Le Woof
Off Color Brewing

Look: Didn’t get to see cause no glassware :(

Smell: Not super clear on smell cause in can haha: Funky cheesy, fermented stone fruit, bread dough

Taste: Copper minerality, light caramel, ripe green apple

Feel: Medium body, medium carbonation

Overall: 4.5

 

 

 

 

 

A great example of why this style of beer is so good. Well balanced with a lot of flavor

 

 

 

Look: It pours golden with a white head. Head retention is good.

Smell: It has sweet malt aromas of bread. It also has some spices in the nose the most prominent being pepper. There are also some earthy elements to it.

Taste: It has a combination of malty sweetness with a moderate amount of spices. The flavor tends towards toast. There are also some earthy and herbal elements in the flavors as well.

Feel: It has a moderate body with some alcohol warming. It has a dry finish.

Overall, it is malty sweet but highlight by moderate spiciness with pepper, earthy and herbal qualities.

 

 

12oz bottle poured into 12oz tulip.

Poured a cloudy dull orange color, with an inch of white head that had good retention and no lacing.

Nice yeasty spice aroma, with earthy grains in the background.

Very similar on the tongue, with the addition of a certain level of tartness on the back end.

Body was light-medium, with good carbonation across the palate, with a dry finish.

Drinkability was nice.

Overall, nice brew, worth trying if you see it.

 

Picked up a 4-pack for $12 at my local Chicago grocer, bottled 08/30/17. This beer looks sexy. An opaque orange body sits beneath a 2 inch, frothy, beige head. The nose is faint, but I smell oranges, spices, and malts. First sip is fruity! Strawberries, pineapple, and bubblegum. Everything tastes juicy and sweet. As the beer warms, the toasty malt profile opens up, reminiscent of a lager. Mouthfeel is a pleasant medium body. As with other Biére de Gardes, the mouthfeel is more carbonated than other styles, which for me, distracts from the flavor profile. I wish the flavors lingered more. Overall, I'm into it! Off Color is killing it with their tart beers, but Le Woof is very approachable for someone experimenting in Sour territory. Haven't had an off-putting Off Color beer yet :)

 

- a very foamy orange-tap pour was tamed by the capable server. The snifter was pretty and the the honey malt-like aroma was accentuated. The flavors include a bit of caramel and woody herbs with apple, grape and a Saison yeast back. The finish is thin, but I liked this.

 

 

i didnt dislike this, but its a weird one and far from the best these guys are capable of. its a style i really dig too, but something about it is just strange, and ill tell you what it is right now, the aftertaste taste like peanut butter to me, i have no idea why, this isnt an off flavor i am familiar with, and it does seem yeast derived not grain derived to me because of where it appears in the beer, but i have no idea where it could have come from or why its there, it cant be intentional right? im almost certain this has no peanut butter in it, but there it is, clear as day (to me) in the finish. i guess it could be an over developed biscuit thing, a weird product of vienna malt in a certain context, but i really dont get it. i dont even dislike what i taste, its just weird in this style. i do like the richer grain complexion and the beer being a little stronger than normal, it slows me down a little bit. its nicely hearty, but also real well carbonated, earthy and autumnal, more substantial than i am used to in the style, with almost no hops at all in the finish. this confused me more than it turned me off, not the best of their work in my opinion...

 

 

11/1/21 Note: After 3 years, Off Color brewed Le Woof again. There seems to be progress in the recipe. So instead of starting a new review, I'm editing the 2600 characters below... and let's see if it is a match for the recipe's evolution.

In Off Color's mission of preserving beer styles that have fallen from favor, they do a great public service.
And the Biere d' garde seems to be disappearing from shelves over these few years. Is it because not enough people want to drink it ? Or too few brewers know how to brew it? Or maybe... there are not enough American maltheads like me.

We may never know this answer. But it is important because I think the biere d'garde is one of the more food-friendly styles and it deserves to be interpreted among American crafters.... particularly since brewers from the style's northern band of France on the Belgian border seems to be losing their U.S. importers fast.

Judging Le Woof.... In 2017, I bought a 4 pack from their on-plant shop. The first was good, but not great. So, I want to drink the next one side-by-side with another American artisan keeping the flame for this style.

9/29/17 Had the 2nd side-by-side with Stillwater's Biere d'garde and, thus, starting My Great American Biere d'Garde Taste-Off. Before I tell you who won... Let me say that Off Color's claims Le Woof has a "Je nais se qua" which is French for "hard to describe" or less literally "if you describe it, you probably missed the point." Off Color is right, to some degree. But because this style is designed to be food-friendly, there needs to be more adaptability to the differences in food, particularly their spices. With the need for more variance, this ale is more difficult to describe.

That said, Off Color won the contest because, I'm guessing, its yeast produces more complex aromas and flavors. And both are different... kinda like Off Color itself.

10/3/17 Had the 3rd bottle with a red pasta sauce. Both worked together well. Le Woof has this lingering spice I can't describe. Maybe that is the "je nais se qua" that defies description.

10/21/17 Had the last Le Woof side-by-side again with Stillwater's Biere d' Garde in the final game of the Great American Biere d'Garde Taste-Off. I've changed my mind slightly. Both are great and will be Had again. I hope.

