Biere De Mars
New Belgium Brewing Company

Biere De MarsBiere De Mars
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From:
New Belgium Brewing Company
 
Colorado, United States
Style:
Bière de Garde
ABV:
6.2%
Score:
83
Avg:
3.65 | pDev: 13.42%
Reviews:
412
Ratings:
762
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Jun 07, 2023
Added:
Jul 20, 2009
Wants:
  47
Gots:
  43
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Dubblebock:
Photo of Dubblebock
Reviewed by Dubblebock from Texas

4/5  rDev +9.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
I found a sixer of this almost by accident at one of my local grocery stores. I had pretty much given up on seeing it in my region, but there it was sitting unexpectedly on the shelf. I wasted no time in snapping up a sixer for $6.49.

Now this is a very interesting seasonal ale from New Belgium. It's bottle conditioned, and billed as a March beer, although I could see myself hitting this again as the weather continues to warm. It uses an unusual combination of wheat, oat, and barley malts, combined with lemon verbena to provide the traditional saison-citrus profile. NB claims that the yeasts are of an as yet unidentified strain.

Biere de Mars pours a cloudy, yeasty, muddy looking orange color.It looks very nice, very inviting. Small head, lots of carbonation, again very consistent with the saison style. Good, fruity nose on the sample. HInts of the citrus to come, and a malty undertone to the smell.

The taste was yeasty at first, and slightly overbitter. It evened out quickly, though, and settled into a nice balance between the malts and hops. It smoothed out even more as it warmed. I would recommend that this beer be quaffed at about 55-60 degrees. Very enjoyable as I worked my way through the mug. The lemon verbena lent a nice citrus character to the beer, but in an earthy way, not overbearing at all. My wife used to grow a lot of lemon verbena in her herb garden, and we'd use it to season certain foods. It's a nice change of pace to taste it in a beer. The finish and aftertaste was slightly bitter, keeping me from rating this a little higher.

Good mouthfeel. Very drinkable. It was easy to down this sample, and I could have dropped one or two mre without blinking. Although marketed as a March seasonal, I could see drinking this beer in the late spring/early summer.

Good job. Another winner from New Belgium.
Mar 11, 2004
More User Ratings:
Photo of stevoj
Reviewed by stevoj from Idaho

3.25/5  rDev -11%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
Bottle at share. Deep golden orange pour with thin white head. Light malty aroma, slight tanginess, slight sourness, pit fruit, orange peel. Nice consstency and feel.
Jun 07, 2023
Photo of macrosmatic
Reviewed by macrosmatic from Florida

3.78/5  rDev +3.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Thanks to dogdoc for sending me this bottle, back in the day. Reviewed from (long-standing) notes. A 22 oz. 2012 vintage bottle, that somehow got put away in the cellar until 2/1/18; whereupon it was opened and poured into a J. Wakefield OG club teku glass.

A: Pours a mildly hazy gold, with a sizeable, two-finger off-white head with decent retention. A remarkably good bit of visible carbonation for being approximately six years old.

S: Lemon citrus, pineapple forward Brettanomyces with some barnyard funk. Cracker malts, and a mild (but present) oxidative caramel aroma. Mild lactic tart with the lemony citric acid.

T: Funky Brett, pineapple and barnyard and musty. Citric acid, lemons, milder lactic tart. Cracker malts, a bit yeasty with accompanying esters. A bit more oxidation on the palate than the nose suggested – comes across as some caramel in the malts (I’m assuming it didn’t start that way), with just a touch of the cardboard. A minerally hard water profile. But then more tart and funk near the swallow, and finishes with more dry Brett funk.

M: A fairly light body but not watery. Low alcohol presence, and a good amount of carbonation sensation.

O: Never overly tart, but definitely a player here. The funk has grown, and I like it. I remain uncertain that the increase in funk (which was nice) is worth the trade off with the oxidation though. But still a good dry citric acid tartness. Pretty decent, not great.
Mar 29, 2020
 
Rated: 4.19 by Dalbeast from Wyoming

May 11, 2019
 
Rated: 3.33 by DarrellK from Florida

Apr 16, 2019
 
Rated: 3.75 by BEER88 from North Carolina

Nov 19, 2016
 
Rated: 3.31 by Angerhaus from Rhode Island

Jul 06, 2016
 
Rated: 3 by Boomersooner656 from South Carolina

Jun 12, 2016
Photo of Jason
Reviewed by Jason from Massachusetts

3.62/5  rDev -0.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 3.5
22oz brown bottle, sample sent from brewery.

Massive rocky head, clear copper hue. Green peppercorn, quince, wild flowers, & white tea in the nose. Very crisp and dry. Dry cracker-like malt, yeast and spice are predominant. Faintly medicinal, wild herbs, taffy, lavender, & more nutty yeast on the palate. A pretty good sip, seems it would be better with food than on its own.
Apr 16, 2016
Photo of rodbeermunch
Reviewed by rodbeermunch from Nevada

3.05/5  rDev -16.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Light auburn and dark yellow color, solid Brussels lace on the side, good retention before that. Aroma was complex with yeast contributions of pepper, wheat, citrus rind.

Bready mouthfeel. Some spice rack. Coriander and clove, not huge. Too much bitterness for style.
Dec 22, 2015
 
Rated: 3.75 by atlbravsrno1 from Maine

Aug 28, 2015
 
Rated: 5 by neillbelgium from Illinois

Jul 23, 2015
 
Rated: 3.4 by TNeedles from California

Jul 15, 2015
Photo of pat61
Reviewed by pat61 from Minnesota

4.18/5  rDev +14.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
It has malty, bready aromas and fruit and spice flavors. Lemon flavors and aromas. It pours an orangey gold. The Brett yeast gives it a touch of sourness and light funk. Highly carbonated, medium light body.
Jun 26, 2015
 
Rated: 3.5 by kingjohnh from New Mexico

Jun 21, 2015
Photo of heytomcat
Rated by heytomcat from Minnesota

2.77/5  rDev -24.1%
look: 3 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 2.75
Very carbonated. Not much flavor with a touch of Brett funk. Dry aftertaste
May 23, 2015
 
Rated: 3.64 by Cynic-ale from Texas

May 14, 2015
 
Rated: 3 by MisterKilderkin from California

May 08, 2015
 
Rated: 4 by nathanmiller from New York

Mar 11, 2015
 
Rated: 4.11 by ArmedsouthernEr from Mississippi

Mar 07, 2015
Biere De Mars from New Belgium Brewing Company
Beer rating: 83 out of 100 with 762 ratings