Changes

Trevor Rogers is a former assistant manager of Pelican Brewery <ref name="newschoolbeer">[http://www.newschoolbeer.com/2013/03/de-garde-brewing-opening-soon-with-a-wildbarrel-agedfarmhouse-focus.html De Garde Brewing Opening Soon With a Wild/Barrel-Aged/Farmhouse Focus. Retrieved 2/25/2018.]</ref> but boasts an original affection for wine - even working several wine industry jobs and at one point planning a career in wine <ref name="talkbeer">[https://www.talkbeer.com/community/threads/de-garde-brewing.5908/ Talk Beer- AMA De Garde Brewing. Retrieved 2/25/2018.]</ref> (page 2 post 158205#22). He credits Brouwerij Rodenbach for opening his eyes to [[Mixed Fermentation|mixed fermentation beers]] <ref name="craftcommander">[http://www.craftcommander.com/10-questions/2015/7/9/trevor-rogers-de-garde-brewing Trevor Rogers of de Garde Brewing. Retrieved 1/28/2017.]</ref>, [[3_Fonteinen | 3 Fonteinen]], [[Cantillon]], and Tilquin as the catalysts to encourage his exploration of spontaneously fermented beer <ref name="talkbeer"></ref> (page 1 post 157084#4) <ref name="bierversuche"></ref><ref name="craftcommander"></ref>, and Upright Brewery and Block 15 Brewing for introducing wild beers to consumers in Oregon <ref name="oregonbeer">[http://www.oregonbeergrowler.com/blog/de-garde-goes-wild-in-tillamook de Garde Goes Wild in Tillamook. Retrieved 2/25/2018.]</ref>.

De Garde initiated brewing operations in 2012 in downtown Tillamook using a 7 bbl brewing system. Their initial focus was to brew a wide variety of clean beers and spontaneously fermented beers <ref name="newschoolbeer"></ref>, however the early success of initial spontaneous batches encouraged the shift to a singular focus. Rogers specifically credits the first batch of Bu Weisse, brewed on a whim to determine brewhouse efficiency and specifications, for reinforcing his desire to pursue spontaneous fermentation exclusively <ref name="wweek"></ref><ref name="craftbeertemple"></ref> (~2 min in). By 2015, the Bu Weisse beers represented 15-20% of total production, quickly becoming de Garde's flagship beer <ref name="craftbeertemple"></ref> (~2 min in). In 2014, they closed the 2nd St. location and moved to a new 3,000 sq ft facility four miles south, next to the Tillamook Air Museum <ref name="bendsource">[https://www.bendsource.com/bend/the-wild-wizards-at-de-garde/Content?oid=2426667 The Wild Wizards At De Garde. Retrieved 3/5/2018.]</ref>. They expanded to a new 10 bbl system, which can squeeze out up to 15 bbl of wort due to the modest gravity and alcohol content of many of the beers <ref name="craftbeertemple"></ref> (~26 min in). The expansion also included a 14 bbl coolship fabricated by Practical Fusion of Hillsboro, Oregon <ref name="talkbeer"></ref> (page 22 post 737875#421). In 2017, after more than two years of renovations, de Garde returned to downtown Tillamook with the opening of their new tasting room and brewery. Their existing 10 bbl brewhouse was moved to this new location which promises to hold more than 2,000 oak vessels, including dozens of foeders <ref>[http://www.newschoolbeer.com/2017/12/inside-look-de-garde-brewings-new-tasting-room-brewery.html An Inside Look at De Garde Brewing’s New Tasting Room & Brewery. Retrieved 3/4/2018.]</ref>. With the expansion, they intend to shift from using small format oak vessels (~60 gal) in favor of large format one (~130-550 gal) in an effort to increase efficiency and limit oxidation <ref>[https://www.portlandmercury.com/lush-life/2017/11/08/19453175/inside-de-garde-brewings-expansion Inside de Garde Brewing’s Expansion. Retrieved 3/4/2018.]</ref>.

De Garde prefers three or four-year-old aged Cascade or Willamette hops for most of its recipes. Rogers is not particularly fond of the cheesy character of aged hops, instead preferring a wild, earthy, and herbal character <ref name="thesourhour1"></ref> (~31 min in). In his experience, aged hops can also contribute noticeable tannins, particularly in more aggressively hopped beers <ref name="thesourhour1"></ref> (~52 min in). Beers are hopped at 1.5-3.0 lb/bbl (0.8-1.5 oz/gal), with the latter representing the rate used in lambic-inspired beers <ref name="thesourhour1"></ref> (~31 min in). Brewers have progressively increased the hopping rate over the years to prevent beers from becoming too acidic <ref name="thesourhour1"></ref> (~30 min in). Bales of aged hops are lab-tested for de Garde to ensure they are not too aggressive or mild <ref name="bierversuche"></ref>. Occasionally, non-aged hops are used at the end of the boil, in the whirlpool, or dry hop for fresh hop character. This is common in some [[Saison | saison]]-inspired recipes <ref name="thesourhour1"></ref> (~31 min in), such as Azacca in Saison Troisieme, designed to marry the fruity yeast esters with fruity hop flavors <ref name="craftbeertemple"></ref> (~22 min in). In Spears, de Garde used a total of 5.0 lb/bbl (2.6 oz/gal) of hops <ref name="talkbeer"></ref> (page 4 post 164405#80).

