New Belgium’s Lips of Faith Biere De Mars

Howdy fellow snobs –

I hope you are enjoying this spring like non-winter weather we’ve been having. Upon arriving home today I noticed my neighbor cut his grass – which it needed, as mine does but I refuse to cut it on principle until at least March 1st…maybe mid-March, I haven’t decided yet. Anyway, last week I picked up a New Belgium Biere De Mars on a visit to The Westland Market and Beer Gallery. I’ve always like New Belgium’s beers but haven’t quite known what to make of the Lips of Faith series until recently. My first experience was with La Folie last May and while my post didn’t come right out and say it – I wasn’t going back for a second round of that beer. As a matter of fact – as I could not, in good conscious, pour the remainder of it out, I went over to a friend’s house around the corner and let him finish it off. I’ve been told by several people that you have to develop a taste for sour beers – well, I’m not there yet but I’ll keep trying. In the mean time whoever keeps putting the “Sours are the Chuck Norris of craft beer” sign in my front yard, please stop. It’s just getting creepy now and the Mrs has an itchy trigger finger -just saying.

Anyway, on deck tonight is Biere De Mars which according to New Belgium is their favorite “harbinger of spring.”  This beer has a nice golden hue, a bit cloudy, nice head that laces nicely on the glass and lingers across the top. This beer cranks in at 6.2% ABV and 22 IBUs. I get the malts on the nose first but also orange, lemon, maybe some apple – it smells clean and reminds me of that first day of spring where you can smell nature beginning to wake up from it’s winter slumber – which in Knoxville was about two weeks ago. On the tongue it’s a little sweet, grainy a bit fruity-tart even, and honestly the carbonation is a bit more than I anticipated – a bit like the fizz from a tonic water but much more subtle. Don’t know that I’ve ever described a beer as “airy” but it seems appropriate here.

Final snobs: While this isn’t typically the style of beer I go for, it’s a great spring beer that I am really enjoying.

Cheers!