Lips Of Faith - Cascara Quad - New Belgium Brewing

Bazaar

Texas

3.43/5  rDev -5.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Poured from a bomber into a tulip.

A - Medium brown/reddish color, hazy, very little head with some bubbles, minimal head retention.

N - Some yeast esters, including banana and clove, malty, some coffee and dark fruit.

T - Very estery, candi sugar, some alcohol burn, tart cherries, pepper, slight coffee, tobacco. Alcohol burn in the after taste followed by dark fruit. I left about 6 oz to warm up to about 55 degrees, and, at that temperature, the beer was very, very boozy.

M - Properly carbonated for the style, lingering, medium body, bubbly, but allows flavors to meld well.

O - Decent offering. Good variation of the style with its hints of fruit, coffee and tobacco, but it's a little too subtle and the alcohol burn may be too present to make it great. Still, it was enjoyable.

Serving type: bottle

03-11-2013 12:55:44 | More by Bazaar

MattyG85

Minnesota

4.28/5  rDev +17.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a 22 oz. bottle into a New Belgium Globe glass. Bottle says best enjoyed by August of 2014.

Appearance: Pours a deep brownish amber with some ruby. Moderate amount of bubbles and about two fingers of off white head that slowly recede into a thin creamy layer. Leaves a good of amount of clinging lacing.

Smell: A sweet, yeasty, and fruity Belgian tinged aroma with lots of cherries. Belgian yeast with some hints of funk, pepper, and cloves. Toasted malts with hints of caramel, toffee, biscuit, chocolate, coffee, and grains. Sweet candied sugar and molasses. Lots of fruit with big hints of cherries and dark raisin, figs, dates, plum, and prune. Also some hints of bananas, apple, tea leaves, tobacco, and leather. Subtle presence of earthy hops in the background. A nicely complex aroma.

Taste: Like the aroma hints, a complex and sweet taste of yeast, dark fruit esters, and toasty malt. Belgian yeast upfront with notes of clove, pepper, and funk. Toasted malts with bready notes of biscuit, caramel, toffee, chocolate, coffee, and grain. Belgian candied sugar and molasses sweetness. Big fruit taste with some notes of banana, apple, and lots of cherries throughout. Dark fruit notes of figs, dates, raisin, plum, and prune juice. Also some notes of tea, leather, and tobacco. Taste is sweet and somewhat tart but not cloying. Pretty good.

Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with a moderate amount of carbonation. Rich, creamy, chewy, and somewhat slick. A little alcohol heat is felt.

Overall: A pretty interesting and good beer. Good cherry flavor with a good presence of spicy yeast and toasty malt. Sweet and rich but not too sweet.

Serving type: bottle

05-24-2013 06:45:53 | More by MattyG85

mscudder

Georgia

3.5/5  rDev -3.8%

05-24-2013 01:26:08 | More by mscudder

JeffreyJDavis

North Carolina

3.75/5  rDev +3%

05-23-2013 21:09:06 | More by JeffreyJDavis

robby23

Iowa

3.11/5  rDev -14.6%
look: 3 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 3

I picked this bottle up because I haven't had a Quad for New Belgium brewing company. As soon as i opened the bottle i was over whelmed with a smell of cherries. The appearance was a thin white head that just floats on the top of the beer with nice lacing. The smell was dominant ed by spices with the hint of cherries. The taste was just all over the place the flavors were not as balanced as they should of been. Overall not a bad beer is just decent to me.

Serving type: bottle

05-22-2013 05:19:53 | More by robby23

Beaver13

Colorado

2.4/5  rDev -34.1%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

22 oz bottle. Pours ruby amber with a big creamy off white head that retains well and laces the glass.

The aroma is sweet toffee malts, with dark fruits and some roasted alcohol.

The flavor is sweet toffee malts and dark fruits with a lot of harsh alcohol. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with low carbonation.

Overall, a sweet boozy mess. It tastes a bit like their dubbel with a ton of alcohol.

Serving type: bottle

05-20-2013 05:29:56 | More by Beaver13

tbryan5

Louisiana

3.5/5  rDev -3.8%

05-20-2013 03:18:56 | More by tbryan5

fooziex

Texas

3.75/5  rDev +3%

05-19-2013 19:46:24 | More by fooziex

SonOfKyuss

Virginia

3.75/5  rDev +3%

05-19-2013 14:57:46 | More by SonOfKyuss

nick_asian

Nevada

4.5/5  rDev +23.6%

05-19-2013 07:12:03 | More by nick_asian

Shatter

North Carolina

4/5  rDev +9.9%

05-18-2013 23:11:44 | More by Shatter

rangerred

Tennessee

2.99/5  rDev -17.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 3

Had on tap.

Pours a hazy dark red with a thick white head. Great head retention as well as lacing that hangs around for a very long time.

The aroma is full of cherry and other dark fruit along with a bit of spice and herbs.

Tons of cherry up front in the aroma along with dates. It almost reminds me of cherry kool-aid at first that's how strong the cherry is. This transitions into a more herbal and tobacco taste as the flavor progresses. Banana and clove are faintly present in the background along with alcohol becoming more apparent in the finish.

Overall, there is just way too much going on here. It is a little bit messy with nothing seeming to meld just right. A nice attempt at a unique quad but I feel it is just too overdone.

Serving type: on-tap

05-18-2013 02:05:07 | More by rangerred

canawler

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev +9.9%

05-17-2013 14:02:10 | More by canawler

InspectorBob

New Jersey

3.25/5  rDev -10.7%

05-17-2013 12:29:16 | More by InspectorBob

ianjsullivan

Maryland

3.71/5  rDev +1.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

ST: 22oz poured into a tulip glass.

A: Hazy amber, almost brown, with a good thick white head with nice lacing.

