Across A Crowded Room
de Garde Brewing

 

Bought this one from San Diego Wine and Beer for ~$22 for a 1-pint, 9.4 oz bottle. Bottled 07/2023 and consumed 04/12/2025. Let out at RT for ~30 mins before pouring into a Spiegelau wheat beer glass.


A&S: two fingers of fizzy white head. Lively beer. Turns to opaque brunt orange. Chunks of sediment. Aroma, tangerines, oak, sawdust, musty hops,

T&M: Oaky, hoppy. Tart peach, not very fruit. Dry and semi-bitter. Not very acidic. The taste doesn't change all that much as it warms. Not much going on. Very last tastes includes more citrus. Good body and

Overall: This beer just isn't doing it for me, especially at the price tag. I don't think I let it sit too long, but I just am not getting a ton from the tasting profile of this beer.

a collaboration with the veil, who still intrigues me so much due to lack of exposure and high hype, wish i could dip into more, but this is a rad project, very much de garde to me though, their funk, their long oaken maturity, there doesnt appear to be a huge palate contribution from the veil, maybe more an idea, or they helped with blending, or proposed the dry hop, but this drinks like de garde beer through and through. a special bottle opened maybe too late night, a deep cut selection with my brother, good fun! three years in oak and spontaneous, intensely dry and funky in the nose is this near clear and very excited and bubbly golden brew, wet hay, wet animal, curing concrete, sweat, dehydrated lemon, mowed lawn, the hops add an herbal thing, not a modern fruity vibe as expected, and there is bitterness here, heaps of oak, subtle vanilla from it, honey too but this is bone dry to me at the same time, notes of clover and meadow flowers, bigtime bretty funk, iodine, almost lambic to me, white wine, very very complex and relatively intense as well, crazy mature. the hops are apparent in the nose, zesty and even spicy, not quite what i expected, some juiciness but its oak and funk that dominate, and its way more bitter earlier on than i thought it might be, real compatible with the world character of the ferment, almost medicinal overall, light piquant acidity to this but not sour really, softened a lot by the wood, which is a lead flavor element in this even while its cold. white currant, daffodil, cut grass, dry cereal malt, and nuances of chardonnay, lemongrass, and my dog after swimming in the river, but in a good way. crazy funk, exceedingly dry, hop bitterness permeates, interesting as can be, and if i was not familiar with de garde before this, i would find this almost challenging. truly wild, old as heck, unique with the hops even if they show up different than anticipated here, and overall just awesome, lovely effervescence too, so easy for how complex it is, magic!