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Styles · Bière de Garde

Beer style · BJCP 2021 24C

Bière de Garde

Belgian Ale

Published ranges These are the ranges the BJCP 2021 guidelines publish for this style.

Original gravity
1.060–1.080
Final gravity
1.008–1.016
Bitterness
18–28 IBU
Color
6–19 SRM (12–37 EBC)
Alcohol
6.0–8.5 % ABV

What it is

A strong, malt-forward farmhouse beer from French Flanders, made in blond, amber and brown versions and lagered cold before release. Toasty bread-crust malt leads, alcohol is warming but smooth, and the finish is cleaner and less spicy than a saison.

Flavor

What a Bière de Garde should taste like, on the three wheels the studio scores every recipe against. The shaded ring is the style’s range on each axis, from 0 at the center to 5 at the edge.

Hops

Room for herbal, spice or earthy/woody.

Malt

Grainy, bready/biscuit and toasty, with room for caramel, sweet/honey or dark fruit.

Fermentation

Clean, with room for fruity esters.

Hops that suit it

The traditional choice

What Bière de Garde has classically been brewed with.

Also right on character

Varieties whose loudest notes all sit on this style’s hop wheel, best fit first. How much to use is the recipe’s question; these are the ones that taste right.

Yeasts that suit it

Strains the lab made for beers like this one, whose fermentation character sits inside the style’s wheel. A strain sold by several labs is listed once; its page names the others.

Style numbers, names and vital statistics are from the BJCP 2021 Beer Style Guidelines, where you will find the official descriptions. The descriptions and flavor wheels here are Beerwright’s own. Beerwright is not affiliated with or endorsed by the BJCP.