La Folie Reserve- Onyx Coffee Lab
New Belgium Brewing Company

This was a very interesting beer. It’s a sour oude braun with a coffee addition. Did ya ever? Pours a purple chocolate color with a significant mocha head. Oh, did I mention this was also a nitro draft? Aroma has coffee and dark fruits.

The flavor is most remarkable. You certainly get the coffee flavor but also the underlying sour brown ale. It’s quite remarkable actually. My brain is running hoops trying to figure out what’s going on.

One of the top 5 “most interesting” beers I’ve ever had, and I loved it!

this is incredible, way up there with the geisha coffee one they did way back, maybe the first one the bottled nitro if i remember right, but its definitely been awhile, too long maybe to recall specific nuances in these coffees, but this is lovely. bottle procured at the amazing asheville brewery location, much cheaper than i got the geisha for, but i believe still produced in fort collins, where all or most if this kind of thing is still done for them, nitro bottling is such a sick format for this, and it kind of elevates it to super fancy right away, opened with my brother on our birthday trip, pretty awesome. the beer almost looks like espresso on the pour, super creamy crema head on it, not quite as brown as coffee, more tan, but all lathered up and lasting from the nitro, on top of reddish to chocolate brown base liquid, not quite clear but still with a little shine, and looks very refined to me anyway, pretty with the nitro creaminess. the nose is incredible here, not muted from the nitro it doesnt seem, that sometimes happens. still nice pucker but softened some, bigtime baking chocolate and good cocoa powder, high end espresso shot, beautifully and masterfully pulled, stone fruit and raisin nuance in the coffee, red wine and even port wine in the base beer, vanilla and old wood, lightly musty and funky but also the higher order oud bruin type acidity, light citrus, dark soil, leather, black cherry, bourbon even, so impressive, curiously fresh for such mature beer, no coffee fade at all, not sure when this came out, but the coffee is magic in the aroma, makes me want a shot of the coffee just on its own, never heard of these guys before i dont think, but i am already impressed. the flavor isnt quite as epic as the nose but real close, which i think i remember from the geisha too, light red wine or even raspberry vinegar up front, plenty of rich malt character, layers of chesnut and almond before the obvious chocolate side of this, not super heavy roasty from the coffee, never into smoke and ash and char, not close to that really, raw honey, maybe apricot or peach but maybe thats the label telling me i should be tasting it, some juiciness, low acid from the coffee but still sour beer, warming cocoa, plum and prune and old port, hints of anise and even cinnamon, perhaps from the coffee too, just sensational, so much dark fruit, well layered grain, wood, and fermentation character, all working with the coffee. smooth and creamed up, but also puckery and quick, luxurious feeling without sacrificing the signature sourness, beautiful palate recall on each sip too. loved this one, occasion worthy and high end, as good as i remember the geisha one being, that was grand reserve, not sure the difference if any, but i think its sweet theyre still doing these after all these years!