If you are strolling down the beer aisle looking for something to quell your desire for a fine American malt soda, then Flying Dog's Seasonal ""Garde Dog: Bière de Garde"" is not what you want. But if you are looking for an adventure in potability, a nice beverage to live up to the standards of your gourmet pizza or something to impress your friends who want to be French (but are not French themselves), then look no further. This beer boasts having the sweet, spicy, malty taste that a traditional French farmhouse ale should. Garde Dog is everything it says it is, and it's refreshing—a nice break from the norm.
I have no idea if Garde Dog has Belgian yeast or French yeast or magical wild yeast, but my unrefined palate does detect some hints of Belgian in this beer. I've written frequently that I don't generally care for Belgian yeasts, but sometimes, as with Garde Dog, they can hit the spot. Matching the relatively warm weather this week, Garde Dog is a welcome change. The reason I was drawn to this beer in the first place was because the label claims it's a good spring beer. And since temperatures broke 30° F this week I decided it's spring, damn it. Who cares if it's not even February yet? I was obviously in need of something a little out of place for the season yet exactly right for the moment. I love sweet, boozy stouts to battle away the bitter cold, but after relying mostly on them for the last eight weeks a break is nice.
As far as style is concerned this beer definitely falls into a category of its own. While it seems to be related to a Belgian Abby, its inherent sourness is not as biting as its European cousin. Garde Dog prevails as an excellent American representation of European style. That may well be the precise reason I like this beer and fail to love so many abbys—it was made by American brew masters, with whom I share a similar palate and expectations for the way a beer should taste. In essence, Garde Dog reminds me of my malty Scotch Ales and Bourbon stouts, but it is a refreshing mixup at the same time.
Still it makes me question whether to attempt to diminish my distaste for Abby Ale or to embrace the fact that as a person whose tastes are primarily American, I will only occasionally like anything that resembles a Belgian. Whatever my qualms about style, I enjoy Garde Dog and the complex mystery it embodies.
