Biere De Garde
OEC Brewing (Ordinem Ecentrici Coctores)

Murky, orange-tinted cider color with a fat finger of tan color. It settles into a thin film and leaves messy sheets of lacing. Mild aroma of honey grahams, clementine and oak. Clean tasting with light saison-like soapiness and oak. Lively carbonation under a medium body. Easy drinking.

 

 

 

 

 

exceptional oak aged biere de garde here, love that so much beer from these guys has been coming out this way! this one looks the part, matte orange rusty colored from the tap with a fast fading cream head, looks a little less bubbly than would be optimal, but the color is right and there is a nice low glow to it. the aroma is surprisingly interesting, not just the same old french saison type yeast, a little more rustic, funky, and dynamic, and there is a ton of wood here, more than anticipated, really sets this apart from other examples of the style, some white pepper spiciness on top of rich long boiled malt sweetness, old school and complex and sexy. the flavor bangs too, smooth mature oak all the way through it, love that with this malt and yeast, a touch astringent but not tart or bacterial or anything, some white wine character to the ferment, an almond thing in the grain, light brown sugar, fallen leaves, very autumnal. an almost lager yeast taste among the saison esters too. i definitely wish it had a little more carbonation but i like the body and the minerals it has, as well as the long drawn out finish that has some neat hop bitterness sneaking up as this warms. subtle but complex, different and well refined, the oak and the open ferment do a lot for this, a really fine example of the style!

 

 

This one pours a light golden brown color, with a small head, and lots of lacing.

This smells like tea, leafy hops, caramel malt, clove, and oak.

This is really solid stuff. It feels pretty traditional, with only the mildest of clove-like funk, and just a hint of oak. There's an intriguing tea like hop character, leafy, bitter, and slightly spicy, with a firm bready maltiness to it.

This is light bodied, clean, and super, super drinkable.

OEC often does pretty weird, and pretty sour takes on farmhouse ales, but this one seems to have been done in them more careful style they do their oak fermented lagers in. I like that.