Recipe: Bière de Garde

This is the recipe that is the base for the club's group brew [Read more here].

From Beersmith: Bière de Garde comes in three variations (Blond, Amber and Brown) which vary primarily in colour from golden-blonde to deep brown with an overall range of 6-19 SRM. The darker variations tend to have a more complex flavour profile. It is a strong pale ale with medium to high malty flavour often with hints of toast, caramel or toffee. Unlike English pale ale, it has low to moderate esters (fruitiness) and alcohol flavour. It has low to no hop flavour with balance tilted towards the malt. The beer is fairly strong (6-8.5% alcohol) with a starting gravity of 1.060-1.080.

The finished beer should be smooth and well aged. It has a much rounder, sweeter, maltier character than a Saison and also lacks its spicy flavour. Clarity can vary from good to poor, and some haze is acceptable. It is usually served highly carbonated with a good head, and may have a slightly dry finish. Attenuation with this beer is typically very high – in the 80-85% range, and final gravity in the 1.008-1.016 range.

The below recipe has been adapted from the malt bill in the "Farmhouse Ales" book

OG: 1.070

Batch size: 23L ~75% eff

5.00 kg Pilsner Malt 69.7 % 1.00 kg Munich Malt 13.9 % 0.33 kg Aromatic Malt 4.6 % 0.23 kg Caramunich/vienna 3.3 % 0.08 kg Amber/Biscuit Malt 1.1 % 0.02 kg Debittered Black (Carafa) 0.3 % 0.50 kg Sugar 7.0 %

94g @90mins Saaz 25 IBU

Yeast up to brewer

Low temp mash suggested to help it dry out 90min boil Sugar added either in the kettle or fermenter if you want to go easy on the yeast Lagered for 4-6 weeks before packaging