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Breaking out of my daily routine Friday afternoon, I left home a half-hour early for work today to visit a beer store recommended by one of my coworkers who lives in that area. Eric is an avid disc golfer and recommended this store because, oddly, they have a display of tournament frisbee discs in rack near the front door. He had visited there before and noticed recently that (gasp!) they had a craft beer shelf. Based on the conversations Eric and I have about craft beer almost on a daily basis, he recommended/convinced me to leave home early and check out their selection.

I had in my hand, a printout of directions to a small package liquor store in small strip mall in the small town of New Lenox, Illinois. Village Liquors would be on the right in a little strip mall. I made it there and…

I walked through the front door and the first thing I saw was a rather large rack filled filled with iridescently colored Frisbees. (Gasp!) Golf discs. Yep, this is the place. The place was about the size of the MBS and laid out pretty much the same. The coolers were in the back but this one was different. In the cooler there were cold Goose Island, Sam Adams, Leinenkugel, and many other lesser known beers, all cold. Nice.

The majority of the floor space was dedicated to hard liquor and wine but they had a very colorful shelf of craft beer that I was drawn to. For the first time, in a long time, I didn’t know what to do.

There was a Sam Adams Imperials section, a Goose Island section, a Bell’s section, a New Holland section and then it dwindled into the more obscure beers, beers I’ve never heard of before. Oh, my.

The entire shelf was about a third the size of the MBS shelf but the selection of beers was very different. As a true geek would do, I started scanning titles from the upper left to the lower right. There were quite a few American pale ales to choose from as well as a half dozen IPAs and double IPAs. Down towards the bottom was a Chimay sampler, with three beers and a Chimay chalice glass in one nice package. (I just may come back next payday and snatch that one.)

I grabbed bottles and examined labels. I pulled sixpack cartons and read the side blurbs. I checked my pocketwatch and realized I was running behind schedule. One last scan of the shelf. I chose three sixpacks, one of which we’ll have tonight. All three will sit nicely in the back seat of my truck, in the provided box, in the parking lot, in the winter and be nicely chilled by the time I get home.

Illinois dollars are the coin of the realm also in New Lenox, and I dropped more than even a requisite $10 per sixpack price. Don’t hate the store, don’t hate the brewer, hate the realm.

The Friday workday left out one hour early which meant that cold beer would be forthcoming almost the instant I got home and put my slippers on. Once I got inside, I examined my booty. (Hey! “booty” meaning “loot”.) Two of the sixers had ABVs in excess of 9%. I thought I’d save them for a coupla Saturdays in the future. The one I had chosen for tonight was a French styled beer made right here in Illinois, the realm. The beer in question was Domaine Dupage French Style Country Ale brewed by Two Brothers Brewing Co. out of Warrenville, Illinois. I never knew they existed. Man, they’re right up the road. I should check them out in person.

With everything in place, let us begin. Two Brothers French Style Country Ale, according to BA, is a biere de garde. I’ve had one other prior to this one in the form of Flying Dog’s Garde Dog.
 
 
So what is a biere de garde?… From Wikipedia:

Bière de Garde, or “keeping beer”, is a style of ale traditionally brewed in the Pas-de-Calais region of France. These farmhouse-style beers were usually brewed in the winter and spring, to avoid unpredictable problems with the yeast during the summertime.

Typically, beers of this style are of a copper color but vary from golden to almost black, and as the name suggests the origins of this style lies in the tradition that it was matured/cellared for a period of time once bottled (and most sealed with a cork), to be consumed later in the year, akin to a Saison.

The Two Brothers website says this about their own Domaine Dupage:

Domaine DuPage is a rural, northern France, amber colored ale. This well balanced beer is full and sweet up front with
caramel, toasty, and fruity characters. The finish has a gentle floral and spicy hop balance that cleanses the palate.

On that note, let’s begin.

The beer poured with a beautiful amber color. The carbonation was sparse but what bubbles there were, were large and rapidly rising. The head diminished right away after the pour. The aroma was divine. A hint of bourbon and dark sweet malts filled my nares with hopes of deliciousness.

The first sip was absolutely lovely. That bourbon flavor was right up front and I wondered if, perhaps this beer was brewed or stored in bourbon barrels prior to going to market. As the sip went down, I braced for the burn that I normally expected after a slug of a stiff drink, but there was none. Just the lingering taste of that wonderful bourbon-ish flavor.

Each sip reminded me of one or more of the tastes of Pere Jacques, Dragon’s MIlk and Sam Adams Utopias but only on a smaller scale. The richness of the flavors were there but the alcohol sting and the burn down the gullet were missing. This is what I’d call High Gravity Lite beer (Highlite Gravity?)

The taste was only slightly similar to a nice red wine of whatever flavorful wine names come to mind. I certainly wouldn’t know. The beer had some red fruitiness in the sweet part of the taste, but the robust malts are the strong suit of this beer. With a mere 24 IBUs, the hops get out of the way of the taste leaving the sweet and the malt to do all the work.

By the second bottle, the sweets mellowed out. The malts played the lead in this zymurgitic symphony of flavors. Still, dark bourbony notes rose up and petted my taste buds. My mind was elevated into an almost state of bliss. Then I had to pee and came back down. I imagined myself as that guy in that Sagres Bohemia video while I was going.

Ok, let’s get down to brass tacks. This is a wonderful beer, the likes of which you (like me) probably haven’t experienced before. The taste is full and robust, bringing to mind fine, red wines and hearty high gravity bourbon barrel-aged beers. It’s the perfect aperitif to serve before a meal of red meat oozing with juices. It’s the perfect beer for a feel-good day. When your whole day went down the shitter, this beer will put a light at the end of your tunnel. Your tongue will smile out loud.

It’s so great to see the small craft brewers like Two Brothers brewing up fine beers that tickle the palate so nicely. I’m looking forward to tasting some of their other beers. If they’re anything like this one, with the quality and attention to taste, they’re destined to be a winner and another contender in the Beer Wars.

The SixPackTech ratings for Two Brothers Domaine Dupage French Style Ale are:

Taste: A+ > High gravity beer in ballet slippers.
Smoothness: A > Slipper-socks on freshly waxed floor.
Drinkability: A > It’s not a sin; have another.
Bang for the buck: C+ > You must try this if you can get it.
ABV: 5.9%

(BA) – (RB)