Beer Review: Imperial Apricot Bu

Reviewing the Imperial Apricot Bu from de Garde Brewing out of Tillamook, Oregon.

Score: 98

2014 vintage bottle served in a Surly Darkness chalice and enjoyed on 01/09/15.

Appearance: Pours a cloudy apricot color with nice fade and tons of floating particulate. Minimal head off the pour, which totally settles. 2/5

Smell: Apricot for days plus some oak. Quite lovely. It's simple, but incredibly appetizing. 5/5

Taste: Tart apricot with a good pucker factor on the mid, which gets more intense as it warms. Notes of lemon too. A little vanilla, oak, and wine character on the finish too. Super lovely mix. 4.75/5

Mouthfeel: Light bodied, mild carbonation. Lovely sourness, without a heavy acidic character. Very dry finish. 4.75/5

Overall: Another home run of a fruited Bu Weisse from de Garde! This one rivals the likes of West Ashley and Fou Foune in deliciousness, albeit less complex than either.

Cost: $10 for a 750 ml bottle.

Beer Review: The Lily

Reviewing The Lily, an American wild ale fermented in oak barrels with Tempranillo grapes from De Garde Brewing out of Tillamook, Oregon.

Score: 70

2014 vintage bottle served in a stemmed Perennial wine glass and enjoyed on 06/23/14.

Appearance: Pours a translucent dark ruby color with a light purplish tinge with a half finger of cream color head that settles to a thick ring around the glass. Very good lacing and retention. 4.5/5

Smell: Graham crackers, strawberry jam and grape! Light oak and little raspberry too. Underneath the fruit character is a lactic acid backbone that is not too intense, but adds a nice zestiness and boldness to the nose. This beer reminds me of a better Madame Rose. I absolutely love the graham cracker and strawberry here! As it warms up, the nose sadly loses a little bit of its zing and brightness. Nonetheless, it remains pretty appealing. 4.5/5

Taste: Less lacto on taste than the nose, with the lacto character mostly limited to the finish. Strawberry seed jamminess, oak and grape upfront with a little vanilla too. Finishes with an unpleasantly funky rubber band flavor with unfortunate lasting power. The upfront flavor is really nice, but this beer leaves you with a lastingly, unpleasant taste in your mouth. As it warms, the funkiness softens a bit, but at the expense of some tartness and in tandem with an exacerbation of its under-carbonation. Based on the reviews and reputation of this beer, maybe I got an "off" bottle? 3/5

Mouthfeel: Thin-medium bodied, under-carbonated. Dry finish. Lasting funkiness. 2/5

Overall: Excellent smell and a good flavor absolutely marred by a unpleasantly funky finish and under-carbonation. Bottle variation? Maybe. But given the hype I'll stick to their more consistent bottles.

Cost: $15 for a 750 ml bottle.

Beer Review: Fleur Desay

Reviewing Fleur Desay, a sour farmhouse gruit aged in oak chardonnay beer from De Garde Brewing out of Tillamook, Oregon.

Score: 97

2014 vintage bottle served in a Darkness chalice and enjoyed on 08/20/14.

Appearance: Pours a murky yellow orange color that fades from orange to yellow from bottom to top with a thin layer of head that settles to a ring around the glass. Poor lacing, but good retention. 3.5/5

Smell: Sour melon, strawberry/fruity, grapefruit, orange, lemon, sour wheat, wine, white grape, and a kiss of herbal something or another and lacto. Faint, faint hint of butteriness, but it surprisingly works. Wonderful and complex! 4.75/5

Taste: White grape, watermelon lemonade, citrus fruitiness and strawberry. Spritzy sourness, with a crisp, but sour finish. A little nondescript spice and mild acidity on the midpalate. Perfect integration. 5/5

Mouthfeel: Light bodied, spritzy carbonation. Nice sourness (accentuated by the carbonation) with a little residual sweetness and good liveliness on the gums. Dry finish. Nice acidity level too. 4.75/5

Overall: One of the best De Garde beers I have sampled to date. I find that Trevor's brews are often hit-or-miss, but man, when they hit... Seek this one out with confidence!

Cost: $10 for a 750 ml bottle.

Beer Review: Imperial Raspberry Bu

Reviewing the Imperial Raspberry Bu, a Berliner weiss from De Garde Brewing out of Tillamook, Oregon.

Score: 97

December 2012 vintage bottle served in a stemmed De Garde glass and enjoyed on 01/12/14.

Appearance: Pours a murky pinkish red color with a finger-plus of head that settles to a nice layer. Poor lacing and retention. Lovely lovely color. 4.75/5

Smell: Huge candied raspberry nose with a mineral water backbone. Hint of lemon, dash of vinegar. Simple, but incredibly appealing and bright/fresh smelling. 4.75/5

Taste: Big, tart raspberry character throughout, with a good pucker upfront and dry finish. Light vinegar and zesty lemon. Tastes just like it smells. Simple, but incredibly delicious. 4.75/5

Mouthfeel: Light bodied, good carbonation. Awesome tartness upfront, with a lovely, dry finish. Residuals sweetness too. Nice sweet and sour mix. 4.75/5

Overall: De Garde is simply killing it with Berliners. Seek this beer out!

Cost: $10 for a 750 ml bottle.

Beer Review: Imperial Vin Bu

Reviewing the Imperial Vin Bu from De Garde Brewing out of Tillamook, Oregon. This beer is a berliner weisse style ale aged in wine barrels with Merlot grapes.

Score: 95

2014 vintage bottle served in a Toppling Goliath snifter and enjoyed on 04/09/14. Review is from iPhone notes.

