Bière de Garde Dirty Monk Biere de Garde

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ohiobrewtus

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2006
Messages
7,762
Reaction score
75
Location
Ohio
Recipe Type
All Grain
Yeast
Wyeast 3725
Yeast Starter
2L
Additional Yeast or Yeast Starter
none
Batch Size (Gallons)
6
Original Gravity
1.088
Final Gravity
1.005
Boiling Time (Minutes)
90
IBU
22.6
Color
14.5
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
14 @ 64
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
14 @ 64
Additional Fermentation
10+ months at 64
Tasting Notes
See below
BeerSmith Recipe Printout - BeerSmith Brewing Software, Recipes, Blog, Wiki and Discussion Forum
Recipe: Dirty Monk Biere de Garde
Brewer: HopHed
Asst Brewer:
Style: Biere de Garde
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0)
Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 7.78 gal
Estimated OG: 1.077 SG
Estimated Color: 14.5 SRM
Estimated IBU: 22.6 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes
Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
7.50 lb Pilsner (Briess) (2.0 SRM) Grain 50.85 %
3.00 lb Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 20.34 %
0.75 lb Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM) Grain 5.08 %
0.75 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 5.08 %
0.75 lb Caravienne Malt (22.0 SRM) Grain 5.08 %
1.00 oz Hallertauer [6.00 %] (60 min) Hops 16.5 IBU
1.00 oz Tettnang [4.50 %] (15 min) Hops 6.1 IBU
1.00 lb Candi Sugar, Amber (75.0 SRM) Sugar 6.78 %
1.00 lb Cane (Beet) Sugar (0.0 SRM) Sugar 6.78 %
1 Pkgs Biere de Garde (Wyeast Labs #3725) [StarteYeast-Ale

Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Light Body, No Mash Out
Total Grain Weight: 12.75 lb
----------------------------
Single Infusion, Light Body, No Mash Out
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
90 min Mash In Add 3.99 gal of water at 159.1 F 148.0 F

View attachment biere de garde.bsm
 
I really enjoyed this beer. It ended up finishing very low (1.003) which kicked up the abv a bit too much, but it was still very good.
 
Despite the name of the yeast it is apparently the Fantome strain. Not sure why they called it Biere de Garde, but we had the same experience super attenuative, and more yeast ester/phenol production than a Biere de Garde usually has.
 
Despite the name of the yeast it is apparently the Fantome strain. Not sure why they called it Biere de Garde, but we had the same experience super attenuative, and more yeast ester/phenol production than a Biere de Garde usually has.

I've never made a French Biere de Garde but I'm interested in giving it a shot. One thing I've wondered about is how they get that really funky, woody/leathery flavour into their farmhouse beers.
Is it due to the yeast? Cask conditioning? Seems more likely to me that it is a yeast characteristic.

Anyone have information or views on this?
 
GordonT said:
I've never made a French Biere de Garde but I'm interested in giving it a shot. One thing I've wondered about is how they get that really funky, woody/leathery flavour into their farmhouse beers.
Is it due to the yeast? Cask conditioning? Seems more likely to me that it is a yeast characteristic.

Anyone have information or views on this?

Sounds like maybe a Brett infection which isn't typical for a modern bierr de garde. I have a feeling you're talking about cork taint though, which is definitely considered part of the style's character (but interestingly, always considered VERY bad in wine.)

I'd say that using corked bottles is absolutely essential to reproduce the style authentically - in my experience, much moreso than even the process of garding which is constantly stressed.
 
Oldsock said:
Despite the name of the yeast it is apparently the Fantome strain. Not sure why they called it Biere de Garde, but we had the same experience super attenuative, and more yeast ester/phenol production than a Biere de Garde usually has.

This is very true, although Fantome hardly makes typical saisons... wildly creative for a Belgian saison producer. Intetestingly, Wyeast's "French Saison" strain, is conversely probably much closer to an actual BdG strain - it comes from Brasserie Thiriez in France, which is technically a BdG producer, though granted, even the author of Farmhouse Ales (Phil Markowski) admits it shares many characteristics of a saison.

