New Belgium Brewing’s latest special release, La Folie Grand Reserve: Geisha Sour Ale, blends the much sought-after Panama Geisha coffee with New Belgium’s award-winning La Folie. The result? An elegant, dark sour ale that celebrates the artistry and passion behind two of the world’s most beloved liquids.
Geisha’s journey begins in Panama at Hacienda La Esmeralda, where the Peterson family grows the coveted Geisha coffee. Whole roasted Geisha beans are added to the sour ale, preserving the coffee’s brilliant mandarin and soft jasmine floral notes which play nicely with the sour plum and cocoa flavors synonymous with La Folie.
(READ: A Sour Beer Pickle: Can American Brewers Better Define this Beer Style?)
“La Folie is the sour that launched our wood beer program nearly 20 years ago, and as we reimagine our specialty portfolio, we’re revisiting many of our most-loved and acclaimed beers, presenting them in new and unique ways,” said Andrew Emerton, New Belgium specialty brand manager. “This take on La Folie is adventurous – reminiscent of coffee’s silky, rich attributes but counterbalanced with the bright, complexity of a foeder-aged sour. This will be the most expensive beer we’ve ever made, and it’s so very worth it.”
A custom blend of Colorado-grown malted barley and wheat from Fort Collins-based Troubadour Maltings boosts the foam and marries all of the flavors, bringing the sweet, floral notes to the forefront. The beer was bottled on nitrogen for a soft, velvet-like mouthfeel and body, and is recommended to be served chilled and fresh (not cellared).
New Belgium partnered with Fellow B Corp, Sustainable Harvest out of Portland, Oregon, who brokered the coffee deal. A portion of proceeds from the beer will contribute to a grant that will distribute climate resistant coffee varietals to small scale coffee farmers across the globe.
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La Folie Grand Reserve: Geisha is 7.9% ABV and available in 750mL bottles in select markets while supplies last. To find it, along with others from New Belgium, visit the Beer Finder or download New Belgium’s Beer Mode app.
For more information, visit NewBelgium.com/Geisha. 
About New Belgium Brewing
New Belgium Brewing, makers of Fat Tire Belgian Style Ale and a host of Belgian-inspired beers, is recognized as one of Outside Magazine’s Best Places to Work and one of the Wall Street Journal’s Best Small Businesses. The 100% employee-owned brewery is a Platinum-level Bicycle Friendly Business as designated by the League of American Bicyclists, and one of World Blu’s most democratic U.S. businesses, and a Certified B Corp. In addition to Fat Tire Belgian Style Ale, New Belgium brews thirteen year-round beers; Citradelic Tangerine IPA, Citradelic Lime Ale, Fat Tire Belgian White, Voodoo Ranger IPA, Voodoo Ranger Imperial IPA, Voodoo Ranger 8 Hop Pale Ale, Dayblazer Easygoing Ale, Tartastic Lemon Ginger Ale, 1554 Black Ale, Bohemian Pilsner, Abbey Belgian Ale, Trippel and a gluten-reduced beer, Glutiny Pale Ale.
About Troubador Maltings
Troubadour Maltings is a craft malthouse built by Steve Clark and Christopher Schooley, who work with independent cereal seed growers throughout Northern Colorado to produce and secure grain for the development of unique, character-driven malts that can inspire the wildest imaginations of the brewers, distillers, and enthusiasts of craft beers and spirits. Based in Fort Collins, Colorado, Troubadour is dedicated to fostering community and conversation through storytelling and raw materials production with intent and creativity.
About Hacienda La Esmeralda
The lands that make up Hacienda La Esmeralda where first brought together as a single estate by a Swede named Hans Elliot in 1940. Coffee had been growing on lands in and around Hacienda La Esmeralda since at least, 1890, and it was this huge reservoir of coffee knowledge and culture that helped the Petersons redevelop much of their land for coffee farming and even make their first coffee farm expansion at Palmira in 1988. It was a happenstance of altitude and lot separation that discovered Geisha’s amazing flavors and aromatics.
About Sustainable Harvest
Sustainable Harvest is a B Corp certified green coffee importer based in Portland, Oregon focused on specialty coffee from smallholder producers in Latin America, Africa and Asia. It pioneered the “relationship coffee” model, bringing transparency to the coffee supply chain by building long-term relationships directly with coffee growers and specialty coffee roasters in the Americas, Europe and Australia. It works with more than 200,000 coffee farmers to boost their incomes and improve their quality of life through increased market knowledge, engagement in the coffee supply chain, and adoption of healthier, more sustainable growing practices — all while sourcing consistently high-quality coffee that consumers love.
About the Bean Cycle
Bean Cycle was founded in 2004 by three siblings, Chas, Lesley, and Penelope. We are passionate about coffee, our community and sustaining what we believe in. After graduating from CSU it was difficult to leave our beloved Fort Collins, so we stayed and built something we believed strongly in; an ecological, social, and economical business based on developing our craft for coffee. We get excited about the complexities of our coffees and creating coffee experiences for everyone who walks through our door.
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