Beer Olympics at The Cove - Week 2!

Alright, here is what you can look forward to in this week's episode of the Beer Olympics present by Raise A Glass on WHYR 96.9 FM Baton Rouge.  

First line-up: Worldwide Best Sellers!   These are the beers that you can find throughout the world, representing some of the biggest breweries out there.  They might not be what you consider the best, but they are the most popular.

Second up: Farmhouse / Saison / Sours!  Sticking with one style this time, we have 6 traditional farmhouse or saison style beers from around the world.  Originating as a French & Belgian style, we also have beers from Canada, Denmark, Italy, and United States to taste.  Tune in Friday at 6 or Sunday at 4 to find out who took home the gold medal!

Raise A Glass will be recording on location at The Cove on Corporate Blvd. almost every Wednesday evening this summer, starting around 6 PM.  Everyone is welcome to come out and drink a few beers along with us and maybe even have the chance to try the eventual winners!

Congrats to Nogne O Sweet Horizon from Norway for taking the gold medal in the Stouts competition last week.  Sweden took the silver with the Nils Oscar Imperial Stout due to a tiebreaker with the USA, which settled for bronze from to the NOLA Irish Channel Stout.  

Review: Bayou Teche Courir De Mardi Gras

Many thanks to Dan for giving me a couple of these!  The good news is that I got the hook up, the bad news is that it's because he didn't really like it.  That's alright though, different styles for different folks, and Dan is quite the hophead, so a "Biere De Garde" might not be up his alley at all.  

 

The "Biere De Garde" is a French-Belgian style of beer, typically malt-heavy with a noble hop flavor flavor and lighter color.  The average alcohol range for these is 6% to 8% but this offering from Bayou Teche Brewing comes in at a lower 5%.  That probably makes it a better beer for Mardi Gras in South Louisiana even if it's not expected for the style.

 

Poured into a Chimay goblet, it's a golden orange color with minimal head. Not much retention or lacing at all on this beer.   The aroma is biscuity, malty with a little funk to it. I don't pick up any real hop presence.

The taste is more of the same, except it gets a little bitter hop note at the end of the sip. That adds a nice dimension that was missing on the nose. Really easy to drink, it's a little thin and the bitterness lingers on the finish.

It's enjoyable but I won't be rushing out for another.  Maybe it's just the style, but just an average beer to me.

My rating: C

France - Biere De Garde

It's time for France, a country that offers up nearly endless brasseries to choose from to feature.  I haven't featured any French beers in this corner of the internet, but I've tried and reviewed plenty, including staples like Kronenbourg and Fischer Amber as well as some of the lesser-known brews like Gavroche and the Brasserie Thiriez Biere De Noel.  For this one though, rather than feature a specific beer, I figured I'd feature a style of beer that originated in France, the Biere De Garde.

This translates into "keeping beer" as it was meant to be cellared for several seasons before drinking.  Before the days of temperature control yeast would react differently in the summertime so the beers would be brewed in the winter and spring to be cellared and drank during the hotter months.  The style is characterized as a blend between French and Belgian beers, but really the line between some of those styles is quite blurred.  The bieres de garde are intended to have a noble hop profile, but well balanced with malts on the aroma and tongue.  There are usually hints of fruit and spices as well, and they tend to be stronger than average in the alcohol content.  I have enjoyed the few from this style that I've tried so far, including Gavroche, which should be able to be found in Baton Rouge stores.

So next time you see 'Biere De Garde' on the label, don't be afraid to give it a try... you're probably going to like what you find, because unlike their 2010 World Cup campaign, the French got this one right.

Back to the 2010 FIFA World Cup Beer Tour main page.

The Bite And Booze World Cup Tour.

Sources:

Wikipedia

BeerAdvocate