New Belgium La Folie

Style: Flemish Sour Brown

ABV: 6.0%

Background

Welcome back  to Getting a Woody. It has been a while since we have dived into the wild world of wood aged beers.  In this installment we will take a  look at the  beer that started it all for me, New Belgium’s La Folie. La Folie was the first oak aged beer I had ever tasted and not to mention it was also the first sour beer I had ever tasted. From that point on I was hooked. Back in 2006 while I was attending school in Greeley, CO, I would make weekend trips up to Fort Collins to visit friends. From there we would do brewery tours and this was where I first tasted the wonderful concoction of La Folie. New Belgium has been producing La Folie since 2004. This beer hibernates  in large french oak foudres between one and three years. Foudres are large oak cask that are typically used for aging large volumes of wine. New Belgium uses these foudres to produce a deeply complex beer with a tart sourness that keeps begging you to come back for more.

Tasting

La folie pours a deep mahogany with some nice reddish hues around the edge. The beer produces a deep tanish head that is thick but slowly fades leaving nice lacing on the glass. Aroma of sour cherries dark fruits dance out of the glass finishing with faint notes of oak and acidity. The aroma is very complex and inviting. The first sip brings mouth puckering sour cherries and hints of tart dark fruits. The beer slowly roles into hints of oak and dark malts. The beer has a great pronounced sourness. Overall, I understand why this has been and will continue to be one of my all time favorite beers.

Aging

Not sure if you can hold on to such a great beer for that long.

Recommendation

WillyD Approved. New Belgium has done a great job of  pioneering american sours. This beer is a must buy. Find it before it sells out.