Biere for Spring

Winter is finally behind us (I think), with the temps creeping up in the 70s and 80s.  Last weekend's snow kept things on the chilly side, albeit for a short bit, but at least I was able to get a batch of beer done whilst wearing shorts to boot.  Anyway, the arrival of spring means the arrival of one of my favorite styles of beer; Biere de Mars or you might see it's close relative the Biere de Garde.  I remember the day I found this particular style, I was about 25 and a buddy and I were at the Liquor Mart in Boulder.  I was wanting to try something new and New Belgium was still producing 6-packs of their Biere de Mars so I picked one up.  That, I think, just might have been the beginning of my love for craft beer.  Fast forward a few years and finding this gem had been just about impossible.

A hair over a year ago, I made a trip up the road to the New Belgium Brewery for some sampling and to see what was going down.  They had done some more remodeling since the last time I'd been, and the energy was, as usual, high with people hanging, and all enjoying some good conversation and great beer!  After settling down at a table, the tasting list slid to a stop in front of me.  After my first glance, I immediately saw those three beautiful words, "Biere de Mars"!  What a great thing to see after such a long break since my last taste!  Their Lips of Faith Series had just been started and this baby was luckily a part of it!  After going through my samples and some good company, I had to stock up on some bombers of my favorite lost love.  I coveted those babies and only brought them out on special occasions.  Well, tonight as I was in my beer fridge, I saw the last one was chilled and awaiting to be consumed.  Tonight was as good of a reason as any to enjoy my last one, right?

The bio:
New Belgium Brewery's "Biere de Mars" (Lips of Faith)
6.2% ABV
22 IBUs

So after popping the top, I poured a glass, and man, what a sight!  It had a nice burnt orange color (Hook 'em!).  This is quite possibly one of the prettiest beers to be seen!  The head poured a nice cream-white and about a quarter-inch thick that stuck around for quite a while.  Actually, after about 10 minutes there was still  nice lacing which was pleasing to the eye.  The nose had a bit of citrus, and the longer I let it sit/breath, I got a touch of mango, then the hops started making their presence known.  Now for the taste; the first splash on my tongue gave a bit of wild yeast sourness.  Those of you who have an aversion to sour beers, don't let this scare you away; it's not enough to say this would be a 'sour' ale, but there's enough to recognize it.  The 2nd 'act' in flavor is a slight citrus taste that has a small 'bitter-sweet' note that is typical of citrus peel, which also makes it's Belgian heritage known.  There's also a bit sweetness of oat malt and a warm alcohol feeling on the exhale.  At 6.2% it's not enough to push through all of the other flavors, but as the beer warmed up, the alcohol profile was more apparent.  Another note that presented itself as the temp rose was the hop profile.  Lightly hopped, I wouldn't even say there's a punch of bitterness, but enough of that flavor to know it's there; it definitely did not get in the way of all of the other flavors.  If you ever find this at your local liquor store, definitely give it a go!

Some others to try would be Southampton Publick House's Biere de Mars, Ommegang's Biere de Mars, Glacier Brewing's Biere de Mars Montana.