New Belgium Tart Lychee

Okay, time for a review.  I first had this beer June 7, and I've kept going back to it at the store on account of how ridiculously good it is.  It is a very strange beer, and surprisingly well-priced for the style (I expected it to be at least 33% more expensive).  Tart Lychee is a blend of two beers, one of which is an oak-aged sour ale named Felix and the other of which is an ale brewed with cinnamon and lychee fruit.  The ratio is 56% sour ale, 44% ale.  At some point, the fruit portion was also fermented with brettanomyces, a genus of wild yeast (much more funky than brewers yeast).  The name is apt; the beer is tart, not full-blown sour.

The following review was written on June 25th.

Poured from an undated 22oz Lips of Faith bomber into my ever-handy Duvel tulip glass.

Tart Lychee pours a cloudy and opaque golden orange hue, similar to a witbier.  It is topped by a single finger of white foam that halves quickly, leaving behind a soap suds-esque film on top and a bit of lacing.

The aroma of this is incredible.  I’m reminded of what Goose Island Fleur (RIP) tasted like at six months of age, except with more tropical fruit thrown into the mix.  I have no idea what lychee fruit looks, smells, or tastes like, but my nose tells me it must taste similar to pineapple.  In addition to pineapple, I get various tart berry aromas, strawberry, and some fruity (not funky) brettanomyces presence.  Extraordinary.

I must seek out some of this lychee fruit at a grocery store; this beer is delicious.  “Tart” was the proper term to use here; it has a puckering sensation, not stomach-punishing sourness.  Profoundly fruity with strong notes of berries, pineapple, and even kiwi.  The brettanomyces makes itself a bit more known here with some moderate funk in the background.  They could have used the brettanomyces more aggressively here and let it ferment through, as the texture of the beer is medium-full: not off-putting, but definitely thicker than most wild/sour/tart beers.

After drinking through my bottle, I went out the next day and bought two more.  Next time I go to the store, I might buy six more.  Seriously, I could easily drink a whole bomber of this to myself, any day of the year.  This is just unbelievably delicious.  It could be a little drier, but otherwise I really like the direction they went with Tart Lychee.  The world of sour/wild beer sure could use more moderate, tart ales rather than the enamel-shredding acidity most go for.

See New Belgium's website for more information.