Does anyone know the difference between a beer like The Kriek and kriek bu veaux? I know there’s also an offering just called bu veaux.
I believe beers with “The” are true spontaneous fermentation and others are pitched mixed-culture, though I welcome correction. Desay, Bu Veaux, Noir, and others I can’t think of are indicators of grain bill, I think.
The labels say the exact same thing on beer like the kreik and kriek bu veaux. Could spontaneous vs pitched yeast make a difference of 2% abv? Spontaneous stuff eats more sugar?
I don't think it's the yeast culture that's accounting for the ABV difference; for that I think you're on the right track about the grain bill, but I don't know the specifics. Have you tried reaching out to de Garde directly? They probably wouldn't divulge the whole recipe (or maybe they would, it's not like you could easily replicate their process) but I bet they could tell you the difference in general terms.
I could be wrong, but I thought everything de Garde did was spontaneous. I think the difference in the The series and the BuVeaux series has more to do with grain (I don't know specifically what, but I'd love to hear what de Garde has to say about it) and time aged + vessel being used for aging. I *think* one is aged in smaller barrels for a longer amount of time (the The series) and the other in puncheons for less time.
Based on the descriptions in Facebook posts when a new beer in the BuVeaux series is released, it looks like it's there's not much difference in the 'The' and BuVeaux bases than their final ABV ranges. This 2021 post is a good example of how the brewery words it: "BuVeaux - Similar in process and ingredients to our ‘The’ series of beers (which draw their greatest inspiration from Belgian lambic traditions), but brewed to a lower gravity to increase drinkability and refreshment, without sacrificing pleasure. Fermented and aged sur lie for two years in neutral oak barrels." Also...de Garde has recently expanded distro as well, with BuVueaux and The Chateau popping up in a handful of beer bars and liquor stores locally (Kansas City metro) earlier this month.
How much are de Garde bottles in KC? Just curious. Would be nice if they would just have a page on their website that explains the why behind their most common series of beers.
Increased availability seems to be increasingly the norm for de Garde beer. I want to say that's been the trend for the last 5 years or so. Draft accounts in PDX are still pretty uncommon, but bottles are pretty much everywhere now. 5 or 6 years ago there might be one or two places in town where you could find bottles. Now pretty much every bottle shop in town has at least several different variants.
These prices are likely (modestly) higher than what they're going for in local liquor stores, but a local beer bar has to-go BuVeaux for $20 and The Chateau for $30. My recollection from recent Oregon visits is that the former is in the $12-14 range and the latter is $18-22 at the brewery and in stores. I agree that de Garde could put a *little* more effort into their online presence - I'm sure that some day, they'll get around to updating the online store URL to be something other than the default one Square assigned them.
Awesome. Thanks swid for the information. I’ve only ever had kriek bu veaux and a bottle of the peach and I only just noticed when de garde was brought in just the base beer bu veaux I was like oh there’s a base beer.
Is anyone from kc gunna pull the trigger on chateau? I’ve some broken truck I’d like to do side by side.
The The series are aged 3 years minimum, with Reserve versions being 4 minimum. The Premiere is aged about a year and is a saison base, if I'm not wrong. The Ivy series uses 100% barley in the grist and has a different flavor profile. The BuVeaux base is sub 4% ( I remember batches in the 3% range) and had its origins as a berlinerweisse-inspired beer but I could just be mixing things up at this point ( or maybe those were the Bu series?)
Yeah I remember the berlinner Weiss, they were just bu Weiss interesting about the premier series. I wasn’t aware.
I think I know where I got off track. I remember one of the dG brewers at an AA club bottle share a few years ago saying the "The" series was closest they did to a gueuze process, i thought he meant true spontaneous fermentation, but now I think he was referring to the 3 years part, though now I'm questioning if he intended a blend of 1-3 years or just that it includes 3yr aged stock. Foggy anecdote when many beers were consumed, ignore what I said earlier.
I think the Bu series was Berliner-inspired, but BuVeaux is different and I don't remember exactly how (closer to the The series but without being aged as long, perhaps?). I miss the Bu series, even if it was on the higher acidity side of things. I also miss the saisons they used to make!
Nobody thought the $5-6 Petite Desay and Bu Weisse bottles would last forever, but I miss them all the same.
