Grimbergen Creation d'Automne
Brouwerij Alken-Maes

While probably not an authentic biere de garde from the French perspective, a Belgian brewer got very close. (UnTappd styled this as golden; but it is reddish, even brown.) Try it yourself and decide.

Poured from the tap into Grimbergen's chalice, this reddish ale Looks appetising. Smells are mostly malt, but I do detect some harvest apples and plums; and I can imagine some October spices in there. Tastes are balanced for a malty drink; probably the spices help. Almost medium-mouthed, but some more bubbles would make this a nice farmhouse table ale.

I drank this side by-side with Grimbergen's surprisingly similar Intense Rouge. For helping keep alive the range of Belgian beers, I give Alken-Maes some good Overall Hugs for their strategy of consolidating smaller brewers which, I believe, helped other Belgian Family Brewers to associate. I don't hold it against A-M for being gobbled up by a major... and it may even have learned something important about craft brewing.