Rogers is not averse to using imported ingredients, such as European malts and hops, when no suitable domestic substitute exists since it contributes to the overall quality of his beers <ref name="talkbeer"></ref> (page 7 post 182214#138).

Rogers experimented with traditional [[Turbid_Mash | turbid mash]] regimens but switched to a modern approach instead <ref name="beervana">[http://beervana.blogspot.com/2016/11/the-spontaneous-files-de-garde-brewing.html The Spontaneous Files: De Garde Brewing. Retrieved 3/3/2018.]</ref>. He uses a typical mash procedure, featuring a higher-than-normal mash temperature <ref name="thesourhour1"></ref> (~24 min in), bordering on the edge of denaturing conversion enzymes, for most beers <ref name="talkbeer"></ref> (page 4 post 163644#71). In general, de Garde produces wort that "could be found at any brewery" with the exception of more adjuncts, such as wheat. Mash pH is adjusted on occasion, specifically for the Berliner Weisse/[[Gose | gose]]-inspired recipes since brewers intentionally avoid the enteric bacteria phase of spontaneous fermentation to shorten fermentation duration and produce less funky character. It is important to note, however that no pH adjustments are made after the mash <ref name="thesourhour1"></ref> (~26 min in). The Berliner Weisse/gose-inspired beers are mashed at 150°F for a longer duration for a more fermentable wort. The Lambic-inspired beers are an entirely different recipe designed to be slightly less fermentable <ref name="thesourhour2"></ref> (~25 min in). A hot sparge is used to rinse the grain <ref name="thesourhour1"></ref> (~52 min in).

Brewers do not oxygenate the wort <ref name="craftbeertemple"></ref> (~27 min in). Post boil, the wort is transferred into the coolship, typically around 3-4 pm. Upon entering the coolship, the wort is still at near-boiling temperature. The next day the wort is removed from the coolship around 12 pm (after ~20 hours), though overnight ambient temperatures can impact the cooling rate and exact removal time <ref name="thesourhour1"></ref> (~24 min in). Every de Garde beer runs through the coolship <ref name="thesourhour1"></ref> (~23 min in) <ref name="craftbeertemple"></ref> (~3 min in). The ~14 bbl coolship was built by Practical Fusion in Hillsboro, Oregon <ref name="talkbeer"></ref> (page 22 post 737875#421). Prior to having the coolship installed, de Garde used their 7 bbl Hot Liquor Tank and Boil Kettle (which featured removable tops) for spontaneous inoculation. They equalized the volume between the two vessels to give a higher surface area to volume ratio <ref name="talkbeer"></ref> (page 6 post 169003#111).

For the Berliner Weisse/gose-inspired beers, the coolship inoculated wort is transferred back into the kettle and held between 100-120°F (with 110°F as a target) for approximately 48-72 hours to encourage acidification from ambient lactic acid bacteria. This contributes to a relatively clean, yet still slightly funky character in the beer. After the warm temperature hold is complete, the wort is transferred to oak barrels and allowed to cool naturally <ref name="thesourhour2"></ref> (~22 min in) <ref name="talkbeer"></ref> (page 12 post 194702#227).

The inoculated wort is transferred directly into various sized oak vessels including standard wine (~60 gal) and spirit barrels (~53 gal), puncheons (~120 gal), or foeders (~1,800 gal) <ref name="thesourhour1"></ref> (~25 min in) <ref name="craftbeertemple"></ref> (~3 min in) <ref name="talkbeer"></ref> (page 5 post 164564#92). Consistency between beers aged in barrels and foeders is very high <ref name="craftbeertemple"></ref> (~28 min in). The brewery nearly exclusively uses Northwest-sourced barrels <ref name="thesourhour2"></ref> (~33 min in). Some non-neutral barrel types used include cognac <ref name="thesourhour1"></ref> (~45 min in), gin <ref name="thesourhour2"></ref> (~28 min in), rum <ref name="talkbeer"></ref> (page 3 post 161740#59), and bourbon <ref name="beerandbrewing"></ref>. De Garde especially enjoys the synergy between gin and hops which is why they age most of their hop-forward beers in gin barrels <ref name="talkbeer"></ref> (page 4 post 164378#78). All oak vessels go through a full sanitization regimen before first use and between subsequent uses. A high pressure wash of 180°F is applied to inverted barrels for 20-30 minutes. Despite this process, Rogers has noticed ''[[Brettanomyces]]'' character expresses itself earlier in subsequent barrel uses <ref name="craftbeertemple"></ref> (~15 min in). Barrels are stacked to a maximum of three levels high to help maintain consistent temperature throughout <ref name="craftbeertemple"></ref> (~30 min in). Most of de Garde's beers go through a ropy period in the barrel, indicating the presence of ''[[Pediococcus]]'' <ref name="talkbeer"></ref> (page 2 post 160189#29).