Appearance: Pours a vibrant pink-ruby candy drop color with a finger and a half of fizzy pink-white head that settles to a nice coating. Excellent lacing and retention. The beer is noticeably effervescent. 4.75/5

Smell: Wheat, some grape and a touch of hay funk. A hint of oak and a little lacto. Good mix, but muted on the grape relative to the amount of cranberry in Cranberry Bu or boysenberry in Boysenberry Bu. 4.25/5

Taste: With no real funk or grain character in the taste, this tastes much more tart grape and musty fruit forward than than the nose. Similar in flavor to a fresh Saint Lamvinus, with a kiss of lacto towards the finish. Not very complex, but quite delicious. More lacto character comes through as the beer warms. By the time this beer reached room temp it tastes like Smarties candy flavored fruit punch with a lacto twist. Yummy. 4.5/5

Mouthfeel: Thin-plus bodied, appropriately effervescent. Quite dry on the finish (particularly on the gums), accentuating the tartness of the brew nicely. 4.5/5

Overall: A deliciously light, tart and flavorful, albeit not super complex, berliner-style sour ale from a brewery that is quickly becoming a master of these kind of beers. Highly recommend this one.

Cost: $10 for a 750 ml bottle

Beer Review: Loak

Reviewing Loak from De Garde Brewing out of Tillamook, Oregon.

Score: 65

2014 vintage bottle served in a Kate the Great snifter and enjoyed on 05/08/14.

Appearance: Pours a dark brown burgundy color with a thin layer of tan head. Excellent lacing, good retention. 3.75/5

Smell: Poo poo, bleu cheese funkiness, chocolate and cherry funk, with a hint of coffee. Sharp sweet caramel too. The funk is the last and first thing you smell on this nose, and it is not pleasant. The poo poo character dies down as the beer breathes, but the other funkiness does not. 1/5

Taste: The taste starts off unpleasant, but either layers nicely or mellows out as it warms up. Initially, this beer has a sharp, unpleasant sweetness upfront that quickly turns tart, and then finishes with a nice bitter coffee flavor. That initial taste sensation is like a rickety roller coaster that jerks you around flavor-wise. Cherry, oak, bourbon and light caramel, with a coffee and chocolate finish. The tartness in the middle gets crisper as the beer warms and layer. The sharp upfront sweetness also mellows out over time, and melds more seamlessly with the tartness. The bitter coffee and chocolate finish is quite lovely, and is the only thing enticing me to keep sipping at first. 3/5

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied, appropriate carbonation. Super dry finish. Sweet and sourish upfront, then mildly bitter on the finish. 3.5/5

Overall: This beer was flat out weird. The nose was one of the most unpleasant ones I have experienced in a long time, and the taste is initially subpar save for an excellent finish that was more or less this beer's only saving grace. De Garde makes a lot of really tasty beer, but this is one of their rare early misses (along with their Cornelio Nunez Porter).

Cost: $10 for a 375 ml bottle.

Beer Review: Cran Bu Weisse

Reviewing the Cran Bu Weisse from De Garde Brewing out of Tillamook, Oregon.

Score: 94

2014 vintage bottle served in a Dark Lord snifter and enjoyed on 03/12/14.

Appearance: Pours a cloud, dull pink color with nice fade and minimal head. Minimal lacing and retention too. I really dig the color. 4.25/5

Smell: Cranberries, vinegar, oak, a hint of lemon and a kiss of fruit juice and lacto. Really nice mix here, with a prominent cranberry character and juiciness. 4.5/5

Taste: Tastes like mildly tart cranberry juice with complexities of oak, lemon, grape skins, wheat and a touch of fruit. Less lacto than the nose, which is mostly constrained to the initial upfront kick of flavor. The flavor profile on this brew is a nicely balanced mix that is sessionable and flavorful, but not too big or overpowering. Finishes with lasting cranberry flavor with a lemon twist. 4.5/5

Mouthfeel: Light bodied, nice carbonation. Light tartness, a little fruitiness and sweetness. Very juicy mouthfeel. 4.5/5

Overall: Another excellent fruited variant of "Bu." They're all pretty great, though my favorites thus far have been Raspberry and Boysenberry. Seek this out if you get the chance.

Cost: $11 for a 500 ml bottle.

Beer Review: Vin Lee

Reviewing Vin Lee from De Garde Brewing out of Tillamook, Oregon.

Score: 91

2014 vintage bottle served in a stemmed Schramm's snifter and enjoyed on 03/05/14. Review is from iPhone notes

Appearance: From the second the bottle was opened, this beer gushed like none other. Within ten (10) or fifteen (15) seconds, we lost seventy-five percent (75%) or more of the bottle to the carpet. Be forewarned; have a bucket ready when you open yours! Pours a murky brownish-red color with yellowish fade towards the edges. Not much head or retention. Very cloudy/murky in appearance. 3.5/5

Smell: Smells like your run of the mill sour brown ale with a nice grape twist. Lots of vanilla and oak, vinegar, cherry, and red grapes. Some yeast too, and a little funk. A touch vinous. Graham cracker too as it warms up. As the beer warms up, the aroma increasingly approaches a cherry-grape pie quality. Above average integration. A little PDO at first, but not much and it fades out as the beer breathes. 4/5

Taste: Tart cherries and oak, with a little vinegar toward the finish and an underlying grape flavor. A bit dank for a sour. Mildly bitter finish, good tartness. Some graham crack in the finish too. A sugary-tart grape flavor lingers. Nice integration. 4.25/5

Mouthfeel: Light bodied, good carbonation. Tart, dry. Has a nice sweetness to balance the tartness too. 4/5

Overall: Good, but not great. De Garde makes better beers, but this is a solid example of their deep line up. It is basically a well-made flanders-style beer with a heavy grape twist. I would definitely drink this one again if given the chance, but would not go out of my way to acquire it.

Cost: $14 for a 500 ml bottle.