Petit Blanc
de Garde Brewing

Picked this up in 2017, quickly broke one out to drink, and subsequently forget to review.

Amber colored pour. Thinner head than most de garde beers, this seemed about 1/4". A bit of cloudiness to it. Perhaps the grapes are head and clarity killers? Aroma of the usual tart n sour combo of Tillamook pasture, spontaneously done.

The taste brings a degree of acidity and bitterness I have to associate with the Riesling grape. Plenty of perfumy like grape notes alongside the sourness. Definitely file this under a wine and beer hybrid. Vinuous as they say. Alcohol is present if not exacerbated by the strong grape profile. Begins to feel like its an alcohol level more synonymous with the wine world's averages. Not sure but it seems like I'm getting a lot of french oak. Does have an oxidized leather-caramel-cardboard presence despite being a young beer. A hint of sweetness makes it one of de garde's sweeter beers.

I liked it, but thought some of Bruery and Black Project's wine/beer hybrids are still the ones to seek out.

 

Pours a clear yellow-gold, very wine-like in appearance. Smell is very grapey, with some sherry notes. Taste is similar, really nice. This one falls somewhere between a beer and a wine. Very good.

A beer that I think would resonate more with wine lovers. Shows clear signs of the brewers affinity for grapes and challenging the boundary between beer / wine. Shows oak, a riesling sweetness, with a body that carries a bit more weight even with it's spot on carbonation.

750ml bottle into tulip.

A: Pours a deep golden with a very active and effervescent carbonation. A brief and very active white head foamed up after the pour and quickly faded into a soft and lasting collar.
S: Very dry and crisp nose with notes of white wine, white grape, and mineral water. There's a kiss of lemon zest, grainy wheat, and very subtle Riesling sweetness.
T: Sweet taste with more of the reisling coming through. Vinous, drying, and clean overall. Crispy dry grain backbone, clean, soft, tartness, with a kiss of earthy spice mixed with the vinous white grape and sweet Riesling.
M: Light crisp and clean body, drying mouthfeel, very active and effervescent carbonation. Scrubbing bubbles.
O: Beautiful balance and effervescence. Not overly sweet with Riesling but still taste the grape. Drinks well, smooth tartness. Dry and balanced.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Golden bronze with a white head, thin ring of retention.

Aroma is basically white wine, lots of grape, some vanilla and oak.

Taste has a pleasant green apple tartness, lots of white wine grape, leather, hints of vanilla and oak.

A nice, light residual sweetness compliments the light acidity.

 

 

Sample at Mikkeller Beer Celebration Copenhagen 2017, blue session. Aroma is floral with light funk and farmhouse notes. Taste is tart with light aspirin notes and some yeast funk. Body is light and dry.

 

 

 

 

 

Bottle from Belmont Station.

A clear copper with a dense, white head that falls off rapidly, this looks solid. The nose is solid, with a blend of the classic deGarde notes of strong lactic acid, mild funk and a bright and confident fruit expression. Sweet grapes, vinous and dessert-like as opposed to some of the drier, more summery stone fruit notes that other dG grape beers have had. Mild tannins are present. The palate opens with a mildly jammy grape character, mildly oxidized (is that what late harvest grapes taste like? intensely fruity and mildly overripe?). Moderate lactic sourness is present. Rather surprisingly, this feel rather thin on the palate and even a little watery on the finish. Grape flavor lingers on in the finish. Medium-light in body and initially a little overcarbonated, this dies down to a more appropriate level. Sourness is also less than typical for de Garde.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From a crowler picked up at Chuck's, into a tulip. Pours a burnished glowering amber with a little head and dissipates quickly. Nose is oak, white grapes, fairly subtle and nice...not a lot of layers, but still some depth. More interesting on tongue, where I'm getting more grape that almost heads in the direction of apple cider, but there really is a lot of depth of flavor and oak, tarted up with a little lemon, a little bretty funk and hay, some faint salt at the end...everything works together really well. A good hearty feel to this one: good woody feel, quite dry and tart. This is minimally "wild" but it is quite well constructed and tasty.

 

A dry tart farmhouse ale mellow enough to let the grapes shine and the oak to follow. A near perfect marriage between wine and beer. The tartness hits you up front but vanishes behind the wine characteristics. A little sweetness sneaks in from the over ripe grapes and is greatly appreciated. Finish is wear the oak finds you.