Beard De Garde is a special brew made as an ode to the great American chef and food writer James Beard.
To assist Sam and brewpub brewer Ben with this brew we invited Owner/Chef Adam Dulye of The Monk’s Kettle and The Abbott’s Cellar in San Francisco to come and collaborate with recipe creation and brewing of this beer. Beard De Garde will also be poured at a beer dinner that Sam and Adam will be hosting at the Beard House in New York later this year.
One of the main things Beard was known for was bringing French cooking to middle-class America. For that reason we decided to go with a French Biere De Garde base style, a malty farmhouse ale. French Aramis Hops were used, as well. We then went with a number of Beard’s favorite ingredients in cooking (and life) for further inspiration. Rye was Beard’s favorite grain, so we added malted and crystal rye (caramelized) to the mash. Rambo was a particular apple variety that Beard was fond of, so we used 150 lbs of local Rambo apples from Fifer Farms to press and make cider with to add to the wort. Beard was also a big fan of green peppercorn, so Adam brought more than 7 lbs of green peppercorn branches fresh off the tree from a farm in California. We picked the berries and pureed with wort before adding to the brew. Finally, Beard was an avid scotch drinker, so we added a small portion of Peat smoked malt - the same kind they use for scotch production, which lends a smokey phenolic spice twang.
The aroma is full of funky citrus and green spice from the green peppercorns with background notes of smoke. The flavor is full of peaty smoke which gives way to stone fruit and bready malt. The finish is all green pepper with a flavor that lingers beyond each sip.
Beard De Garde will be tapped on Friday, September 14, 2011 and will be available until it is gone.
Due to limited availability, our Brewpub Exclusive beers are not available in growlers.
