My Coincidental New Belgium Kick to Culminate With Nashville's Clips of Faith Beer & Film Event

I'm late for everything. I'm serious. Everything. I was even a little late to my wedding. (Don't worry, I didn't miss anything important.)

So it was pretty much par for the course on June 29, 2010, when I rolled up to a bar called Brewhouse 100 about a mile from my house only to learn that I was nearly an hour late for the New Belgium Brewing Company beer tasting I came for. Thanks to some help from New Belgium's Tennessee "Beer Ranger," John Gartner, I was able to double-time it (mostly responsibly) through a couple rounds to catch up with the group, which was tasting a total of five beers.

I learned some interesting New Belgium history while chatting with John—for example, Fat Tire was supposedly a nickname of sorts that co-founder and brewer Jeff Lebesch got while driving a wide-tired bike around Belgium to research that country's beers—but ultimately the night was about five beers that eventually came from the brewery Lebesch returned to Colorado to start.

By the end of the tasting, the Ranger IPA—a beer I had heard about but never sampled—emerged as my favorite from a group that included Sunshine Wheat, Skinny Dip summer seasonal, Fat Tire and Mothership Wit. The Mothership Wit was a solid second, and even the Fat Tire, which I had been ambivalent about from the bottle in the past, was a pleasant surprise on draft.

Fast forward a couple of weeks to mid-July, when houseguests returned from a day out with a couple six-packs of Fat Tire and Skinny Dip. They remembered enjoying New Belgium beers and picked some up to share. And before they left town I'd added some New Belgium Abbey to the mix as well. (Local rep John told me at the tasting that Jeff Lebesch originally thought Abbey would be the more popular of his two flagship beers. As it turned out, the other one—Fat Tire—became the wildly popular one.) I really took a liking to the new-to-me Abbey, and my wife—typically a Chardonnay drinker—loved it.

Afterward I started noticing beers from New Belgium's "Lips of Faith" specialty series at local liquor stores. I knew the brewery's intriguing "Clips of Faith" film/beer tour was coming to Nashville in September (more on this in a minute), so I put off buying any of these specialty bombers until I could try them at the event. Well, earlier this week my wife surprised me with a bottle of the Belgo IPA. After enjoying the bottle, I can safely say it is my favorite New Belgium beer (above their tasty 1554 Enlightened Black Ale, which I haven't even mentioned yet, and Ranger).

That has me really excited for next week's Clips of Faith event, which begins 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 3 at Public Square Park in downtown Nashville. Advertising "handmade films" and "handmade beers," the Nashville stop on this 14-city tour will feature 20 fan-created short films (screening starts at dark) and tastings of Lips of Faith series beers and more. Food will be available from 12South Taproom and gourmet popsicle makers Las Paletas. Entry is reportedly free, with beer-sample tokens available for purchase. The event is a fundraiser for the "eco"-charity Soundforest.org, with Nashville-based online marketing firm Emma matching donations.

Keeping with the biking theme that surrounds New Belgium Brewing Company, organized group rides are leaving from the following area bicycle shops at 6 p.m.: Eastside Cycles (615-469-1079); Halcyon Bike Shop (615-730-9344); The Bike Pedlar (615-329-2453); and Cumberland Transit (615-321-4069).

If you spot me at the event, please say hi. I will warn you though: I'll probably be late.