New Belgium – Lips of Faith – Imperial Coffee Chocolate Stout

Howdy fellow snobs –

This past week we got a heads up from Knoxville’s very own beer guy, Jeremy Walker, that two new Lips of Faith bombers from New Belgium would be hitting the shelves by the end of the week. Yesterday I swung by McSrooge’s and picked them up. While I haven’t cracked the second one yet, the Mrs and I did get into the Imperial Coffee Chocolate Stout.

First of all, stouts are big business in this snob’s house. Especially when you add “coffee” and/or “chocolate” to the name. While many will pair a stout with dessert – which I’m a big fan – I’ll still drink them with anything, or alone, in the dead of winter or heat of summer. So, while I’m probably biased I’m also a bit of a stickler.

This beer pours nicely with a generous head and a great black body. It laces nicely on the glass and has an excellent coffee aroma. Cranking in at 9% ABV*, the alcohol in this beer is pretty subtle, and on the tongue you get a nice coffee flavoring with a bit of sweetness that lingers nicely on the palate. Now, while chocolate is in the name, I didn’t get a lot of this in the beer – neither in the smell nor the taste. It seemed like it was trying to make itself known at the end of the taste but the coffee overpowered it. I’m not complaining but it should be known this is more of a coffee than a chocolate stout – at least in this snob’s opinion.

Final Snobs: We always enjoy seeing what New Belgium will crank out next in their Lips of Faith series and this is another good beer. I’d definitely pick this one up again.

Cheers!

*New Belgium’s website very clearly states 10% ABV but the bottle very clearly says 9% ABV – but what’s 1% among friends?