1/5/19 Got another 4 pack from the October 2018 release and just finished the last one. Consistent in Taste to 2017 and also versatile in pairing throughout the 4 pack, this last can made my leftovers taste good and that included even a mild Indian dal. Now, that's versatile ! Off Color, please bring Le Woof back more often. Thanks. (My cooking needs all the help it can get.)

11/1/21 My prayers have been answered ! Off Color has another release ! And my cooking and leftovers, suddenly, are better. All that is an exaggeration to make a quick exit and keep count @ UnTappd... plus a few notes on food pairings.

The 1" tall, off-white creamy froth eventually settles to 1/2" for the duration, while the (SRM 6-8) almost clear shinny copper amber beer generates columns of fine carbonation. Clouds of lace gather with each sip.

The PBGC Aromatic glass showcases fruity apple juice and a modest funky yeast. Floral sweetness weaves throughout toasted sourdough.

The bitter sweet balance drifts toward a slight sourness. Modest acidity elevates subdued prepper, coriander, and mustard. The light lingering finish tends toward sour, while warmth also draws out sourness. A sweet white wine background draws out dehydrated apricots.

The syrupy texture matches a full body, and the 7.8% abv, while vigorous carbonation punctuates the dryness.

This is a good, relaxing beer, that is more suited to a cool, late summer afternoon, than the bitter below zero mid-winter day during which I enjoyed it. Fortunately, we have a house, with heat, from which to appreciate the bright blue sky above glistening white ground, and allow ourselves to be transported through time. By adding the yeast, this beer mellows, adding apple flavors and smoothness to the texture.

This was poured into a tulip. The appearance was a bronzed semi-burnt copper color. A finger’s worth of white foamy head quickly dissipated. Barely any lacing. The smell had sweet bready/sweet biscuits roaming into a light citrus sweet/glazed floral qualities. The taste followed through for the most part. Sweet breadiness strolls on into the aftertaste with the citrus making a decent effort to balance. On the palate, this one sat about a light to medium on the body. Carbonation feels good, somewhat light allowing some pop from the citrus to hit in a nice harsh sort of way. Overall, nice Biere De Garde that I would come back to.

 

 

 

L: Slightly Hazy yellow gold with a big head that dissipates pretty quickly but leaves a thin layer on top.

S: The nose is met by a bouquet of fruit, with strong notes apple, peach and a little cherry. Notes of spice and baked bread with some honey.

T: Apple and peach with a note of Cherry, followed by spice and sweet honey. Also some nice baked bread.

F: Light body and fizzy crisp carbonation.

O: Slightly sweet but a very good bier de garde. Easy drinking for the ABV.

As a dog person, I'm partial to thinking Le Woof is a charming name and that it has an adorable label. But as a certified beer judge, I can say without bias that this joyously sparkling, brilliant golden-blond ale is a damn fine looking beer in and of itself. And the well-formed, pristine white, tirelessly persistent head is figurative icing on the cake.

By now I think everyone is familiar with the zesty, fruity, aromatic qualities of yeast. If not, this bouquet provides a fantastic crash-course; there's plenty of mulled orchard fruit esters, fresh-cracked spice and oven-warm bread. The age of this bottle (roughly 1 year) also showcases an enhanced, more nectarous and honeyed maltiness.

Le Woof is dedicated to the brewery dog, Hops, and like man's best friend seems similarly eager to please; despite being 7.8% it drinks with ease and, in turn, offers a practically therapeutic experience. The graininess is scrumptious, the hops smooth and the alcohol satiating. It's one of those strong beers that drinks like a light one; the body is lean, crisp and pleasantly warming.

The flavour profile is understated but intricate - there's no shortage of overripe apple, apricot, pear, yellow plum flavour (with acidity to match) as well as a pinch of mulling spices, a corner of fresh baguette, one or two biscuits and a teaspoon each of raw honey, green roobois and chamomile. This makes quite the treat for the good boy or girl in your life.

Bière de Garde is a very broad, open-ended, and often catch-all category which makes it difficult to assess on stylistic guidelines. In other words, this review was more about subjective taste than it was objective assessment and this style is one of the few I don't typically care for. But I really enjoyed Le Woof. A lot. So that tells you something...

 

 

 

Pours a light burnt orange color with a huge fluffy cream color head that just doesn't quit. Aroma is hay, earth, funk, citric acidity, lemon, floral and fruity. Taste is more of the same with sweet citrus and floral notes upfront, followed by hay, bread dough, earth, and lemon hints. An overall sweetness persists. Mouthfeel is light, and crisply carbonated, it scrubs the palate with every sip. Overall, this is a very nice biere de garde that lends both belgian farmhouse and saison characters, with a heftier malt backbone.

 

 

First foray into the biere de grade style. Poured from the bottle. Orange color. Kinda interesting. Almost like a lambic pale ale mix?

Bottled 10/15
Tasted 8/16 from a snifter

Pours an opaque orange with two inch billowy, long lasting off-white, almost tan, head. Noticeable effervescence.

Smells of earthiness, yeast, grass, hint of lemon. Could be stronger and earthier.

First impression is sweet. Too sweet. Needs more earthy maltiness. After a couple of sips the palate adjusts, more balanced. Still a tad sweet for me. Hints of dark fruits mixed w lemony tartness.

Well carbonated, a little sticky at the back end

Enjoyable offering from an under-represented style here in the U.S. Will store a couple for cooler weather.