The Botanique
de Garde Brewing

 

Bottle.

The nose is as advertised- a gin-forward funky base beer with layered floral lavender. Earthy, lemony funk, less woody than the other The series of beers, with a notable floral lavender that really complements the gin. Mildly juicy, lemony funk. Tasty.

 

Bottle at share. Medium golden, spotty head. Herbal, floral aroma, green. Taste is more of this botanical base, coupled with a nice sharp tartness. Not fruity like their usual lineup

 

really fun and flavorful drink here, aged in gin barrels with lavender, such a unique combination, and the flavor of this is crazy, but again, as with so many de garde beers, its the incredible fermentation profile that makes it special. its so funky, dry, tart, and mature, its just insane how cool this culture is, man its good. the gin is strong in it, juniper everywhere in nose and taste, never bitter or medicinal at all, but its persistent the whole way, adds a cool layer of freshness to this, and a little spice. the lavender isnt overdosed, but it is quite obvious, it always is to me in beer, but it doesnt take over this, and it seems to add a little tea-like bitterness to the finish that is nice with all the bretty funkiness. the gin and the lavender go together super well, and this is real complex even without a ton of added ingredients. i feel like it would have been so easy to add things like orange and lime and honey and things and take this in a cocktail direction with the gin barrels, but its a real less is more sort of situation, and the yeast remains the star. its so farmy and interesting, so good with the wood and the botanicals, and can handle the cool vanilla note in the oak as well. rushing carbonation makes this sing, its dry but there is some herbal linger on the palate, and its piquant without being real acidic, almost refreshing and healthy feeling to me, just elite level beer, as they almost always are from these guys. top notch, cellared well, need more!

Pours as a golden yellow color with a thing white head on top. The smell is loaded with lavender and gin botanicals. The taste is a tart lavender gin bomb which is kind of cool. The feel is clean, sharp and tart. Overall very good beer!