Riesling Ivy
de Garde Brewing

 

the description here says two years, my bottle says three years in oak for this one, maybe changed it in a later vintage, this is from july of 2022, and it is absolutely wonderful, everything i love about de garde in one of its purest, lightest, most delicate beers i can recall ever having, its amazing how great these guys do over and over and over again, world class beer right here and a star of out splendid wine beer night. this one is almost champagne in the glass, just without the perfect clarity, but a color nearly as pale, the high rising excited head, and prickly carbonation, and the overall lightness of the whole thing, just gorgeous in a flat bottomed white wine glass. the nose is awesome, riesling is identifiable right away, white florals, light kerosene (in a good way), faint sulfur and funk, tons and tons of wood, a new wood brightness and tightness, elderflower for sure, light raw honey, vanilla, lemony lactic tang, and a lambic wild maturity, truly epic. its insane the flavor is as good as the nose, this is magic! i love how forward the grapes are in here and what they do with the ferment, this is almost wild wine, natty and mineral forward and so varietal specific, subtle pear, apple blossom, and lemon curd as well. very light grain base to me but not totally irrelevant, more pils than wheat to my senses but probably both, amazing earthy funk to this but its also so delicate, never very acidic, allowing room for the full grape spectrum, skins and tannins and not quite ripe fruit, trace sweetness up front but its real dry at the end, i believe they call that trocken. the level of refinement and maturity here is approaching unrivaled, and i think this would please any wine fan as much as it would any wild beer fanatic. this, along with their serine, were probably the two most wine-like beers of the massive lineup we drank through. elite beer right here, one of de gardes best! despite all the hype around this operation and their beers, they still somehow exceed expectations most of the time. this one is memorable! early summer vibes on point! id love to try the older vintage with only two years on it as well, but i suspect the extra year is where a lot of the magic happens. ive never had a beer like this before.

A 1 pint 9.4 fl. oz. corked and capped bottle, bottled in March 2021. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.

Appearance: A very nice clear golden colour with a one finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly to a ring around the glass, while leaving some lacing.

Aroma: Light tartness, sweet Riesling, with notes of pear, honey, and oak.

Taste: Lightly sour and tart, Riesling grapes, pear, green apple, oak, and a touch of lemon zest.

Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with high carbonation (overly so).

Overall: The look and aroma was great, and the taste was nice, but the over carbonation did affect the experience as it was a touch uncomfortable on the palate. I would love to try this again with less carbonation.

 

 

 

Thanks, Chris!

A clear light orange with a thin white head that falls off rapidly leaving no lacing. The Ivy base strikes me as oak heavy, and it shows here as well. Along with this is a rather lovely Reisling character. Melon, stone fruit, floral honey. Mild funk, mild grain and oak. The palate opens with a rather prominent Reisling flavor. Melon, fruit, mild apple, stone fruit, mild mineral and earth. Moderate oak, grainy tannins. Drying, tannic, finish with melon, mineral, honey. Mild citrus. Overcarbonated but as it dissipates, the mineral character grows. Tannic finish. Lovely.