Biere De Garde
Iron Horse Brewery

Mini growler from Bert's Growler Garage in Ontario, Oregon. Pours crystal clear reddish orange... decent enough light tan head.. Malty with a little herbal/spicy element.. Light fruity ester note with an equally light spicy element.. doesn't exactly qualify as "Belgian" in my playbook and that is about right.. Though the big player is obviously the malt.. Good for a very overlooked style... I dig it.

3.75/3.75/3.5/3.5/3.75

Tried from a growler this beer has a clear, caramel color with an earthy, biscuit aroma. Flavor follows the nose with balanced sweetness. Some light fruity esters as well. Semi-dry fairly clean finish. Crisp and smooth with a fuzzy finish.

A clean and enjoyable beer with interesting flavor that's clear throughout.

Served in straight pint glass. Poured a very attractive, lightly hazy, reddish-amber color with 1/2 inch of light tan head that had moderate retention and very light lacing.

The aroma was nice earthy malts and a bit of spicy yeast. The flavors started out the same, but the malt was a bit sweeter than the aroma had led me to expect. The yeast/spice wasn't as noticeable as the aroma had led me to expect. The flavors did blend well together to create a nice taste.

The body was full and smooth, although the somewhat sweet finish wasn't really to my taste. Drinkability was good, I could see having a couple of these. Overall, a pretty nice little brew, worth trying if you see it.

Poured from a growler into a pint glass.

A pours a nice brownish orange color with a nice long lasting head.

S the nose of this beer has a fruity sugary smell.

T the taste of this beer is fruity with hints of yeast. Not much
of a hop profile except for a slighty bitter aftertaste.

M this beer has a light mouth feel, but overly thin.

Overall not a bad beer it's easy to drink and is a pretty good session beer. Also a nice unique style that you don't often see.

A- An orangish colored beer with very little head.

S- There isn't much of a smell. I'm getting something very savory, a touch of coffee and what smells like french onion soup.

T- The taste is very savory, with a very french onion soup backing. It is a very unique tasting brew. I don't have much experience sampling this style.

M- Feels good. The beer has little carbination which isn't bad, but feels good.

D- Super drinkable. Wow, this growler is going down very quickly and easily. Over all very tasty.

Given the abundance of saisons in our region (including Iron Horse's own), it's odd that we don't see many biere de gardes, as the two styles are closely related. Iron Horse's version is tawny-auburn with a soft carpet of foam, and simple sugar aroma. The flavor is both dry and fruity with notes of cherry and strawberry and a slight touch of pencil shaving in the finish. Harsh alcohol contours are momentarily expressed, but the beer warms well and its soft texture enhances drinkability.