New Belgian Brewing Co.: CLUTCH (Lips of Faith)

I've always thought it a bit odd for a brewery and a band to collaborate. Lagunitas named a series of beers after Frank Zappa albums, but that was done in celebration of the 40th anniversary of each album. And while I have heard of breweries naming beers after the spirit of certain genre's (and of course Decibel Magazine's inaugural edition of Brewtal Truth, in which styles of beer were compared to sub-genre's of metal), this seems new to me.

The maker's of the some of the most medicore beer in the USA has continued to surprise me with their Lips of Faith Series. How can the makers of Fat Tire simultaneous produce fine, well crafted Belgian styled beers is beyond me. Whatever it is, it's working.

While on a recent excursion to Portland, Oregon I picked up the gem at the famed Belmont Station. Lips of Faith has collaborated Maryland's Clutch on a new beer, a dark sour ale to be exact. They had me at the logo. You may be asking how does such a collaboration occur? It's not uncommon for a band to be fueled by beer, and maybe fans with a good ear for booze can detect the elixir's influence on the band. So perhaps the inverse can happen to the beer.

This beer pours a viscous black with some tan head scatters shortly after its arrival. Big notes of coffee, toffe, some caramel malts and dare I throw in chocolate, for the hell of it. There is also just a hint of wild yeast.

I haven't had many sour dark beers, not this dark, but the good ones are top notch. Allow me to add Clutch (the beer) to this exclusive group. This drinks like a stout and a sour. Dry start, nice smooth sour finish. Some subtle wood notes in the middle. Towards the end the sour notes begin to wash over what little stout flavors survive. I suppose I could describe the this beer as a battle between bass and treble, in which J.P. (the band's drummer) on the skins comes out the victor. There's some sweet notes that linger, but the wood and the sour seem to really dominate this palate. No complaints, though. The bitterness of the hops and chocolate notes seem to really help carry the sour flavors, which are dominant, but not overpowering. After letting this beer sit a bit the roasted malts make themselves known, but still cannot compete.

I don't know how they do it, but the guys at New Belgian Brewing know how to make a good sour. And not just a good sour, an accessible sour. Trying to match a beer to a band's personality is definitely challenging, if not interesting task, but most of all a fun one. I'd be interesting in seeing how the Minutemen get translated into beer.