ABV to a little under 5 and I'd be on board for a prickly pear saison.

Serving type: bottle

01-26-2012 19:38:38 | More by TheGordianKnot

zeledonia

Minnesota

2.75/5  rDev -19.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 2 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

Pours a very clear, medium orangey amber. One finger of off-white head, average retention, good lacing.

Smell is fruity and powerfully yeasty, with a bit of spice hiding behind. I get unidentifiable pulpy fruit. Then a heavy load of pungent yeast. After that some clove and a touch of pepper sneak in. Pleasant.

Taste is not what I had hoped for. Those varied flavors, which mixed so well in the smell, really clash here. There is an odd twang, bitter/acidic - hard to pin down, but I don't like it. It seems like half hop bitterness, half nasty alcohol. Boo. Outside of that, it has a ton of yeast riding the wave of fruit.

Mouthfeel is good. Body is pretty light, actually feels a bit thin. Good carbonation, fairly quick finish (which I appreciate, since i don't like how it tastes).

This one is a disappointment. Something went wrong with the flavors, and they just don't work. I was excited about this beer, but IMO it's an experiment that didn't work. Guess that's why they call it lips of faith.

Serving type: bottle

12-10-2011 02:03:47 | More by zeledonia

argock

Virginia

2.83/5  rDev -17.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5

Poured from a 22oz brown bomber into a Duvel tulip. No obvious freshness date. Purchased at Wine Warehouse (Charlottesville, VA) for $6.99.

A: Slightly hazy orange with 1-finger of eggshell frothy head with average retention and some spotty lacIng.

S: The aromas are weak except for the fruity esters and lightly caramel base maltiness. The hops throw some floral in there, but there just is not a lot of character there aside from strong but generic fruitiness.

T: The flavor is not a lot different than the aroma although there is a bit more complexity with more pronounced passion fruit and a lot more pear. The alcohol is strong and together with the fruitiness lends a syrupy character to the beer, kind of the opposite of a crisp saison. The hops are fruity and floral. Yeast esters are there but have a more banana and bubble gum quality. There is some black pepper I the finish. It comes off as a not subtle, high gravity Belgian pale ale.

M: The feel is all wrong with this beer if it's supposed to be a saison. It is way way too syrupy and heavy with low carbonation -all the things a saison is not supposed to be

O: A really disappointing beer from New Belgium and way off the mark. It tastes and feels more like an imperial hefeweizen with pear and pineapple added.

Serving type: bottle

02-29-2012 03:14:23 | More by argock

ChainGangGuy

Georgia

2.85/5  rDev -16.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5

32 ounce growler - $6.99 at Hop City in Atlanta, Georgia.

Appearance: Pours a near clear, copper-amber body with a finger of pearl foam. Small flecklets of lace on the way down.

Smell: Sweet-scented, tropical fruitiness (but also some overly ripe apricot) with a noticeable candy-like angle to it laid onto bready malts and a muddled medicinal hint. I'm not liking where this is headed.

Taste: Treacle doused bready pale malts with a full, forward sweetness. Tropical fruitiness, but also some less-than-tropical apricot puree. Low medicinal hint, faintly spicy. Warming alcohol presence on the thankfully expedient finish. I didn't like where this ended up.

Mouthfeel: Medium-plus body. Medium carbonation. Near sticky on the tongue and totally lacking some much appreciated, much needed crispness.

Overall: A bit heavy on the palate, a bit too warming, and too sweet for me, making it a rather unbalanced, unrefreshing saison.

Serving type: growler

12-29-2011 19:14:19 | More by ChainGangGuy

billab914

Virginia

2.85/5  rDev -16.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

220z bottle into my Mad Fox glass. Dark amber in color with a thin white head barely covering the top of the beer. Nice lacing on the glass as I drank it.

The aroma shows a lot of the Saison yeast to it in the form of an earthy, herbal like spice. I get a bready, toasty and caramel flavors coming out of the malts as well. Just a little bit of the juicy, pear flavors are there in the aroma.

The taste shows more of the malty, toasty, caramel flavors to it at first. The finish is where the saison yeast meets the juicy pear and passion fruit flavors. I get a good amount of tartness to the fruits that linger into the finish. The flavors just didn't work well together for me.

The mouthfeel is a little heavy for the style and carbonation is average. Overall it was a decent beer, but not a great one. The flavors just didn't come together all that well for me in it. It was something that was cool to try the first few ounces of, but the rest of the glass wasn't very easy drinking.

Serving type: bottle

01-01-2012 19:33:31 | More by billab914

neorunner

Virginia

2.85/5  rDev -16.7%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Blind Beer #3 from DougoftheFuture in Round 6 of the Blind Beer BIF.

Roughly a week after sharing the first two blind beers at Desaparecido's, I find myself back in the same kitchen. This time I only brought one blind bottle, a 22oz-er. Popping the cap we get aromas of banana and clove, the banana component becomes even more apparent once we poured it into the glasses. Appearance wise it has a color of an overripe golden delicious with reasonable dense head. The taste is belgian and strong, we both agree that this is a belgian style tripel. Desaparecido's wife thinks its a saison and we both agree that she's crazy. Neither Desa nor myself are overly fond of this beer, something cloyingly sweet in the malt profile that is throwing us off. I think the sweetness is also adding a slick taste to the mouthfeel, something I'm not overly fond of.

We decide to finish our glasses and allow Desa's wife to have the rest of her "saison" as she was thoroughly enjoying it.

