Lips of Faith Super Cru headlines a Glenross scotch tasting

At the Daily Pint for a free Scotch tasting from Glenross and it's packed! But there's no better place to wait than a pub with Foosball and shuffleboard.

Tasting was interesting and we learned about the process of Scotch, which is similar to beer brewing in several respects. Afterward I ask for a new beer on tap from New Belgium Lips of Faith series, a Super Cru.

The Super Cru is a 10% Belgian Strong Pale Ale but the color is amber and more akin to a Belgian Abbey beer. This beer is unbalanced with an odd mix of sweetness and fruitiness that sweep through a boozy body. All this is probably a product of a Belgian and Saison yeast mix, and while I appreciate the effort, it didn't quite come together. ARMAGEDDON rating.

Lips of Faith Eric's Ale from New Belgium reunites me with old friends

With Nick, Matt and David at the Daily Pint but I'm way more focused on the sweet, sweet Buffalo Chicken Cheese Steak sandwich from the food truck outside right now. I haven't seen Nick since before Christmas and Matt since November, which is a felony.

So the owner of the Daily Pint is a fairly infamous Brit who looks like he worked down on the wharves. He either wins you over with his dry sarcasm or you get in a pissing match with him and he throws you out of the bar. I'm in the former but I have seen the later. He's open to but doesn't advertise tasting but I know better so I ask for tasters for two Lips of Faith, Dark Heather Saison (too fruity) and Eric's Ale, which I know nothing about. One sip later my mouth twists and turns on itself. I must be a Wild Ale, my least favorite beer style for the following reason. "Damn that's sour!" I exclaim. The owner responds, "I like it. Try it again."

Haha um, okay, I don't shine to taking orders regarding liquor but this one is apparently non-negotiable. I taste again and suddenly my mouth isn't exploding. Rather, the shock of the first sour punch wore off and the second sip allows my tongue to get a little more acquainted with this wild man sour. With each subsequent sip I grew in appreciation.

Also, let the record show this might be the only time I will ever pair a Sour Wild Ale with a spicy buffalo chicken sandwich. Raaaaandom.

It's been a long time since I took a big gamble on a beer and chose an out-of-the box style, and even rarer that I was talked into drinking. Looking back, I realize I was in bit of a beer rut by only trying styles that I was familiar with. I'm glad this hard ass owner doesn't take no guff. He threw my naivety back at me. Life isn't always IPA's and Belgian's, it's also a little sour. That's really cheesy and I hate myself right now. 

Eric's Ale pours color of dark golden hue. It's a smooth sour ale with mild fruity notes (especially peach) and a hint of sweetness. This beer grew on me and pairing it with Buffalo Chicken wasn't the best, but it worked out. On the night before our halfway point, thank you Daily Pint Owner for broadening my perspective and reminding me why I started this experience. THE ROCK rating.



As I mentioned, tomorrow is our halfway point for the year. Matt provided a quote tonight his Father passed down which resonated with me and the beer every day experience; "Half of life is just showing up." We've been doing this legit, by the rules, for 6 months. As Matt pointed out, how often do people announce they will do something and never follow through? I will start and finish an experience that I will look back proudly at and with an untold number of experiences that would never have happened without this.

On a lighter note, the next major milestone will be in two months, as my daily relationship with beer ironically surpasses any female relationship I've had (current record for a relationship is 8 months - I'm more of a sprinter than a long distance). When I started this, I quickly realized that when I finished this, my longest relationship wouldn't be with a girlfriend but with beer. HA

So yeah, beer has been and will hopefully continue to do good things for me.

Lips of Faith Vrienden a Allagash & New Belgium collaboration is what bees drink

So I'm loving the Family Guy Star Wars episodes. Also, beer. This brew is a collaboration between the almighty Allagash and New Belgium, which they released in their limited run Lips of Faith series. Vrienden is "Friends" in Flemish and apparently you welcome your friends with hibiscus and endive because that's what they made the beer with. 

It has 8.5% alcohol and tastes like I just licked a spring meadow. Obviously, there are strong floral notes that dominate the beer but the sweet malty Belgian base serves the flavor profile well. The first couple sips surprised me in a good way, but the more I drank the sugary floral notes became too much. Like bad accents, it's good in limited doses; so when you distract your friend by yelling in your worst East German accent, "There's Hans Gruber and he has the detonators!", I would only take a sip of your gullible friend's beer and not chug the whole thing. ARMAGEDDON rating.

