Brooklyn Savoir Faire

Brewed by Brooklyn Brewery
Style: Bière de Garde
Brooklyn, New York USA

Draft at Rattle n Hum. Some skank in the aroma, unfortunately. Flavor is sweet and malty, with touches of whiskey and grapes. Pleasantly fizzy on the palate. My first biere de garde. Interesting brew.

On tap at The Roadhouse in Brookline. Translucent orangish body with a creamy tall off white head. Aromas of hard candies like Life Savers mixed with a funky yeasty grass scent. Reminded me of a sweet saison. The pallate is uber smooth, which was highly unexpected. From the earthy aromas I braced myself for some pucker or sour aspect but the body was velvety and almost verging on flat. The flavor had notes of watery cherries, fresh peaches, apple peels and some sweet chewy caramel. The malts were exceptionally light and hard to distingush, and the earthy aroma never really poked its head out. All said, it was a nicely balanced beer that was just one step from being bad but kept it together.

Tap at Spuyten Duyvil. Light color, fruity notes. Hints of Belgium and some wheat. Strong flavor up front.

On tap at Redlight Redlight. Pours a fairly clear copper amber color with a large, frothy light vanilla colored head. Smells of big banana, clove, wheat, and a little funk. Definitely had some wheat beer characters going on in the nose. The flavor was very creamy, little vanilla, banana, and dark caramel malts. A little sweet, but drinks pretty nice and goes down easy. Nice little treat to be able to try this one.

Draft. I really liked this biere de garde. Lots of rustic aromas, and an appropriately sandy brown color in the glass. Wheat, yeast, rye and a little bit of acidic malt. Tasting reveals more malting and a medium caramel finish.

On tap @ International Beer Garten (Lutz, FL). Pours a slightly hazy golden color with an off-white head. Aroma of yeast, biscuit malts, and caramel/toffee. Earthy/woodsy flavors mixed with honey caramel and yeast. Very interesting overall.

On tap at Tylers. Bright clear light amber pour with off-white head that doesn’t hang on too long. They didn’t have a description of it, but the combination aroma of honey, grain, bread, and that kind of malt liquor smell made me assume it was a Biere de Garde (Does that make me cool? My wife says no). Sweet honey notes and bread flavors. Slight butter; not really much fruit at all. A bit off-putting at first, but not a bad beer overall.

Draft at Clover Leaf Tavern. Pours a slight hazy brigth light coppery gold with a nice fluffy white head and good lace. Aroma has a moderate Diacetyl mixed with fresh bready malts, and light caramel- hints of leather and earth. Good slightly toasty and light caramel malts, slight slcik and buttery diacetyl, ok fruitiness, and some cracker, toast in the end- with more drying earth- but still has some body on the finish- not too dry. Ok.