The small La Choulette brewery in northern France, just over the border from Belgium, is one of only a handful of traditional bière de garde breweries still standing in the beautiful farming country where they used to thrive. Bière de garde – in French, ‘beer for keeping’ – is France’s only original beer style, a sort of variation on the famous Belgian saison beers made nearby. It was traditionally brewed by area farmers in the cold months of Winter and early Spring, siphoned into heavy champagne bottles, capped, and placed in the cellar to age until the Summer, when it sustained the farm-workers in their labors.

Some years ago, La Choulette brewer Alain Dhaussy thought to take his already famous amber bière de garde and add pure raspberry juice. The resulting reddish-brown framboise captivated beer-lovers from the start. It is dry, only a little bit sweet, and redolent with fresh raspberries, offset by a light roasty malt character and accented by a classic bière de garde yeast that lends a spicy, almost perfumed note.

The crap fruit beer made with artificial flavors (we won’t mention any names) tastes and smells like cough syrup or candy, and no self-respecting beer drinker should go near it. Be smarter. Demand better!

Brewers Website: click here

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