Ginger Man International Series French Brewers Guild Beers

Bière de garde in French, ‘beer for keeping’ is France’s original beer style. Slow maturation before bottling allows the beer to release a complex panoply of aromas, set off by a dense, white, long lasting head. Jenlain Blonde is strong in character, full of flavor with notes of honey and peach, capped by that splendid champagne aroma.

Some years ago, La Choulette brewer Alain Dhaussy thought to take his already famous amber bière de garde and add pure raspberry juice. The resulting reddish-brown framboise captivated beer-lovers from the start. It is dry, only a little bit sweet, and redolent with fresh raspberries, offset by a light roasty malt character and accented by a classic bière de garde yeast that lends a spicy, almost perfumed note.

Special beers for Spring are an old tradition among France’s famous farmhouse bière de garde breweries. Typically, the brewers offered their very best stuff in this season, usually under the name Bière de Mars (March beer). In the days before refrigeration, farmer-brewers always brewed in the colder months to avoid problems with their yeasts, which tend to be rather cantankerous in the warmer weather. The first and best beers of the season were brewed in early winter, when cellars were coldest, using the freshly harvested malt and hops of the autumn just passed.