New Belgium Spiced Imperial Dark Ale (Lips Of Faith Series)

New Belgium Spiced Imperial Dark Ale is a Herbed/Spiced Beer brewed with spruce tips and Grains of Paradise and aged on white oak spirals, 9.5% ABV. It is hard to read the white ink on a white label, but this does have a best by date of 05/28/17. This beer was brewed in collaboration with Anne-Françoise Pypaert of Villers-Devant-Orval.

This pours with a pretty red/orange/brown color that has some nice clarity. The off white head settles to nice little layer, lacing the glass as it fades. Some sweet caramel, mild oak, generic spice and clove great the nose upfront. It’s a bit milder than I was expecting, but I do like the nutty pine note the spruce tips seem to be bringing to the aroma. I think I just now described the taste as well. A lot of caramel malt, clove and spices dominate the taste, with a dry oak note adding some bitterness as well. A touch boozy on the finish as it warms up a bit.

This is certainly a flavorful beer, but it l feel like it could use another layer of complexity on the taste. It was certainly worth a try.