18|08 Farmhouse - Biere De Garde
Brew By Numbers

Pours a kind of light tinted orange golden brew small white head even though the bottle seems to want to foam over. Not much in the way of lace but seems to be bottle conditioned. Apparently having this one month after its best by date.

Aroma is tart wine notes and funky barnyard aromas mixed. Some light fruity notes white grapes, pears some light spices. Not much in the way malt notes think the wine barrels cover up too much in the nose anyway.

Taste is dry and tart wood notes light fruitiness and linger wine barrel notes. Taste wise barrel notes are not as strong as the nose would of had me believe. Wine notes in the nose were so tart smelled like Brett but that is lacking in the taste. Light grain notes from the malt perhaps, seems to have the flavor of a cheap american Biere de Garde , actually that might be wrong as I have had some that are quite good. For the price of this bottle little disappointing maybe they have caught on in the UK and have to peddle it in the USA.

Mouthfeel is light and tart carbonation is lightly peppy but not over done.

Overall eh not worth the cash the nose isn't half bad though, for half the price might be worth a try but not at this price.

L: Poured from a bottle to a tulip glass. Had a yellow-amber color and a hazy consistency. There was a half inch of foamy, fairly long-lasting head. Pretty good lacing.

S: A decent, but not great, aroma of funky yeast, a vinous quality, spices, and light fruit.

T: Tasted of a bit of spices (pepper, it would seem), some of the vinous quality (red wine, with its barrel), a good shot of funky, Belgian-style yeast, and a little light fruit (apples, perhaps?). An interesting idea for a flavor that doesn't quite fulfill its promise. Putting a bière de garde in wine barrels is a good idea, but in this case it doesn't come off. Still, it's a moderately effective taste.

F: A good amount of carbonation with a smooth (if a little thin) finish. Medium-bodied.

O: An uneven beer, but one with promise. Worth a try for something different.

 

my first from these guys, a tempranillo wine barrel aged biere de garde, i wanted to like it more, and as much as it is what it says it is, it didnt quite turn me on the way i wanted it to, and frankly expected it to for the price. not sure what all these numbers of their beers are about, but this one is a deep pale straw sort of color, not as red as a lot of these are, but not as pale as most saisons either, and quite cloudy toward the bottom of the bottle under a tall white and frothy head, very lively and active. it smells a bit funky, some wood tannins and the obvious mixed ferment with some saison type strain and some mild brett, not yet mature as it could be, this doesnt end up as dry as i thought it would, also considering its been in my cellar at least a few months now, i would have thought this would be more evolved from a yeast standpoint, but its fairly mild. that there was nice wine in these barrels before the beer is not immediately obvious to me in the flavor, more wood than wine, and more fruitiness from the yeasts than from any actual wine element, at least to my palate. i do like the graininess to this though, lots of character but also not real sweet, a liquid bread sort of thing, pale and starchy but kind of thick in a good way, rugged and hearty, really drives the beer as much as the yeast to be honest. lots of body, a little bit of funk, a light cheesy thing but not a flaw to me, and finally the barrel treatment. this is fine beer, but its unexciting in a lot of ways. i expected more...