De Garre Barrel Aged

[Jay]

Hi everyone,

Just seen this posted by one of my followers on Instagram, a barrel aged version of our MUCH loved De Garre Tripel.

Don't think I've seen this beer before or if it's a rebottling but either way it's on my want list.





His description (in French)




Cheers
Jay 

[Viv]

Hi Jay,

Sounds like a great brew!

I'm sure you will manage to source a bottle or two from somewhere
soon...!

Cheers!


Viv

[Jay]

Sounds like a great brew!

I'm sure you will manage to source a bottle or two from somewhere
soon...!

Hi Viv,

We're next in Bruges this coming June for the beer festival, you can guarantee I'll be enquiring at every bottle shop and at De Garre itself...it's on my beery shopping list.

Cheers
Jay 

[John B]

If it's anywhere near as good as the original then it's surely a winner   

Cheers! - John

[Trappist]

Thanks Jay for sharing this info.
I think I'll pay De Garre a visit this afternoon 
Cheers,
Filip

[Trappist]

Hi guys,
So, we went to Staminee De Garre yesterday afternoon!
Wow, how massive tourists packed Bruges was.
We really had to struggle through the mass of people, to finally reach that precious hidden small alley (a "garre" as we say over here in Bruges dialect), housing that ever famous De Garre beer pub.
Katrien and I were very lucky to have found a free table at groundfloor, as a friendly Englishman finished his beer, and left the room. A miracle



The blackboard showing the beer I wanted to take home.
De Garre Barrel Aged Cuvée Prestige @ €25.00 each.
I bought me 2 bottles and will try one bottle soon !! Stay tuned....
That Oude Gueuze Mega Blend was tempting, but I didn't buy. (not cheap either though  )



That's barrel aged Garre beer (11 vol%). Barrel aged for 24 weeks to be precise, and this in a 190 litres Bourbon barrel from the US.
The barrels were already used twice.
First use: Old Forester distillery (https://www.oldforester.com/distillery/)
Second use: Early Times distillery (https://www.earlytimes.com/)
Only 2328 bottles were made!!! With a small count I come to 10 barrels in total!
Note that in 2020, brewery Van Steenberge already used the same type of barrels for their Gulden Draak Cuvée Prestige
See also: https://vansteenberge.com/en/news/gulden-draak-cuvee-prestige
So, maybe, a part of the barrels were used for the 4th time



Jef Versele from Van Steenberge doing a pleasure job here.
We can clearly see the barrels.



Time for a beer!
Bornem tripel for Katrien.
A Garre (tripel van de Garre - 11vol%) for me. Includes the essential cubes of delicious young cheese.
The cheese is also given when ordering their Gulden Draak or Gulden Draak Quadrupel from tap.
They all came at €5.25. The Bornem triple was a bit cheaper (€4.70 something)





It's always such a disappointment that there is no Piraat available. Everything else from Van Steenberge, yes, but the Piraat has been forgotten 
This ofcourse makes a comparising impossible, as I still suspect both beers being the same 

Cheers from Bruges,
Filip

[Jay]

We knew we could rely on you Filip, top beer hunting   very much looking forward to your tasting notes.

Cheers
Jay

[John B]

Echoing what Jay said, I can't wait to hear your tasting impressions of the barrel aged house tripel.   

Cheers! - John

[Trappist]

So here we go.......



Uncorking the bottle was so damn easy
Immediately after I removed the muselet, the cork plopped out against the ceiling. What a loud plop sound folks 
What a surprise, and what I feared afterwards luckily didn't happen. NO gusher



The first picture was taken just after I poured into the glass.
You can see that there is a lot of carbonation going on, giving that rich fluffy head.
A bit later, the foam settled somewhat into a longlasting rich head, as you can see here.
Foam never disappeared.



Sorry for the wrong glasses. I do not have a De Garre glass.
Katrien went for the Tongerlo glass. She always choose that glass when not tasting a Westmalle. Great choice I think.
My all time preferred tasting glass, when I do not have the proper glass, is this Triple Petrus tulip glass.
Turning the text backwards, so you can't see it, gives a neutral picture.



Wow, what a wonderful beer 

Nosing gives the typical Piraat (sorry, Garre  ) aromas.
This means, clove, hops, peaches, honey, caramel, flowers, perfumy esters, Van Steenberge yeasty.
One also gets that re-fermented with Bordeaux wine yeast aroma and flavor, similar to Gulden Draak.
And....... the precious barrel flavor too ofcourse. Gives it that Bourbon feeling.
Tasting gives a rather dry beer, which surprised me.
The Bourbon barrel has given - after 24 weeks of lagering - that delicious Bourbon flavors.
That extra taste profile, which makes it a sensational luxury product.
This beer drinks VERY smooth.
As Katrien also stated, it is a beer that falls heavily on the stomach.
The tannins and wood from that barrel is responsible for that. Makes it quite some heavy beer.

25.00 Euro sure isn't that cheap, but after all, the barrels need to be paid too ofcourse
Defintely not a beer you drink every day, but from time to time, those costly beer wonders can have their place in my beer tasting life

It sure is an amazing masterpiece 

Cheers,
Filip

[Jay]

Thanks for the tasting notes Filip, it looks like the Barrel Aged De Garre is everything I was hoping it would be.

Cheers
Jay 👍🏻

[Trappist]

Thanks for the tasting notes Filip, it looks like the Barrel Aged De Garre is everything I was hoping it would be.

Cheers
Jay 👍🏻

Hi Jay,
A beer you sure will taste next year!!
Cheers,
Filip

[Jay]

Hi Jay,
A beer you sure will taste next year!!
Cheers,
Filip

An amazing gesture Filip 

Cheers mate
Jay 

[Trappist]

Gladly done Jay!
I wouldn't want you to come in June and find out all the bottles are sold.
BTW.... Katrien and I are leaving to Germany Moesel region for 1 week of relaxation.
It'll be not that beery, but it sure will be winy
Cheers,
Filip

[John B]

Thank you for your tasting impressions Filip. It sounds like a nice addition to the house beer. Like you said though, not cheap. For comparison's sake what is the price for a bottle of the "regular" De Garre tripel?

Barrel aged Cheers! - John

[Trappist]

Thank you for your tasting impressions Filip. It sounds like a nice addition to the house beer. Like you said though, not cheap. For comparison's sake what is the price for a bottle of the "regular" De Garre tripel?

Barrel aged Cheers! - John

Hi John,
The regular Garre is much cheaper ofcourse
You can purchase online via www.beeronweb.be (= Rotsaert drankencentrale here near Bruges at Zedelgem)
To give you an idea:
33cl goes at €3.00
https://www.beeronweb.com/triple-de-garre-brugge-nl
The magnum OTOH goes at €40.00  same beer all together though.
https://www.beeronweb.com/belgische-bieren/tripel-de-garre-magnum-nl

I sure will always go for the 33cl volumes 

Cheers,
Filip