Get to Know Bière de Garde with Em Sauter
A historical style with modern marketing sensibilities, bière de garde is a French beer style that great beer writer Jeff Alworth calls a “polite, approachable style.”
The history of the bière de garde goes back centuries, but its modern interpretation has a fun history as well. Biere de garde means “beer for keeping” in English so bière de gardes were usually stronger beers either brewed and then laid down for a while in the spring and then brought up for festivals or parties in the summer. Think of it as the quasi oktoberfest style of France/Belgium.
Modern bière de garde
Bière de garde’s modern popularity grew out of two events. First, the students around Lille in France became enamored with bière de garde and it became the student beer, sort of like how PBR became the de facto beer for hipsters in the 2000s. The second came when Jenlain packaged their beer to mimic a champagne bottle with a cork and cage. This gave the beer a sophisticated “luxury” air and this marketing tactic helped set off a renaissance of the style. For more history about this style, I highly recommend Phil Markowski’s book Farmhouse Ales.
Biere de garde can be blonde, amber or brown in color and all still be called bière de garde. It can be brewed with either ale or lager yeast and usually utilizes all French ingredients: French malt and French hops like Strisselspalt. Jenlain, the most well known French producer, uses lager yeast.
Tasting Notes
There are two schools of thought about what a bière de garde should taste like. In the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) guidelines, the guide specifically says there should not be any musty, mushroom or basement character while the Brewers Association (BA) guidelines allow for these flavors. I personally like the “basement” (yes, that can be a good thing) character of bière de gardes with a little age on them as they get slightly sweeter as they oxidize.
Biere de gardes are bready, with corresponding malt flavors depending on their color. They are another style that is lumped into “Belgian” beer yet it does not have the spicy pepper/clove flavor associated with other Belgian beer styles. There’s a lovely pear/apple fruitiness to bière de gardes as well.
Pairings
Biere de gardes are great food beers, working really well with savory, rustic foods like roast chicken and gravy. And it’s a no brainer to go French while drinking a bière de garde as duck confit or coq au vin are natural pairings for this beer.
Beers to try
Two Roads Holiday Ale
Two Roads Holiday Ale Biere de Noel
Connecticut-based Two Roads Brewing Company has been brewing their Holiday ale since they opened in 2012, and it’s available starting in October. A “biere de noel” (a holiday version brewed specifically for the holidays, usually slightly higher in ABV), this beer is great with holiday dishes such as ham or turkey.
Two Brothers Domaine duPage
Illinois-based Two Brothers brews their flagship award-winning Dumaine duPage, a “French country ale” that’s inviting, amber, and delicious. Described as offering "a toasty caramel sweetness with just enough hops to cleanse the palate," it's one of the best, easy-to-find bières de garde made in America.
Jenlain Ambrée
The French original, Jenlain amber is the classic of the style and has been made for over 100 years by Brasserie Duyck in Eastern France. Available in some parts of the U.S, the beer is easy to find on a visit to Eastern France where a 750mL bottle of the Jenlain amber originally available in a signature cork and cage bottle, now available in bottles with caps or in cans) will set you back under five euros.