Buttery white-headed straw-bodied French golden ale retains musty malt pungency countering corn-sugared challah breading and honeyed yeast sweetness. Gentle barley bottom reinforces peppery hop fizzle, but spiced fruitiness is lost.
Tag Archives: biere de garde
ST. DRUON DE SEBOURG FRENCH ABBEY ALE
White wine aromatics spur initial hop-spiced orange peel bittering, ensuing lemony grapefruit tang, and soured cider residual of obliging golden-hazed Belgian-styled pale ale (previously known as Sebourg French Wheat). Buttered corn sweetness drapes green apple tartness before bright tangerine-cherry-berry sheen lingers to soft-watered candi-sugared honeydew finish.
(LES BRASSEURS) CANON BIERE DE GARDE
CASTELAIN CH’TI BLONDE
Lightly gold-hazed ‘Biere De Garde’ spreads musty yeast above spicy citrus. Deceptive dank-cellared moldy fungi waft juxtaposes tidy lemon rind souring and peppery-hopped ginger-spiced clove-allpsice continuance. Banana-breaded white peach-pear-quince illusions round out earthen clay-like backdrop of busy blonde ale.
(FRANCHES-MONTAGNES) ABBAYE DE SAINT BON-CHIEN
Deliriously savory burgundy-hued full body cost $21.49 for 1 pint 9 ounces of luxuriant 10% alcohol liquid. But that’s a bargain. Matured in Merlot, Cabernet, and Grappa vats, its expansive sharp citric hop plain and vegetal earthiness spread across beautiful Sangria medley suggesting banana, apple, red grape, pineapple, and apricot. Spicy cinnamon entwines apropos vinous acidity to port wine finish. On tap at Copper Mine, vinegary brettanomyces funk brings mouth-puckering sourness to oaken cherry, green grape, white wine, rosé and vermouth tones.
Highly recommended.
(HEAVYWEIGHT) BIERE D’ART
Tantalizing warmth and luxurious complexity of Abbey-styled Jersey brew attributed to perfume-like yeast residue, sinewy prune texture, buttery malt sustenance and black-peppered herbage. Flowery dry hops dart through ancillary plum-ripened sweetness, fig-spiced cherry dalliance, vinous sherry perk and peachy nectar niche. Only possible drawback is ester-y citric sourness could be off-putting.
JENLAIN BIERE DE NOEL
JENLAIN FRENCH COUNTRY ALE
LA CHOULETTE BLONDE BIERE DE GARDE
NEW BELGIUM BIERE DE MARS ALE
(SAINT SYLVESTRE’S) 3 MONTS GRANDE RESERVE SPECIAL ALE
Truly divine moderate-bodied Biere De Garde posing as mild yellow-hazed amber ale counters its sharp alcohol bite with earthen herbal-spiced fruitiness and lightly prickled champagne-like effervescence. White-peppered grassy hops bring leathery hay dryness to floral-perfumed lemon zest, herbal green tea bittering, and musty Belgian-like yeast fungi. Sweet clover-honeyed candi-sugared tropical fruiting, creamy banana-vanilla-butterscotch tandem, and lithe coriander-cinnamon spicing counter green apple tartness, white grape esters, and unripe plum souring as well as tertiary basil-thyme-sage hints at the midst. Serve to honey-wined mead fans as a sweeter alternative.
TWO BROTHERS DOMAINE DU PAGE FRENCH STYLE COUNTRY ALE
Rustic amber-coppered ‘biere de garde’ opens with gunky saison fruiting and dewy earthen fungi contrasting addictive caramel-toasted vanilla bean creaminess. Green apple tartness, red grape sweetness and navel orange tang counter dry grain bitterness. Flowery hop aromatics usurp warm maple tone, losing resilience and giving way to ashen acridity. Severe alcohol burn may turn off lighter thirsts. French-styled barleywine essence may be overstated.




