The Serinier
de Garde Brewing

 

 

 

bottled march of 2019. huge huge thanks to my homie for grabbing and stashing this one for my visit, it was among the highlights of an absurdly beery trip. this is a wild one done with both red and white wine grapes, syrah and viognier, a rare combination even though grape beers are coming more and more into vogue in recent years. this is special stuff, as if they all arent from de garde, but really this strikes me as distinct and interesting, with a gorgeous deep purplish amber color and jewel tone radiance, short white head, tickling fizziness, and mouthwatering aroma. i get the tartness of the skins with the wild yeasts, i get the tannins of the oak and a subtle vanilla kick, i get the red wine fruit in front of the white, but i get some stone fruit from the viognier on the back end as well, acidic but not overly sour to me, well funky and mature, and the first sip is a real treat. it pops with a lot of wine character, deep red berries up front and some nice tart kick on the back end, tons of fruity nuance beyond the grape, but not much from the malt here at all, this almost drinks more wine than beer, save the ferment, which is funky and wild as can be as is so often the case with these guys. its not quite lambic-esque like their beers beers in my opinion are, but its mature and complex, and the mix of different grape types brings a lot to the brew and makes this very unique overall. perhaps a little thin in feel for what it is, and with just a little exposed alcohol too, but its got a ton of carbonation and was well conditioned in the bottle. it is always a treat to drink de garde beer, but in this context, around the fire with a long lost friend, makes it even that much more awesome. a wonderful drinking experience, one of my favorite breweries for sure!

I get what they were trying to do here, but the sour mixes strangely with the red wine flavor. Would be better with a little less intense grape vibe.

 

 

L: Mostly filtered blackberry juice, magenta ring of bubbles.

S: Grape and berry presence, lactic sourness.

T: Not bad - some fruit over the sourness. Oakey. Still a bit dry and while I got this for my love of Syrah's I don't find it in the beer as much as I'd hoped. Longing for that peppery presence. Alas.

F: Dry and moderately thin overall.

O: I'm more of a smoothie sour fan to be fair, not a fan of funk, and prefer sours that are fruity and don't just taste like lactic acid. This is my first de Garde beer and I wanted to love it, it tended towards the fruit but not enough for me.
I hope this gets more reviews from sour aficionados.