Lips of Faith Heavenly Feijoa Tripel
I’m always worried when I don’t recognize an ingredient in a beer — especially one that has it’s own place in the actual name of that beer. New Belgium’s Lips of Faith series has never really let me down in the past so I didn’t allow my ignorance of the feijoa fruit (or pineapple guava) get in the way of making this purchase.
The Colorado brewer matches whits with Quebec-based Brasserie Dieu du Ciel for this latest LOF release. Billed as a tripel, the brew uses this mysterious fruit and Dieu du Ciel’s penchant for hibiscus to create an interesting array for flavors. The end result of this collaboration is a beer that is delicate and light, yet has a welcome bit of tartness that lingers in the clean finish. It may not be my favorite beer from this series, but I still enjoyed it well enough.
Appearance
Heavenly Feijoa Tripel pours with a thin white head that rested briefly atop the golden aber brew before fading to a patchy ring.
Aroma
The beer smells grainy, citrus fruity, herbal and yeasty. I definitely pick up the hibiscus, but not having had any experience with the feijoa, I wouldn’t know how it presents itself. If it weren’t for the Belgian yeast, I’d have guessed this to be a gruit in a blind sampling.
Taste
Again, I’m not at all familiar with what the feijoa fruit should taste like, but I assume it’s the tart, citrus-like character that fills the back half of this beer. Upfront the brew is grainy, yeasty and has a bit of hibiscus herbal quality before fading to the gently tart and slightly drying finish that also has a good deal of warmth from the 9% ABV.
Overall
This is certainly one of the more un-traditional and unique tasting tripels I’ve ever had. It was refreshing and light on the palate in terms of flavors, but I like my tripels a little more true to style. That said, I still enjoyed this one a good deal. It was more than appropriate as I enjoyed it on one of the first warm Spring days this year.
Rating: 3.75/5
