1001 Beers: La Folie

Beer Number 27: New Belgium La Folie

I don't even know where to start. This is one of my favorite beers ever! I wish could have tasted earlier bottles of this, you know, before my first taste of 2010 especially since I found out that they used to be corked! I always love the bottle art on the Lips of Faith series as well. I want to collect them just for that. It sounds like I am not the only one excited about this brew either!

New Belgium releases a variety of beers that draw their flavor and character from wooden barrels, but La Folie was the star the moment it was first released.

Not long after the began at New Belgium in 1996, brewmaster Peter Bouckaert bought twelve used wine barrels. He purchased a variety of Brettanomyces and other wild yeast, then found others along the way--harvesting what returned in old kegs of other New Belgium beers, for instance. Bouckaert tasted the beer every fourteen days, and the tastings became among the best attended at the brewery. When the time came to bottle the first batch in 2000, employees from the brewery enthusiastically pitched in.

The first batches of La Folie were sold only at the brewery, before being released to a broader market. When it comes to bottling this sour ale, employees from throughout the brewery still show up to help.

Now I don't know the exact pronunciation of this beer but it is damn delicious. I'm down to my last bottle of this one... Though, maybe I should have found more bottles before I killed my supply :'(



2011 La Folie

So, I remember having this one after it first came out and a few times since then but I do not remember it being this SOUR!!! I love it :D There is a generous vinegar sensation that just fills the palate but nice cherries just sneaking in and giving you something to rub up against the faint tones of citrus and funk. This is the beer I want to be drinking. Like all the time. I am seriously considering buying at least six bottles of 2013, finding it in a bar and only drinking it there until I feel compelled to open my first bottle... That could be only 1 week though... Maybe I better come up with a better plan...

974 Bottles Of Beer To Go!

Cheers!