Would C-3PO drink Lips of Faith Vrienden?

Back to work, and it was a pretty long one today. Bluh, came home and sat down to watch Chopped (I'll fight anyone who hates on that show) and then the Family Guy Star War series, we're in the middle of Something Something Something Dark Side. Good shit.

I grabbed this over the weekend at Whole Foods because most of the Lips of Faith beers have been good. It's a New Belgium/Allagash collaboration. Allagash-good, New Beligum-fingers crossed. I STILL can't smell that well thanks to my annoying cold, but I can smell this, and it's a little sour, funky, a little like a saison. Maybe that's coming from the hibiscus or endive? What does endive smell like? Isn't hibiscus a flower? What's going on here? It also tastes sour, fruity, though not as bad as a saison. A slight bit of smooth malt right at the beginning, but then its all sour from there. Finishes pretty nicely, sour/tart doesn't stick around too long, unlike...

Anthony Daniels. Kinda fruity, but overall a good thing. That is, a good thing if you can stand his odd mix of Star Wars sentimentalism (endive) and English manners (hibiscus). A fair match of personal qualities and beer flavors . Not really, just go with the "fruity" thing and it works.

Lips of Faith Sahti is Finnishly Sharp

Sahti is a traditional beer from Finland made from a variety of grains, malted and unmalted, including barley, rye, wheat, and oats. Ahh the Finnish. How little I know about you. And this won't change either because I basically fell asleep reading their Wikipedia page.

The New Belgium Lips of Faith Sahti is a traditional rye beer brewed with Juniper. Should prove to be interesting.

Dog sitting the insanely smart Kalmari

It's crisp, sharp and smooth but doesn't bring much to the table. The Juniper is a nice touch and used sparingly. Even though I'm not a fan of rye beer, the drinkability is still good. This is close to a Transformers rating, but rye just can't seem to win me over. Sorry Sahti, sometimes that's just the way the cookie crumbles. ARMAGEDDON rating.

Lips of Faith Belgo India Pale Ale

Arrived back at 10:30pm from an AMAZING whirlwind trip to Chicago to be poured this fellow. After a week of busts, I wasn't hopeful but...

Jambalaya me some more of that Belgo IPA

This surprised me in an excellent way, as did David with an bowl of jambalaya (which I lapped up like the dog I am). A belgian IPA, this handsome devil is in the same style as the Green Flash Le Freak but it's more subtle. The belgian body is upfront and light citrus follows. The beer finishes with a emphasized but not overwhelming hop.

Tired from traveling and sore from being slapped around by the bunch of nappy headed hoes we drank during the week, David and I were both happy to profess that we really dug the Belgo and would definitely drink it again. I really love this hybrid belgian/ipa style and for being excellent and flattering my palate, welcome to THE ROCK.

Lips of Faith Belgo India Pale Ale and gumbo breath

I spent 4 hours making gumbo today. It was a ton of fun and it tastes great. Just picked up Walker from the airport, and made him a bowl. Now we're going to enjoy a beer.

Aaaaaand we've got a good one. The Belgo implies it'll be a Belgian style IPA, and it hits both styles on the head. The combination of flavors is excellent. Good mellow sweetness leads off and then the subdued yet strong hops kick in, all the while staying smooth. Great beer that I will get again.

This is Jimmy Fallon. New kid at the party, but completely capable of standing on his own. I hope more people catch the fever and force this to stick around for awhile. It deserves some serious attention.

Lips o' Faith Imperial Berliner Weisse

I wrote my description of the beer at 1:59am Friday morning so guess what? I was slightly "overserved" and apparently too drunk to use my opposable thumbs for blackberry picture taking, but for those visually inclined the label goes something like this:

Did Paul Gauguin draw this bottle?

The LIPS OF FAITH series by New Belgium is an ever changing collection of tiny batch brews for internal celebrations or milestones. This fellow is an centuries old Berliner Weisse recipe who was punched in the face by some Imperial (Stormtrooper), resulting in a naturally sour medium bodied lemon and floral infused bier.

That's a mouthful to say as well as taste, because I thought it tasted like a rotten apple orchard. I obviously have class coming out of my ass, but an actual professional might describe its taste as being similar to a Lambic, which isn't my style but all the ladies out there might enjoy this. But I won't buy again, it's just not my style. THE ISLAND rating.