226. New Belgium Le Fleur, Misseur?

New Belgium is in the house yet again, and going down smooth-tastically. This makes six: we’ve had Transatlantique Kriek, Biere de Mars, Fat Tire, 1554 Enlightened Black Ale and La Folie. Like TK, BdM, and La Folie, Le Fleur Misseur? is part of the Lips of Faith series. So yummy. Our friend Jeff came over and brought the two other beers we tried, so we had something of a small tasting of Belgian Pale Ales.

Le Fleur, Misseur? is a ridiculously pale clear straw color with a light white head that dissipates quickly. The nose is floral and funky, and pretty clean. Starting lightly sweet with some brettanomyces funk flavors, Le Fleur moves into a crisp dry middle with light fruit and floral notes, finishing with a touch of sweetness that is swallowed by the dryness—the dryness at the end almost sucks away the previous flavors to end rather clean. Le Fleur is light bodied and crisp, and also very dry—the beer is well attenuated and very light colored for being 6.2% ABV. The carbonation level is pretty low, but works well with the beer. A delicious beer—light and crisp, enjoyable and well balanced. Also a deceptively simple beer, but we’re guessing not so simple to make—the combination of Belgian Pale Ale and brettanomyces funk makes for a interesting beer we’ll be drinking again as soon as we can find some more of it.

From the New Belgium website: “Deep burnished gold with a slight haze, Le Fleur Misseur opens with pineapple, clove and honey notes. Dry-hopping produces a flower leaf aroma supported by tones of fresh bread and honey. Bottle conditioned with our special house strain of Brettanomyces (wild ale) yeast, Le Fleur finishes dry and slightly herbal. Produced for New Belgium coworkers to celebrate our 15th anniversary, Le Fleur has roots in the earliest days of our history. In 1988 founder Jeff Lebesch sat weary on the side of a Belgian road when a young lad passing by picked a delicate yellow flower and offered it to Jeff. ‘Le Fleur, Misseur?’ Jeff misspelled the boy’s comment in his journal as he accepted the offering. A treasured memory, a beer to treasure.”

ABV: 6.2%

We tried Orval Trappist Ale as a comparison; Orval had a bit more citric bite, and more carbonation, but we can see the similarities between the two—there is a similar dry sweetness and color to both.

ABV: 6.9%

Finally, we also tried La Trappe Isid’or Trappist, which has a much more malty body with dark fruit and caramel; while it was a delicious beer, it is not quite in the same family as the last two—bigger and chewier.

ABV: 7.5%

(2/11/2010)