Bière des Sans Culottes

Brewed by Brasserie La Choulette
Style: Bière de Garde
Hordain, France

750 ml bottle. BB 01.12.07 Aromas of citrus, spice and light stone fruit. Hazy orange amber color with a decent white head that didn’t really stick. Medium body with mild, but prickly, carbonation. The flavor is mildly sour, slightly citric, lightly spicy, and something earthy or even tobacco in a small way. Finishes rather dry with not much bitter, just fruit and spice. Very mild ending. Very intriguing and pleasant drink. Could be called clean and crisp (by me anyway).

75 cL bottle. Pours clear and golden yellow to orange with a lacing white head. Light spiced malty aroma. Flavour is light malty with a spice note. Ends with a light fruity note.

Caged corked 750 ml. green bottle, description and best before date on the back label, sampled in a tulip glass. The name of this French Bière de Garde roughly translations into The Beer Without Breeches, a reference to the kind of trousers, short pants wore by soldiers in the late 1700’s. You will need to know the history of the 1789 French Revolution to catch the full meaning. Sediment is visible in the bottom of the bottle. L: Hazy orangey golden with a fluffy white head that slowly receded into a thin topping of frothy cream. Splotchy, curtain-like lace rings the glass. Off to an impressive start. S: Freshly baked bread, pepper, clove and earthy spices, green apples and pears with a half of a lemon squeezed over them, confectionary sugar, and a light leathery mustiness framing the edges. The alcohol has the scent of vinous white grapes. F&T: Creamy crispness, firm from the ample carbonation, moderately light bodied, this has a nice airy, well rounded feel in the mouth. Yeasty tastes of green raw nuts, earthy spices and white pepper, along with a light farmhouse, barnyard mustiness. Fruitiness of tart green apples and not quite ripen pears, with an itty-bitty sprinkle of white sugar. I have to say the green apples and pears also seem to retain their nature sugary sweetness. In the middle delectable flavors of sticky clove and stemmy herbs come forth to balance out the sweet fruity tastes. A mild hop spiciness adds a drying touch to the nutty yeast, sweet grain bready finale. This Bière de Garde would make a excellent starting point for anyone wanting to explore the style. Extremely tasty and balanced, this does a good job of defining the Bière de Garde style, little wonder that the late, great beer advocate/writer Michael Jackson had always included this in his beer guides. At the brewery website I found out something I hadn’t known before. In the year 2000, the state of Missouri suspended the marketing of Les Bière Des Sans Culottes because they objected to classical French Romantic Eugène Delacroix painting used on the front label, namely the peasant women in the center holding up the French tricolor flag of freedom. In english the painting is called "Liberty Guiding The People." You can draw your own conclusions over what this means.

Sept. 2006 - Beer poured a golden yellow with a tinge of amber, nice head and nice lacing. Aroma had some barnyard funk and sweet fruit. The flavor was really sweet, with a strange absence of the funkiness in the aroma. This beer was just TOO sweet with not enough funk, not enough hops and a mouthfeel that just had no zing. I prefer saisons to biere de gardes. BOO FRENCH, HOORAH BELGIANS!

Bottle. Golden colour with a white head. Aroma is apple, citrus, yeast. Flavour is yeast, citrus, apple, orange, sour. OK beer but could be more.

750ml bottle. Hazy, pale golden body with a huge white head. Aroma is refreshing sour with apple and a little hint of lemon. Flavor is fruity, apple again quite sour and a long fruity finish. Balanced in a way and very quaffable, a bit to aggressive carbonation, otherwise I cold have a few bottles of this in a row.

Bottle, 75cl corked. A golden beer with lots of microfloaties and a white head. Fruity and slightly sour aroma. There’s a sour start to the flavor, but it’s soon balanced by fruityness, pale malt and some hops for bitterness. Highly carbonated, medium full mouthfeel. Slightly sour finish with a minimal bitterness. The alcohol in this one is well hidden. Not that 7% ABV is much, but it’s often more evident than in this one. Unfortunately that don’t make up for the sourness that shouldn’t have been there if I were to choose. (071228)

75 cl bottle, at Yngwie´s xmas-tasting. Hazy yellow/orange color. Nice white head. A bit sour beer with sweet fruits (apple), yeast and much carbonation. Dry finish. Ok, but not more.