# Yeast Strain For Bire De Garde ?



## Doc (24/5/05)

I'm about to have my first crack at a Bire de Garde.
I tried a great one last year by a another AHB brewer and I have his recipe. He used a Lager Yeast (Munich Lager). 
I've found many references stating that both Ale and Lager yeasts can be used to brew this style when used at the lower end of the fermentation temperature range.

I'm interested to hear what yeasts you guys have used for brewing Bire de Garde and what your thoughts were on the resultant beer.

Beers,
Doc


----------



## warrenlw63 (24/5/05)

Doc,

Haven't made one as such. However I've consumed a few both here and in France.

I think that yeast isn't all that big an issue. Any clean Ale Yeast or Lager yeast fermented slightly warmer I think would do the trick.

A lot of people talk about the elusive "cellar character" these beers sometimes contain. From my own experiences when they're consumed fairly fresh in France they don't have any of this so-called cellar character at all. In fact they're fairly clean, malty, full-bodied beers.

However when you try them here in Australia they tend to have aquired some form of mustiness. I'm not sure how this develops. Maybe it's an age thing.

Trick is getting a beer with a nice Vienna and Crystal Malt character (like Jenlain) and the rest would probably pretty much take care of itself.

That said quite a few like say, 3 Monts are very pale and lager like and almost a bit winey. Almost like a cleanish Belgian Tripel.

In a nutshell most of them are really just clean, nicely made beers presented in corked bottles.

Good luck with it Doc. Great, but difficult to classify style IMO.

Warren -


----------



## neonmeate (24/5/05)

i've made one with a half and half mixture of european ale and WLP800, fermented at 14 then lagered for 2 months. that was tasty - super malty, clean and slightly fruity.
it's a pretty wide open style, make anything 1070 out of lots of medium colour malts like vienna, melanoidin, caramunich etc and ferment it with something not too dry. you don't want much roastiness so medium "malty" malts are the key

minty, spicy hops like northern brewer, hallertau, hersbrucker, tett etc are the way to go hopswise, but basically anything that's not cascade will be fine

have you read "farmhouse ales"? there's lots of good info in there on BDGs.


----------



## Doc (24/5/05)

neonmeate said:


> have you read "farmhouse ales"? there's lots of good info in there on BDGs.
> [post="60447"][/post]​



Thanks for the replies Neon and Warren.

Yes I have the Farmhouse Ales book as well. 

I was just interested to see what any of you guys have done down here. It won't be a comp beer, so sticking to the style isn't really an issue. ATM I'm thinking of either German Ale (WLP029) or Belgian Ale (WLP550) and a seven malt grist 

Beers,
Doc


----------



## warrenlw63 (24/5/05)

A nice yeast if I were to pick one of the top of my head for this style would be Wyeast 1338 European Ale Yeast. Probably wouldn't use anything Belgian simply because they're not really in the same genres.

Full-bodied, reasonably clean Ale yeast. Would accent the malt beautifully and enhance that nice caramel character seems to be quite common in BDG.

Would be an interesting style to consider slightly caramelizing first runnings a-la Scottish Ale style. 

Second Neonmeate's choices for Euro-style noble hops. Hallertauer, Styrian Goldings. Also Strisselspalt and Lubalin (sp?) are quite commonly used too. However not available in Aus. 

Warren -


----------



## neonmeate (24/5/05)

forgot to mention i did that caramelising first runnings thing with mine and it was nice and, well, caramelly, a good way to go with this style.
and european ale is made for BdGs - it's too sweet for anything else except maybe scottish ales - it's sposed to be an alt yeast originally but alts come out too sweet with it IMO. but it's got to be the richest, maltiest yeast ive used by far.
but a belgian yeast could work too, some of the bdGs do taste more belgian than others, although none are superfunky and i dont think they use spices in BDGs. that said the french-belgian border is the only thing that divides some dubbels and ambres from some bdgs. it's like trying to pick the difference between a yeeros and a kebab


----------



## THE DRUNK ARAB (28/5/05)

Doc, if they are the only 2 yeasts you are got to select from then go the 029. I reckon the yeast shouldn't add a lot to the beers flavour and I have brewed with 029 and it is extremely clean.
Definately try caramelising the first runnings. You can taste it.
I still have some of the BdG I brewed last September. Will have to try it to see how it has developed.
Let us know how it goes.

C&B
TDA


----------



## Doc (28/5/05)

I've aquired the Euro Ale yeast today so will be using that for this brew and will be using the same grist as you TDA. That was a great beer.
Will give the caramalisation of the first runnings a go as well.

Thanks for all the feedback guys.

Beers,
Doc


----------



## wessmith (28/5/05)

Guys, Bier De Garde and Saison are pretty much one and the same style wise. My saisons have been fermented with Fermentis K97. It does a superb job and attenuates well.

Wes


----------



## Doc (5/7/05)

Just racked my Bier de Garde. I left it last to rack (of the 5 AG beers I brewed the other week) expecting it to take a little longer to ferment.
My god it is down to 1.010 already with an OG of 1.071 giving a yeast attentuation of nearly 86%.
Wow this Euro Ale yeast (WLP011) seems to be a ripper, and I also had it blow the airlock out.

Beers,
Doc


----------



## THE DRUNK ARAB (6/7/05)

Doc said:


> Just racked my Bier de Garde. I left it last to rack (of the 5 AG beers I brewed the other week) expecting it to take a little longer to ferment.
> My god it is down to 1.010 already with an OG of 1.071 giving a yeast attentuation of nearly 86%.
> Wow this Euro Ale yeast (WLP011) seems to be a ripper, and I also had it blow the airlock out.
> 
> ...



Doc, are you going to bottle this beer? It would be a hugely alcoholic beer to have on tap (not that it would worry you  ).

I found that my Biere de Garde was drinking best after 4 months in the bottle.

C&B
TDA


----------



## Doc (6/7/05)

THE DRUNK ARAB said:


> Doc, are you going to bottle this beer? It would be a hugely alcoholic beer to have on tap (not that it would worry you  ).
> 
> I found that my Biere de Garde was drinking best after 4 months in the bottle.
> 
> ...



Nah I'll keg it. I keg everything except for Ginger Beer.
It is already at 8.1% and I don't expect it to fall much lower. It won't empty quick, but it will empty 

Doc


----------



## Pat Casey (6/7/05)

I wonder about the reported mustiness of not so young biers de garde. It sounds suspiciously like TCA - trichlorannisol, which is responsible for cork taint and has a decidedly musty taste and smell. TCA has a very low taste threshhold.

If there are any biers de garde which use a crown seal, do they exhibit the same mustiness?

Pat


----------



## Ash in Perth (15/7/05)

Im sure most of you know this, but Bire De Garde means "beer to keep" and can be aged for up to 20 years in a proper cellar, with improvement in the first 3-5. it isnt meant to be drunk when young. I think some of those dodgy flavours could come from greatly fluctuating temperatures during transport. 

According to this wyeast poster i have, 3787 might be a good choice if you want to make it strong.

Ash


----------