I don't use Wyeast products much except for their nutrient though. You should be able to produce a fairly close BdG with a pretty neutral yeast strain, ale OR lager (lager yeasts being very commonly used), although ale yeasts are typically fermented cool, and lager yeasts quite warm. Of Wyeast's ale selection, you may want to give 1338, 2565, or 1007 (European Ale, Kolsch, and German Ale, respectively) a try, and preferably in that order, according to Markowski. Jamil Z ALSO recommends 1338, despite a hugely different grain bill, so I doubt you can go wrong with it.

My personal favorite though is White Labs WLP072 (French Ale), a platinum series strain only TYPICALLY available two months of the year, though homebrew stores can get limited (or even retired strains, I believe), if they can place a large enough order of it. Unfortunately, nobody seems to be able to confirm which brewery is the source of this strain, but there are pretty consistent rumors that it comes from Duyck, makers of Jenlain, pretty much the BdG against which all others are compared - though given this fact, the rumors are probably just born of speculation and/or wishful thinking since it IS the obvious guess. If it were any other brewery rumored, I'd be a bit more inclined to believe it. Regardless though, it produces a fantastic BdG that is authentic enough for me to definitely believe it comes from SOME sort of French BdG producer.

Not that it matters a ton though, as the customs and practices of BdG brewers often involve just borrowing yeast from much bigger breweries that are not even close to being artisanal farmhouse or craft breweries, which is why pretty much any fairly neutral yeast strain can do a pretty great job. Which makes me wonder what the hell Wyeast is even thinking, selling a saison yeast as "Biere de Garde", because saison yeasts, pretty much by necessity, produce FAR too much character to result in a beer approximating an actual BdG.
 
I've never made a French Biere de Garde but I'm interested in giving it a shot. One thing I've wondered about is how they get that really funky, woody/leathery flavour into their farmhouse beers.
Is it due to the yeast? Cask conditioning? Seems more likely to me that it is a yeast characteristic.

Anyone have information or views on this?

From BJCP:

"The “cellar” character in commercial examples is unlikely to be duplicated in homebrews as it comes from indigenous yeasts and molds. Commercial versions often have a “corked”, dry, astringent character that is often incorrectly identified as “cellar-like.” Homebrews therefore are usually cleaner. Base malts vary by beer color, but usually include pale, Vienna and Munich types. Kettle caramelization tends to be used more than crystal malts, when present. Darker versions will have richer malt complexity and sweetness from crystal-type malts. Sugar may be used to add flavor and aid in the dry finish. Lager or ale yeast fermented at cool ale temperatures, followed by long cold conditioning (4-6 weeks for commercial operations). Soft water. Floral, herbal or spicy continental hops."
 
I am going to a tasting of Biere de Gardes today to prep for a Biere de Garde homebrew competition. Should be interesting since I have never even tasted this style before and have not clue how to formulate a recipe. Wish I had a copy of Farmhouse Ales. Anyone know some resources for traditional recipes?
 
I'm about to brew this recipe as a 10 gallon split batch. 5 gallons will be fermented with Wyeast Belgian Shelde 3655 which I believe to be a De Konick strain of yeast. It sounds perfect for the style (lager like yet retaining the belgian characteristics). The other 5 gallons will go on top of a ECY02 Flemish Ale yeast cake to get nice and sour. I'm hoping it turns out to be similar to Jolly Pumpkins Bier de Garde.
 
Biere de Garde seems to be a very misunderstood style - it's basically a malty lager with a little cellar character from corked bottles - not "Belgian" phenols at all.

If you can get Jenlain in your area check it out.

Also check out Phil Markowski's book - Farmhouse ales - bet book out there on the style.
 
shoreman said:
Biere de Garde seems to be a very misunderstood style - it's basically a malty lager with a little cellar character from corked bottles - not "Belgian" phenols at all.

If you can get Jenlain in your area check it out.

Also check out Phil Markowski's book - Farmhouse ales - bet book out there on the style.