De Garde often fills empty foeders with multiple batches over as long as a week. Often by the third batch, vigorous fermentation is already occurring inside the foeder <ref name="craftbeertemple"></ref> (~26 min in). The foeders typically contain Bu Weisse and Petit Desay to take advantage of economies of scale to offer better pricing to customers <ref name="talkbeer"></ref> (page 15 post 361517#287), <ref name="thesourhour2"></ref> (~6 min in).

De Garde commonly adds fruit to their spontaneous beers, using ratios inspired from Belgian lambic producers. Their default fruit-to-beer ratio is 2.0 lb/gal with exceptions for aggressive fruits (cranberry and currant) at 1.0 lb/gal and delicate fruits (peach) as high as 4.0 lb/gal. Brewers use a variety of fruit formats but prefer fresh or frozen. Purees are occasionally used for beers due to seasonal limitations <ref name="thesourhour2"></ref> (~30 min in). Rogers prefers frozen fruit for its enhanced color and flavor <ref name="talkbeer"></ref> (page 22 post 737875#421). He is particularly fond of wine grapes (due to his love of wine), especially grapes that express a strong sense of terroir <ref name="talkbeer"></ref> (page 2 post 158205#22). Beer is conditioned on fruit until the desired character is obtained, ranging from one week to three months <ref name="talkbeer"></ref> (page 12 post 194702#227).

Rogers' greatest goal is to produce drinkable beer with character <ref name="thesourhour1"></ref> (~50 min in). He craves depth of flavor, funk, and nuance - not just aggressive acidity or fruit <ref name="thesourhour2"></ref> (~24 min in). Blending is a collaborative process at de Garde <ref name="thesourhour1"></ref> (~44 min). Rogers tries to utilize everyone in the brewery for input and admits to being occasionally "outvoted" on blend compositions. He has a deep respect for the nuanced palate of his wife, Linsey <ref name="thesourhour2"></ref> (~45 min in). Beers are blended just before packaging and are neither filtered nor pasteurized. For beers spending less than one year in oak, wine yeast is added to the blending tank just before bottling. This helps supplement the ambient yeast to out compete the high ambient bacteria population <ref name="thesourhour1"></ref> (~28, 34 min in) <ref name="talkbeer"></ref> (page 21 post 733541#412).

Rogers believes that the bottle conditioning process is one of the most fragile states of spontaneous beer production <ref name="thesourhour2"></ref> (~15 min in). De Garde originally packaged beers in 750 ml Belgian-style amber bottles with a crown but have since moved to amber champagne bottles with a cork and crown. The brewery would eventually like to package beers in cans to allow for greater portability and lower cost, further emphasizing Rogers' goal to produce the least expensive beer he can <ref name="thesourhour2"></ref> (~1, 4 min in). Ideally, Rogers would like to target a $10 4-pack of 16 oz cans <ref name="talkbeer"></ref> (page 15 post 361517#287). He aims to price de Garde beers so that it does not require a special occasion to enjoy but rather creates one <ref name="talkbeer"></ref> (page 11 post 190063#208). Bottles are gravity filled, capped individually using a pneumatic capper, hand-labeled and stamped <ref name="wweek"></ref>.

Brewers target a carbonation level of 3.0 volumes but given the variability of spontaneous fermentation they realize that beers could end up between 2.0-4.0 volumes <ref name="thesourhour1"></ref> (~35 min in). They experienced some early issues with over-carbonation for this reason <ref name="talkbeer"></ref> (page 9 post 185909#168). A large percentage of bottles undergo a second ropy phase, once again hinting at the presence of ''Pediococcus'' in de Garde beers <ref name="talkbeer"></ref> (page 2 post 160189#29). The Berliner Weisse/gose-inspired beers spend between 2-8 weeks in bottles before being released <ref name="thesourhour2"></ref> (~23 min in). Rogers recognizes there is going to be a natural blend-to-blend and bottle-to-bottle variation with spontaneous beers and that it's not a flaw rather just part of the process. He believes you lose the greatness of spontaneous beer if you try to produce the same thing every time <ref name="bierversuche"></ref>.