Schlafly Bière de Garde

Brewed by Saint Louis Brewery
Style: Bière de Garde
Maplewood, Missouri USA

Bottle courtesy of drmatt. Pours copper with a white head. Smells of oranges, roses perfume, some sugar, some grapey hints. Tastes of pepper, oranges, sugar. Finish is sweet.

I live less than two hours from the brewery, but its bombers seldom make it to our stores (the stout and barley wine do). I had to go to Kansas City for this one, over four hours from the brewery. Distribution makes so much sense. And it’s a pity we don’t get this when it comes out because it is a good, light, saison-ish beer. Fruity. Bit of banana. It’s the kind of beer folks in Missouri should be making - let’s shed the pseudo-lager tradition of A-B and see real European styles. And let’s help the folks in the smaller towns out too. Send us your good stuff too. And maybe, just maybe, Schlafly will do a real old school farmhouse with funky flavors and Belgian yeast.

Pours a hazy, bright orange/amber with a frothy, ivory head that lasts quite a while and laces nicely. The nose is bright and yeasty with notes of dusty farmhouse, soda crackers and faint cotton candy. Light to medium-bodied, it has silky-soft carbonation that transitions to a lightly dry and mildly sour finish. The flavor follows the nose with a yeasty, sour farmhouse character to it that is bright and refreshing. This was my first Bière de Garde, and I now feel compelled to seek out others. This is a tasty and interesting brew; well done. :)

Bottle, thanks to yobdoog. Yellowish - orange pour. Aroma is slight funk, some citrus. The flavor is sweet fruity malt, bubblegum / banana, and some earthiness also. Pretty good beer.

Thank you drmatt. I really enjoyed this. I like that the alcohol has a bit of a kick. Seems like it enhances the nice fruit flavors (pear, apple, pinapple, banana) and that mellow bitterness. Very smooth candy accents as well from the bold thick caramel malts. Very nice creamy body and mouthfeel. A hint of oil and butter but still good.

Courtesy of Styles

Bottle: The aroma consists of butterscotch, caramel, and faint grain. It pours a hazy amber with a moderate, quickly fading off-white head. The flavor starts with butterscotch and fruit. There’s some faint graininess in the background along with some very faint lemon notes in the finish. Light-medium bodied with lively carbonation.

Bottle. pours a clear lite orange color with no head. Oily looking brew. Malty with yeasty good sweetness. Light nutty flavors in the finish.

Cloudy dark straw colored pour, scant head. Nice funky and sour nose. Palate is light with soft carbonation. Flavor is somewhat sour and a bit funky.