I'm glad I got two bottles of the New Belgium Dark Kriek. It was mellow as far as sour fruit beers go, but I quite enjoyed it.

New Belgium is making some nice moves for 2009. Most of you are likely well aware of their partnership with Elysian. I missed the release of what they are billing their first official collaboration with Elysian, The Trip. But, I did try their Lips of Faith Dark Kriek last night and was pleasantly surprised after hearing from a few people that they were a bit let down. According to this press release, these two beers were just the start.

New Belgium Brewing Expands Markets and Portfolio in 2009

(FORT COLLINS, CO – March 5, 2009) New Belgium Brewing (www.newbelgium.com), best known for its flagship Fat Tire Amber Ale, is expanding its distribution and portfolio dramatically in 2009. In addition to seven year round beers and four seasonal releases, New Belgium will produce four small batch Lips of Faith beers, four collaborative beers with Elysian brewing in Seattle (collectively known as The Trip series) and four new Loose Lips beers for internal and tasting room consumption only.

The creative flurry comes as the brewery is poised to enter six new markets as well; North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Indiana, South Dakota and Wisconsin all by end of summer. New Belgium is still vetting distributors in potential markets.

“It’s a fairly aggressive program for 2009,” said New Belgium Sales Director Joe Menetre. “We’re reaching the eastern seaboard for the first time, we’ve got a very dynamic portfolio, and we’ve expanded our capacity to meet demand.”

The new beer brands will focus on more esoteric styles and collaborative creativity. The Lips of Faith program launched in February will feature fruit, spiced or wood beers in 22- oz. packages. The brewery has released a Dark Kriek (cherry) beer to date with plans for Biere de Mars and a beer brewed with dandelion leaves slated through spring.

“Lips of Faith will allow us to tap the creative root that is Belgian brewing,” said Assistant Brewmaster Grady Hull. “The collaboration with Elysian is a new source of inspiration and the Loose Lips beers are a complete free-for-all, so the energy is high around all these programs.”

In addition to the Lips of Faith program, New Belgium is collaborating with Elysian of Seattle on The Trip series. The first in the series of four brews to be released throughout 2009 is Trippel IPA – a Belgian twist on a northwest version of India Pale Ale. The two breweries joined forces in 2008 to share facilities, inspire creativity, and reduce environmental impact.

New Belgium will also brew four new beers based solely on a company-wide internal drink-off, known as the Loose Lips program. The contest allows the person who correctly identifies the three beers blended in their glass to brew whatever beer they can imagine. These rare beers can only be sampled in the Liquid Center, New Belgium’s tasting room, and at a few select Fort Collins locations.

Cheers to New Belgium, and Elysian, for making us Seattle drinkers happy campers.