The reveal: New Belgium Prickly Passion Saison. Well. At this point Desa and I are ready to pack up our pride and go home. The smug look on Desa's wife is devastating. There were no good saison qualities in this beer and it was way too malt heavy for what I expect even in a high gravity saison. If you re-packaged this beer as a tripel I would agree 100%.

Well played curveball!

Serving type: bottle

01-31-2012 14:55:10 | More by neorunner

StaveHooks

Oklahoma

2.9/5  rDev -15.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

22oz served into a Duvel tulip.

A - Pours a brassy amber with 2 fingers of cream colored head. The head maintains well and forms a thin ceiling. Very little lacing.

S - Spicy Belgian yeast, pears, peaches, lemon, hay, green apples, banana taffy, fruit bread, caramel malt.

T - Stone fruit upfront-mainly peaches, candy sweet malt, hints of banana taffy, biscuity, peppery alcohol hits towards the end. Finishes wet for a Saison.

M - Prickly carbonation, light alcohol heat, heavy bodied.

It reminded me of peach cobbler. It was pretty sweet and didn't really finish dry enough. I wouldn't seek this one out.

Serving type: bottle

05-20-2012 00:20:08 | More by StaveHooks

jsh420

Illinois

2.93/5  rDev -14.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

pours clear copper orange with a 2 finger head that left some spotted lacing

smells banana yeast not very complex at all

taste brings the same flavors with some sweet malt and a little mustiness

mouthfeel - a medium body with little carbonation slightly sticky

overall a boring beer that did not live up to the name or idea

Serving type: bottle

01-23-2012 04:18:42 | More by jsh420

Beer4Baltimore

Maryland

2.93/5  rDev -14.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

22 ounce bottle.
A - clear filtered light golden brown with a one half finger head and a constant trail of bubbles.
S - lightly fruity with not much else happening.
T - the taste follows the smell in that it is lightly fruity. Definitely pear and I do detect a bit of passion fruit. There is an underlying and very weak saison earthy taste but it is quite weak.
M - not as carbonated as I expect a saison to be and it's a bit syrupy with an alcohol bite.
O - I'm let down by this one and I regret having bought two bottles before a tasting.

Serving type: bottle

03-11-2012 01:17:20 | More by Beer4Baltimore

beertunes

Washington

2.98/5  rDev -12.9%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Served in bubble pint glass. Poured a clean, clear orangeish-amber/light gold color with just the thinnest ring of off-white head that had low retention and OK lacing.

The aroma wasn't particularly noticeable, the main aspects were yeasty spice over some base grains. The flavors were the same, clean grains with an OK spice flavor from the yeast. I didn't pick up any fruit or cactus flavors.

The body was on the thin side of medium for the style. Drinkability was good, you could have a couple, but I find most Saisons to be very drinkable. Overall, an OK beer, nothing wrong or bad, nothing outstanding or noticeable either. If you want to introduce someone to Saisons this would be a good one to use as a baseline. If you're already experienced with the style, you can skip this for a better example.

Serving type: on-tap

12-16-2011 23:53:13 | More by beertunes

RedneckBeerz

North Carolina

3/5  rDev -12.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Poured part of a 22 oz. bottle into a Rogue Dead Guy Ale pint glass which produced a golden yellow brew with a smidge of haze and a snow white half inch of head that dwindled almost as soon as it was poured. Minor ringed lacing around the glass.

The smell is very unique, although it's definately a Belgium Ale smell. Shaken with the glass under a coaster the smell is BOLD ... I don't know a description for it. It's not malt, or fruit, or sugar, it's just a BOLD aroma. Uncovered, the brew smells like Belgium crystal sugars.

The flavor is earthy yeasts, crystal sugars, and minor malts. Minimal tartness, medium dry on the tongue, with medium low carbination. This is my 1st Saison/Farmhouse Ale and my 6th Belgium Style brew and I've come to the conclusion that basically, of the styles that I have tryed, there is just to friggin much crystal sugars for me. They remind me more of wine than beer. Don't get me wrong, I am amazed at the brewing, fermenting processes that these "brews" go through. The multiple yeasts and fermentation temperatures, the ageing and bottle conditioning is amazing, but damned; the crystal sugars just overwhelm these brews TO ME (but then....I am a redneck).

I loved Alagash Four, Westmale Trappist Dupple, and St. Bernardus Abt. 12, but while the other 5 Belgium styles that I have tryed were very complex. it all came back to the crystal sugars. Even with an open mind, alot of these "brews" are beyond what I would consider joyful drinking. The sad part for ME is that every time I go to purchase beer, it seems like some other brewer is on the "Let's brew a Belgium" bandwagon.

Ok getting down off my bandwagon. To me this brew misses on the fruity aroma and flavor. I picked up no spice and the bitterness was on the low side and the touch of sweetness was more like a shovel full.

Perhaps more cellering would make this an outstanding brew, but as I drink it right now it is a C brew at best.

Serving type: bottle

12-05-2011 14:44:32 | More by RedneckBeerz

oline73

Maryland

3/5  rDev -12.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3

I had this on-tap at Max's. Poured into a sample glass.

Appearance: Pours a clear golden with a finger of fluffy white head. Solid retention and mild lacing.

Smell: A little bit sweet with lots of grain coming through. Lots of herbal notes and a bit soapy.

Taste: Herbal up front with Belgian spice from the yeast. Not particularly fruity, which is a bit disappointing. Sweet grain and a bit watery overall.

Mouthfeel: Medium body with aggressively tingly carbonation and a crisp, dry finish.

Overall: The taste was alright but not nearly full enough. I wouldn't have this one again.

Serving type: on-tap

12-11-2011 04:52:17 | More by oline73