New Belgium Brewing Co. La Folie
Belgian lambics have fascinated me ever since I first got interested in beer. It was Belgian Trappist beers that really drew me to beer in the first place, but lambics captured my imagination in a way that no style of beer had until that point. And so when I decided to begin homebrewing, one of the first homebrew books I bought was Jeff Sparrow’s Wild Brews. After reading this through, and trying nearly all of the lambics that I could get my hands on, I found myself reaching further afield for beers in this style. Needless to say, I quickly became interested in beers from breweries such as Russian River and New Belgium.
I’ve written before about Russian River’s “wild” beers, Temptation and Supplication in particular. Early on those were beers that I went out of my way to find. But New Belgium’s La Folie was actually the first American beer in this style that I was fascinated by, curious about, and excited to try. I remember reading about how they produced it using large wooden barrels, and how the concept and recipe were introduced by Peter Bouckaert who had come over to New Belgium from Rodenbach.
Similar to how Flanders style red beers such as Rodenbach are made, La Folie is aged in large wooden barrels for several years before bottling and relies on a range of yeasts beyond the traditional saccharomyces cerevisiae do their part to lend funk and tartness to the beer. Lactabacillus yeasts play a large role here, similar to lambics. The beers typically also end up with a strong wood element from the extended aging in barrels. At bottling time, the older beer that has aged for anywhere up to three years is blended with younger years, often times 2- and 1- year old beers. Again, this is similar to lambics, gueuze in particular which is a blend of 1, 2, and 3 year old lambics.
So La Folie is essentially New Belgium’s effort to put their own spin on, the traditional Flanders red style beer from Belgium. Along with Russian River, they are definitely one of the pioneers of American wild ales, and they continue to be inventive and chart new paths. Their Lips of Faith series includes several beers that use unique yeasts and aging processes.
This 750ml bottle was a gift that I was seriously lucky to receive. And so we sat on it for a little while until the perfect opportunity to drink it arose. La Folie rolls in at a moderate 6%, which is good if it’s just you and someone else sharing the large bottle.
The beer pours brownish red with rich, cranberry highlights. The nose is a veritable fruit symphony with apricots, sour cherries, raspberries all intermingled, underscored by notes of oak. The palate is very, very tart and light-bodied with a soft texture. The combination here makes the tartness stand out all the more. Striking fruit flavors abound – cranberries, cherries, raspberries, hint of apricots again – underscored by a note of tannins and creaminess. A little more sweetness than on the nose. The finish is dominated by sour cherries, lingering on a wave of tartness and underscored by a note of vanilla.
This is right up there with the best American wild ales that I’ve drunk. It’s similar to the Russian River Supplication with its fruit character, but is more sharp and tart, and doesn’t have the wine-overtones that the RRBC beer has that add a layer of richness. Nonetheless, the flavors in La Folie are very good and consistent throughout, not tailing off or getting more sour at the finish. This is a must-try for any fans of “wild” ales – if you’re lucky enough to live somewhere they distribute to!
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