Lips Of Faith - Ben's Saison
New Belgium Brewing Company

 

 

Bottle shared at Sour Fest

A: The pour is a cloudy golden orange color with a white head.

S: A strong fruit smell. Lots of sweet apples, pears, and apricots are all there. There's a solid bready base to this beer and a lot of yeast to go along with it. Not much spice/phenol to it, though.

T: Just the slightest tartness of lemon zest to go along with all the sweet fruit notes. Still the same apricot, apple, and pear notes to the beer. A nice bit of bread and malt flavor with a touch of caramel and yeast.

M: The body is medium with a moderate carbonation.

O: Pretty decent all around. Apparently this was a pilot batch and will be made full scale at some point.

From the growler. Pours a hazy dark golden orange with a thin white head that quickly goes to a thin collar.

The aroma is banana, spices (clove), lemon and some earthy yeast.

The flavor is sweet acidic and slightly tart citric fruits with some light banana and clove spice. Some musty yeast comes out as it warms. The mouthfeel is medium bodied and smooth with low carbonation.

Overall, a nice saison. It's a little too much on the sweet and fruity side - more funk would be good.

Sampled from the Brewery.

A - Good head when first poured into taster. Reducing down to a good lacing. The medium cherry amber coloration gives a good clean look.

S - Smells of a zinging cranberry with hints at its malt and hop combination that balances well.

T - Cranberry taste with a citrus aftertaste that makes the mouth water in anticipation of the next sip of this Lips of Faith series.

Ben's Saison, another lips of faith series of beers, with raspberries and orange peel. Pours a cloudy yellow to orange color, with a soft white head. Limited retention but does hide to the edge with some lacing.

The nose is light overall. Some light fruity notes with noticeable saison yeast characteristics. The fruit has some citrus note but nothing really distinctive. Actually picked out more of a fresh ginger aroma. Some pepper notes on the back end that blend well with yeast.

The taste is more distinct. The malt starts off with a bready and wheaty flavor. Some nice spice notes from the wheat but does have a slight astringent finish to it. The fruity notes are there but non-distinguished. Some hints for raspberry but is boarder line cranberry, but the orange peel really comes out in the finish. A great yeast finish with some light esters and Saison yeast flavors.

The body is moderate with a slightly dry finish. Good carbonation. Overall, some nice Saison notes but would have liked a bit more of a fruity flavor.