Lips of Faith Sahti

Another varied entry from New Belgium's more exciting line (or at least in my mind, and for all you who think fat tire is the greatest of the bunch you may be reading the wrong blog). This variation of ale is Sahti, a juniper based ale that is originally from Nordic punching back Finland. That's right the land that brings you one of the rarest languages in the world, Simo Hayha (look him up), and travel via reindeer sled bring you this variety of juniper based ale. This is the first type of this ale I have tried that is actually labeled by it's correct name (Dogfish head makes Sah Tee, which is Sahti, blended with Chai Tea, which I guess is a close name). Traditional Sahti is made with Juniper berries providing the bittering factor mostly in olden times, nowadays as with this entry they use hops with the process as well. I'm happy to report though that the hop flavor does not translate at this one at all, yup hop heads time to face the ground and walkaway to a downtrodden Charlie Brown song. The Juniper though is much lighter than I expected going into this beer. It smells strong initially when you go to take that first sip, but doesn't seem to translate into a real strong taste. I read on the website that New Belgium added some citrus elements, I actually think the Juniper flavor is tempered out a little too much by mainly the orange taste. They should either remove this flavoring, or taper it off something fierce, as I believe the Juniper flavor could be so much better. The Rogue Juniper Pale ale by comparison has a much richer Juniper flavor, the finest example is Alba Scots Pine ale which uses no hops and pine with the fresh spring juniper which was the bar I had set when setting my mind on drinking this ale. Well New Belgium dove right under that bar, hopefully Finland petitions them to increase the quality on their national brew. As with all these style ales for the ease with which this ale can be drank, watch out cause it usually marks in at about 8% alc. With the right combination of food though, this ale may come to life, but as a straight I want to try this beer, might want to pass it by, especially at the price. I've only found it at the specialty beer stores so far (Beer Junction, 99 Bottles, etc.), but you may be able to find it at some specialty grocers. Well I guess it's a first try, but for this Lips of Faith entry it looks like New Belgium might have been channeling their inner Fat Tire.