Bière De Garde
Court Avenue Brewing Company

 

Iced tea tawny with a cherry juice blush. The golden khaki crown was small to start and fell to a barely covering film in approximately one minute. No more than a few wisps of thin lace graced the glass.

The nose is fairly easy to describe (in general terms, at least), but was difficult to pin down with regard to one specific style. Biere de Garde didn't smell like a biere de garde, that's for sure. It was sweet and somewhat caramel malty, with an indeterminate ale fruitiness.

My confusion only deepened when it came to the flavor. It took me until the final few ounces to figure it out... and I'm still not sure that I did in the end. The beer resembled (to some extent) a brown ale, an Oktoberfest, a Scottish ale and a Belgian dark ale. Narrowing it down, I'd say it most resembled a Belgian dark brewed by a Scotsman. Don't laugh, I'm being serious.

The canvas upon which the multiple facets of the flavor profile were arranged was a whole grain toasted breadiness. I'll throw steely caramel in there as well. The top notes included a dried berry and orange peel fruitiness, along with tobacco and a hint of cocoa. Perhaps most prominent, though, especially on the finish, was anise.

There was also a black peppery, borderline clove-like spiciness that had to be due to a bona fide Belgian yeast strain. And...I'm not done yet... a tea leafy bitterness that culminated in an impressively arid, tongue-clenching conclusion. The beer wasn't as complex as I've made it sound, it's just that I'm struggling with how to put my impressions into words.

The mouthfeel seemed a trifle thin and was ever so slightly clingy on the back end due to a small amount of residual sugar. The carbonation was slightly too harsh and tongue stinging, yet it did improve a little over time.

I haven't been this confounded by a beer in a very long time. I've taken the brewer's word for it and have added it as a biere de garde (I could hardly do otherwise given the name), but it's the strangest biere de garde that I've ever run across. If you find yourself at Court Avenue and feel like giving your brain a workout, along with your taste buds, give this one a whirl.