En Garde
Port Brewing Company in San Marcos, California, United States 🇺🇸
Farmhouse Regular Out of Production|
Score
7.03
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Clarkvv (16523) reviewed En Garde from Port Brewing Company 19 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
Draught at EBF, second day, on 2/10/07, served by Vince
Soft, lightly hazy peach-nectarine colored beer, with light golden-straw highlights and a surprisingly dense, white head that is mostly well-retained, and laces lightly. Lots of medium-sized bubbles in the liquid.
Very tart aroma definitely makes use of the barrel, where I found the non-barrel version to have a bit too much sweetness and sluggish maltiness. The barrel adds a firmness and light, grainy tannic note that seems acidic, but also juicy and really seems balanced to the sweet malts. Dry grass and herbal notes make you think there are herbs added to the beer while strong lemon and dry orange notes also create dryness. A bit of doughiness and lots of acidity on the end, but a very interesting "biere de garde" overall. Though I dont think you’d call this one a BdG anymore. The barrel adds way too much fruitiness and tartness, with tons of acidity.
Same acidic flavor seems to have a want of a little more malt depth, while lots of biscuity/grainy notes are exposed by the heavily dry fruitiness and tannic acids. Lots of barrel here, with vanilla, chamomile, lavendar and hibiscus notes lingering. Not sure where all the herbal notes are coming from, but with the fruitiness, acids and puckering tartness, it remains quite bright, but just too much for me. Highly carbonated mouthfeel and a very aerated/fluffy texture, thusly. Light alcohol vapors, in the aroma, by the end of the glass.
As an experimental beer, it’s very unique and pretty well-done, but don’t look at it as a BdG.
Irishboy (4674) reviewed En Garde from Port Brewing Company 19 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5
Draft at the Bistro’s Barrel-Aged Beer Fest 11/11/06 Nose of vanilla, light caramel, light barnyard, and tartness; Gold with a small white head; Flavor of vanilla, yeast, and caramel malts in a medium body with a tart finish.