I've only had one Jenlain Biere de Garde (Jenlain Or) which definitely has some Belgian phenolic character (and a pleasant mineral-ly quality), as have the half a dozen different St. Sylvestre ones I've had. Granted, it is far more subdued than just about anything else from Belgian (and having read the book you mentioned, I know many breweries just use lager yeasts borrowed from larger nearby breweries), but I think it's inaccurate to suggest it's non-existent. In addition, breweries seem just as likely to ferment warm with lager yeasts as they are to ferment cool with ale yeasts - both of which are responsible for a subtle-yet-unquestionably-present yeast character (primarily phenolic IME) - so calling it "basically a malty lager" is definitely oversimplifying it (to put it nicely). It's undoubtedly a malt-forward style, but if one wants to avoid grouping it with other ales, even labeling it as a hybrid does a lot more to help people understand Bieres de Garde.

I read a lot about the style before ever having tried one, and the recipes I put together based on my research went for a pretty neutral yeast character, as everything I read, even the best sources, and said similar to you. It was a big "d'oh" moment when I finally got my hands on the examples of the style - I'm usually pretty close to real examples even if it's just based on a ton of reading, but not this time. It's become clear though that educated comments about the BdG's neutral yeast character are merely talking about it in a relative sense. To ignore it entirely is just as bad as overstating it, IMO.
 
Sounds good - I'm just going on personal experience - alot of people I talk to think that BDGarde has Belgian yeast character - but it really doesn't. White Labs European Ale and corked 750s would probably be the situation for a home brewer.
 
I know this is a bit of an older thread, but our homebrew club did a 55 gallon batch of this style, and it is $#@ing phenomenal. The one I just drank is VERY young for this style (brewed 7/12/12, bottled 8/10/12), but after knocking out some of my 'to-brew' list, I'm going to experiment with this style quite a bit. Oddly, we used a commercial yeast from a local belgian-inspired brewer (Brewer's Art) that they use for, amongst others, their signature dubbel beer (Resurrection). Ours was closest to the 'ambre' color, as we had about 10% munich (asked our club prez for the recipe, and will post).

The hallertau gives it a nice moderately spicy character, but this beer is huge and complex on malt....while all the while having a subtle lingering bitterness that comes through in a bone dry finish. Again, this beer, though not HUGE in alcohol (~7.1%) will likely benefit from 6-12 months of cellaring.

I think one of the keys to this beer was the fermentation schedule Jamil recommended in his recipe. 66 (I think) until it slows, then raise it 1 degree per day until it reaches 72. It will be interesting to taste some of the other members' batches who didn't control temp. Resurrection yeast, while obviously not the same as french ale/BDG yeast, supposedly had very similar characteristics, providing some herbal notes at lower fermentation temperatures in lieu of esters, its a monster attenuator, and flocculated very well, even in 1.5 weeks.

In any event, if anyone has any references on this style, I would love to read more about it (I must take credit as it was my idea to brew this for our club). Very balanced, interesting, drinkable beer that really suits my tastes (and, according to Garrett Oliver, one of the best beers with food, next to his favorite, saison, of course). I'm lobbying to brew the recipe again and do a vertical tasting in a year.

It would be a great style to experiment with Brett/Pedio, or wood aging. The only commercial examples I've had have been Flying Dog's Garde Dog (which doesn't seem to be a great rep of the style, according to the Almighty BeerAdvocate), and Biere de Mars by New Belgium. I thought the latter was great, though some say it fits more in the 'wild ale' category.

Personally, I'm going to try to make a blonde version of the style, with a bit of a cleaner malt character (maybe some victory or other bready pale malts) that allow the herbal notes to jump out a little more.

Vive la biere-
mp
 
Edit: biere de mars is actually a separate style, though not recognized as a separate style in BJCP. This was the last beer they brewed before the warm season started (mars=march en francais).
 
I just won a 2nd place with this recipe. I also soured 5 gallons of this beer that is tasting fantastic in the carboy right now. In addition to that I did 1 gallon on 100% Brett Drie, whoa that is a beautiful beer.

Great recipe!
Thanks. Here's what I did for my 11 gallons of this beer.
http://dankbrewingcompany.blogspot.com/2012/02/heifer-and-bullocks-blonde-bier-de.html

The judges noted that the hops bitterness was a little high for the style, but that's just being nit picky.
 
Subscribed. Thinking of brewing a Biere de Garde soon. It seems to be a very rare style. I've only had one, made by Schlafly, so it may not have been an accurate representation, but damn it was good. I am on the hunt for others. The descriptions of this style I have read sound delicious
 
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