New Belgium Brewing Releases Its First Lips of Faith Beers of 2013

04 Jan 2013 --- Coffee cherries, dates, feijoa and hibiscus are just a few of the creative ingredients found in the first round of New Belgium’s Lips of Faith beer series for 2013. The Lips of Faith series, which features New Belgium’s more esoteric and palate-elevating creations, will introduce two new selections per quarter throughout the year. Heavenly Feijoa Tripel is a collaboration beer with Montreal’s Dieu du Ciel! brewery and Cascara Quad is an ale that channels the Trappist tradition. The beers will be available in 22 oz. bottles in select markets now through March, or while supplies last.

Cascara Quad is a dark, strong and surprisingly delicate ale made with dates and coffee cherries. Channeling the Trappist tradition, it’s brewed with an ethereal malt bill, and spiced with the fruit of the coffee bean (cascara). The aroma brings dates, cherries and pipe tobacco right to the nose and builds layers with hints of spice and fruity Belgian yeast. Once on the palate, Cascara Quad starts swinging clove, fig and molasses. Each sip offers sweet warmth, deep complexity and fleeting dryness. Alcohol by volume is 10 percent.

Heavenly Feijoa Tripel combines Dieu du Ciel!’s love of hibiscus flowers with New Belgium’s passion for strange and worldly fruit. Feijoa, also known as pineapple guava, has a sweet, aromatic flavor, which makes the aroma of Heavenly Feijoa Tripel luscious and tropical. The beer has Belgian yeast and Nelson Sauvin hops, combining to make a sweet fruit taste, mild spicy tones and a sharp bite. Hibiscus adds a cranberry tartness and an ambrosial quality to the color. Alcohol by volume is nine percent.

“These two beers kick off the New Year with creativity and warmth,” said New Belgium brewer Grady Hull. “Collaboration has become an important element of many Lips of Faith selections and Heavenly Feijoa Tripel is just divine.”