S: Odd light cherry (herbal anyway, possibly rose) dark fruit (plum) spice.

T: A bit of date, raisin, and almost coffee in the finish, but very, very green.

M: Heavy

O: Interesting flavor, not very sweet. The finish is very herbaceous. There is some spice as well, but the green flavor controls the finish.

Serving type: bottle

05-16-2013 19:55:30 | More by ianjsullivan

StoutHunter

Michigan

3.24/5  rDev -11%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3

I picked up a bottle of New Belgium's Cascara Quad from the Lips Of Faith series last month for $8.59 at The Lager Mill. It's been a while since I've had a quad, so I thought I would give this one a shot since the Lips Of Faith series is pretty solid, so lets see how it goes. 2013 Vintage. Poured from a brown 22oz bottle into a chalice.

A- The bottle looks really nice, it's got a nice and intricate design to it that reminds of some native Peruvian artwork, I'm really digging it. It poured a very hazy mahogany color that took on a bright amber color when held to the light with three fingers worth of light tan head that died down to a thick ring that stayed till the end and left tons of lacing behind. This beer looked pretty good, the color was good with the head and lacing being very good.

S- The aroma starts off with a high amount of sweetness followed by a nice cherry like aroma. Up next comes some malts that impart a dark malt and a slight dark bread aroma with a good amount of dark fruits showing up, I get some of the date aromas, but there's also some figs and little bit of raisins in the background that take on a booze soaked raisin like aroma when mixed with a higher amount of a medium boozy aroma. The aroma is nice, i liked the cherrys and the dark fruit aspects, but it was a little on the sweet side and the alcohol could have been hidden a little better.

T- The taste seems to be similar to the aroma, but lighter and less complex. It starts off with a higher amount of sweetness that has a slight candied sugar like flavor to it with some sweet malts that impart a slight caramel and brown bread like flavors. Up next comes a pretty dominate boozy taste that is fairly warming and it's followed by some dark fruits with a slight bit of cherrys, but it's the date and figs that seems to stick out the most but they are still on the lighter side. On the finish there's pretty much no bitterness, just some boozy and warming alcohol. with a dark fruit, cherry, and boozy aftertaste. This was an average tasting quad, the flavors were pretty thin and it was the sweetness and alcohol that seemed to show up the most, I wasn't impressed.

M- Not that smooth, rich, warming, medium bodied, with a good amount of medium carbonation. The mouthfeel was just ok, it was too thin for the style and not that smooth at all.

Overall I thought this was a mediocre beer and an average at best example of the style, it wasn't that true to style and it seemed like the sweetness and the alcohol took the place of all those great malty quad flavors, it was really lacking balance. This beer didn't have good drinkability, it wasn't too smooth, it was boozy and the flavor couldn't hold my attention, I think it would be hard for me to drink the whole bottle, I'm glad i'm sharing it, half a bottle is more than enough for me. What I liked the most about this beer was the appearance, i thought this beer looked pretty good and it looked pretty true to style. What I liked the least about this beer was the balance, it was pretty off, the flavors that shouldn't stick out the most did and that made for a pretty harsh quad that wasn't very drinkable. I wouldn't buy this beer again, it might get better with age, but I'm not willing to risk it and I wouldn't recommend this to anyone, I don't think it's a good example of the style. All in all i was let down with this beer, it wasn't what I was expecting, I had high hopes after trying their Tripel that was released with this beer, but this turned out to be a let down. Better luck next guys, this one needs some work. So far this is my least favorite beer that I've tried from the Lips Of Faith series.

Serving type: bottle

05-16-2013 03:54:30 | More by StoutHunter

BillyTWilliams

Georgia

3.5/5  rDev -3.8%

05-16-2013 00:05:51 | More by BillyTWilliams

bigaltemple

Colorado

3.76/5  rDev +3.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

22oz. Best by August 2014

Deep amber with ruby highlights. Big and fluffy cream colored head leaves behind some sticky sheets of lace.

Smell is surprising, as I was not expecting the cherry to be so dominant. This blends well into the malt backbone, with some figs and dates in there as well. Very mild coffee underneath.

Cherry is a bit subdued in the taste. Rich maltiness ends with a lingering tobacco finish. Crisp, medium body. Wouldn't mind this being a little thicker.

Price can't be beat at $6/bomber. However, I don't feel all the components meld seamlessly enough to drive me to get more.

Serving type: bottle

05-15-2013 03:27:10 | More by bigaltemple

mrwelk

North Dakota

4/5  rDev +9.9%

05-15-2013 01:54:00 | More by mrwelk

rainfairy

California

3.75/5  rDev +3%

05-14-2013 07:43:27 | More by rainfairy

warmstorage

Georgia

4/5  rDev +9.9%

05-13-2013 20:09:03 | More by warmstorage

stoney1031

Texas

3.25/5  rDev -10.7%

05-13-2013 02:53:53 | More by stoney1031

Otisimaas

Texas

3.75/5  rDev +3%

05-12-2013 22:44:09 | More by Otisimaas

SSEngelbrecht

Louisiana

3.75/5  rDev +3%

05-12-2013 21:42:32 | More by SSEngelbrecht

daledeee

Iowa

3.75/5  rDev +3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Found this one in the back of my frig. A 22 oz bottle.

Poured into a large wine type glass it is kind of a muddy brown with nice lacing and off white head.

Nose was promising with dates but also smelled very boozy.

The bottle says dates and cherries. Taste is full of dates and dark fruit. Medium sweetness and spiciness. Somehow the flavors just don't come all together. It seems like all the ingredients are there but overall not a very balanced brew. OK but not great. Mouth feel is the right carbonation but the booziness does something funny to the palate.

Serving type: bottle

05-11-2013 21:56:29 | More by daledeee