De Garde

I think they would stand up fine for some time.

 

It's kind of amazing how often this needs to be pointed out, but De Garde makes a lot more than fruited Berliner weisses. Their wild saisons are delicious and their Lee beers are incredible.

 

Beat me to the punch.

Yeah, everyone goes to the de garde page, sorts by average rating, and then says "ISO BUUUUUUsss". I love the Bu with an indulgent, gluttonous love (how do I respect myself in the morning?) ... but the absolute best beers De Garde makes are, IMHO, are not Berliners.

When will the "everything is better with fruit" thing end?

 

Wait, where is this "brewery" DeGarde? Can't be in the PNW, nobody outside of here even likes NW beers. This place must be in Illinois, where people only care about a brewery once it burns down. Hell, all we have available for trade is Widmer, and Mac and Jacks African Amber.

 

Once the breweries burn down?

 

Heck, even sorting by rating, I'm not sure how this happens. The top 10 rated beers from de Garde include 4 non-Bu (Lily, Fleur Rose, Unblended Connak, Herbes Houblon). (I'm ignoring the duplicates, for the pedants.)

 

The Bu variants are actually my least favorite de Garde beers.

They made a wild IPA a year ago that is one of my favorite things they ever made. Loak is awesome. They also made some crazy Apricot beer that is ridiculous. Saison Desay is also fantastic

While I like fruit beer, the love has gone a little overboard. I dont need my beer to taste like Crystal Geyser blackberry soda

 

My guess is the think The Lily is out of reach and don't trust Fleur, Unblended, or Herbes based on the very low number of reviews?

I've only had Unblended on tap and it was insanely good. Lily also incredible. Haven't drank herbes yet and fleur I sampled but need to revisit. Lee Kriek, Fleur Desay, Side Project Chardonnay are among my favorites. And for "simpler" fair, Hose and Hop Bu are hard to beat.

 

Are you thinking of Spears for the wild IPA? Gin barrel aged?

 

yep. thats the one. bought 3-4 bottles when it dropped and de Garde was still very new. loved that beer

 

I'm a bu guy. Though other offerings have been good I feel the bu beers are usually great. I loved the fleur rose and unblended connack but that's about it in terms of being blown away. I'm always hopeful though.

 

Lily? Archer?

But, I get what you're saying that other than Strawberry in the bottles, there really hasn't been a Bu that was less than very good.

 

Have not had either of those two.

 

Well, i would have said Hose up until that last bit. I mean, if you want to get "an idea of what this brewery is all about", why do you plan to sit on them for 6-9 months?

But, basically, more recent releases will be easier because a) more recent and b) batch sizes have risen from mostly single barrels a year ago to mostly 4 or so barrels (6-800 bottles). Check their Facebook page and scroll back through the releases.

 

Honestly, I'd guess you're better just waiting that 6-9 months and trading closer to your son's next visit then. de Garde has been ramping up production, the batch sizes are getting larger, they just acquired a couple foeders, they are talking about starting to can some of the higher-production beers. My guess is that if you're not aiming for a specific fruit or a Keeper's release that you'll be able to trade for something from them more easily if you wait a few months. But I could be totally wrong, this does not constitute legal advice, consult your financial advisor, blah blah blah

 

De Garde releases bottles like rabbits multiply. Thankfully we have had a week (so far) with no new release.

 

Agree with this point; keep your eye on releases and strike while the iron is hot.

That said, the most recent releases - Hose, Nelson Hose, Temps & Poivre, Herbes Houblon - should be available and it's not like I see mad offers for them. I would imagine the latter two would hold up better than the former two. And the latter two both sound pretty great to me. Connak Ambre and Poppy Ambre may not be too hard to get and I thought both were pretty damned good.

Next "BIG" release is November 22nd, with the quarterly party. If you check what's released then - once it's announced - you can jump on it ahead of time.