Review of New Belgium Le Terroir Dry Hopped Sour Ale
Posted By Zach Saturday, 23 April 2011 17:40
I recently had a work trip out to Denver and needless to say, had some excellent beers. It happened to be Colorado Beer Week so I had some great Russian River brews on tap that probably don't get out of NoCal very often. Unfortunately, I didn't take very good notes, but I did have enough foresight to start a review of a nice, newer New Belgium Lips of Faith beer on the plane. Read on to see what I thought of Le Terroir, a sour ale.
Taste: B+ This beer is listed as a sour and it certainly lives up the reputation. From the first swig, Le Terroir delivers with a very tart bite, which lingers with not much change. A guy who tried a sip as well said it made his teeth hurt, if that gives you an idea. There isn’t a lot of fruit flavor like a lambic, so fans of those may not enjoy this as much. It says it is dry hopped, which seems a bit unusual for a sour, but it doesn’t seem to have a ton of effect. Of course, my taste buds could be ruined by too many swigs of things like Steel Reserve.
Packaging: B+ This bottle is a bomber like the rest of the Lips of Faith series and has a pretty cool design. According to the New Belgium Web site, Le Terroir means “of the earth” in French and the bottle matches that theme. It has nice burnt orange, brown and tan colors (duh, earth tones!) with a scene that vaguely resembles a hill and valley with some other stuff thrown in. I wouldn’t say it is their best bottle design, but still pretty cool.
Value: B+ This beer cost around 7 bucks for a 10 ounce pour, which isn’t bad. For the life of me, I can’t remember how much the bomber cost I got at a liquor store. I’m guessing it was in line with other Lips of Faith series, which is generally reasonable at between $7.99 and $12.99 depending on the series. Maybe I could get off my fat ass and try to find the receipt for an exact amount, but that doesn’t seem likely. Regardless, I wasn’t blown away by it being too expensive.
Drunkeness: B Le Terroir comes in at a nice 7.5% which isn’t great when stacked up against all the giant 10+ beers floating around these days, but that is a nice punch. Also, doesn’t match the levels of some fine malts, but I’d think you wouldn’t even consider Le Terroir if a high ABV malt was on your mind. The only reason it doesn’t get higher is because I could see this beer wearing on you if you keep drinking it. I don’t know that I would want more than one 10 or 12 ounce pour in one sitting. The tartness would overwhelm your taste buds pretty quickly. So, getting hammered on this beer is not recommended.
Overall: B+ I think I really like this beer, but will certainly need another taste test, so I’m glad I bought a bottle to try that version. The draft version is definitely not to be missed by those who love sour beers. While it may be a bit much for some, most places will probably give you a 10 ounce pour, so not all is lost if it isn’t your cup of tea. I’m still not entirely sure what the dry hopping does in this case, but maybe it needs some age for those flavors to come through. Bottom line, this is another solid entry into the already excellent Lips of Faith series from New Belgium.