New Belgium Lips of Faith Dunkelweiss

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 10 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

Aroma is rich & fruity (sorry about that, but it's true!), mainly banana with tones of wheat and yeast and a strong hint of malt. It pours a dark, warm, chocolaty brown with a fine-bubbled, pale yellowish tan head. Mouth-filling flavor is malty, wheaty and yeasty with an undertone of banana and a hint of caramel. Thick, smooth, fizzy texture leaves a nice sharp and fairly persistent tingle.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 3 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 3

Pours a dark prune .. great head on the pour, dies down to a sticky splat, good lacing .. . light maple sweetness, bitter bark, cloves, and light spice heat .. . kinda muddled and shows alot of alcohol burn in the mouth .. . needs to be thicker, way to thin .. . no! i thought it was gonna be silent, it just kept going and getting louder.. .

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

Sampled at 1702, Tucson, February 2009
This beer arrives from the tap a fairly dark color (even for a Dunkel Weizen), it is a bit hazy and has a murky brown color. The head is a pretty thin wisp that is a pale, tan color. The aroma has lots of bubblegum notes to it as well as some banana notes and a backdrop of clove. This smells like a hearty banana bread, and is quite nice. There is also a touch of tart, wheat aromatics here as well.

The flavor has a light tartness to it that is balanced by a chewy malt character that is sweet, but more in a bread / caramelized malt way than a simple sugar sweetness. This is nice and chewy, it is not quite light enough to be a session beer, but I would be happy to drink a couple of these in an afternoon. This is a great beer to pair with food as the mat keeps the beer going strong even with he savory soup I am enjoying right now. There is a nice toasted malt character here (not really roasted though) with lots of chewy, bread like notes. The traditional Weizen flavors of clove and banana are nicely noticeable and there is a bit of spicy pepper to this beer as well.

This is just a fantastic example of a Dunkel Weizen. This has easily exceeded my expectations of this beer and I will be happy to drink this a couple more times before it leaves my local.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Tasted on tap at the Celebrator Best of the West Beerfest on 2/15/2009. This dunkel pours a dark brown color from the tap. Medium sized white foamy head. The aroma is caramel and sweet, a touch funky. A medium bodied dunkel. The malts are caramel, wheaty and sweet. The hops are earthy. It’s a touch funky and musty, but mostly sweet and malty. Nice carbonation. Nice beer. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean, crisp and dry. Aftertaste is slightly sweet and spicy.