Bottoms Up

Attended a New Belgium beer dinner last night (Thursday, May 29) at Spenger’s in Berkeley. More on that later. But the news is that the brewery has arranged to ship a succession of its more exotic beers, including the fabled La Folie, a Belgian-style sour ale, to a select list of pubs in the East Bay and San Francisco.

According to Jennifer Gilardi, New Belgium’s Bay Area rep, the brewer will ship a new, “irregular” beer once a month or so. The program’s called “Lips of Faith.” First beer will be New Belgium Le Fleur Misseur, a strong golden ale, fermented partially with wild yeast. La Folie, the Belgian-style intensely sour ale, is coming up too, Jennifer said. Also Eric’s Sour Peach Ale, which earned a 98 from Beer Advocate. Also, Abbey Grand Cru.

Pub list so far includes the Bistro in Hayward, CA., Luka’s and the Trappist in Oakland, La Trappe and Toronado in San Francisco. Jennifer says other pubs on the penninsula and in the North Bay will be added soon.

About Lips of Faith: Jenifer says its a program at New Belgium in Fort Collins, CO. that gives employees, not necessarily brewers, free rein to design their own beer. Sounds interesting.