Twisted Spoke 15th Anniversary
New Belgium Brewing Company

La Folie on steroids. Incredible balance and complexity with great oak and vanilla notes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Written from memory years after I rates this beer...
I consumed this after it was aged for about 2 years. It was a perfect sour all around. What brewers attempt and some accomplish is making a great beer. It took multiple great beers to make this bottle. And the blending was spot on to make it everything you want for this style. I think aging the entire blend in apple flavored whiskey barrels had a lot to do with it. Nice apple pucker. But not a Jolly Rancher. More of an actual tart apple sitting in some good whiskey. The most flavorful sour I have had to date.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

750 mL bottle poured into a snifter.

Appearance - Deep reddish brown body. Nice white head.

Smell - Malty aroma. Musty red wine aroma. A little bit of cherry. Oak.

Taste - Lots of dark fruit. Oak is strong. Cherry. Red wine sourness. Musty finish. A little bit of that whiskey flavor back there.

Mouthfeel - High carbonation. Not all that sour. Medium body, but carbonation makes it seem lighter.

Overall - I wasn't enthused at first, but it improved as I drank it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Review from notes. Consumed 3-26-11 at my first epic Philly tasting side-by-side with NB Falling Rock 10th and Bottleworks 10th. Thank you, Dan! This was #3 of the three for me (by a fair margin).

L - Little bit of a gusher but not much. Rich mahogany that is nearly clear - looks supple and rich.

S - Light and a bit hard to pull out of the glass. Not too acetic, the brown beer base has light cherry, a dusting of coriander, a small scoop of red cherries, perhaps some peach pie, and ethanol whiffs that are presumably reminiscent of apple whiskey.

T - Acetic acid, light cherries, brown oak, like vanilla, stone fruit. Coriander is noticeable, yet the apple whiskey seems to make the otherwise nice finish just fall off.

M - Smooth, silky, and soft, the beer is properly full to yield a palate that is completely covered in flavor, yet the carbonation is a bit lacking (perhaps because of the slight gushing).

O - Not bad, but I find the small amount of apple whiskey to clash with the base beer and bring down the experience. It also had a tough time competing against the other beautiful NB wales. I am very curious to try this again to see if it has come together more nicely, as I drank this very shortly after it was first released.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Opened at TN whales tasting 3/16/2013. Thanks to CurtisMcArthur for sharing this, been wanting to try it for years.

Pours a ruby red color, very pretty, small head that fades pretty quickly.

Smells pretty tart, some ketchup and apple, maybe other fruit, brown sugar mixed with acidity.

Taste is more tart, really pretty sharp, apples again but also raspberry/cherry and other fruit come out more than in the nose. Some ketchupy character again, pretty acidic...not so far off stylistically from a Flanders red.

Great mouthfeel, good carb and also smooth and creamy, pretty sharp bite from acidity but that doesn't bother me, reminiscent of c&c la folie.

Great beer but no better than c&c la Folie and probably not quite as good, not worth the extra effort to trade for probably.

8.8/10

Snifter, reviewed from notes. Thanks for sharing, Russ.

Pours a clean amber color with a small near white head that quickly faded into a thin collar. The nose is more sugary than I was expecting and reminds me of Pez candy – in a good way. I get notes of sugary sweet red fruits and peaches on the nose. The taste is sugary as well with notes of red fruits, fruit punch, apple juice, cranberry juice, and a hint of caramel and spice. Overall the flavors are very acid and tart, with a good dose of lemony citrus as well. Booze is low and lends a touch of woody barrel quality. Mouthfeel is dry, carbonation is frothy and bubbles up on my palate, and the body is just on the full side of medium. Overall enjoyable albeit unique. A real treat, thanks again Russ.