Two Brothers Domaine DuPage

Brewed By: Two Brothers Brewing Company in Warrenville, Illinois

Purchased: Single 12oz bottle from Jewel-Osco in Chicago, IL; 2011

Style/ABV: Bière de Garde, 5.9%

 

Today I'm doing another Two Brothers beer, their Domain DuPage. You can check out the Two Brothers website here for more info, or look into my past posts for info on the brewery. The Domain DuPage is a Bière de Garde style of beer. Two Brothers advertises it as a toasty ale with sweet caramel notes that has just enough hops to clean off the palate. Clocking in at 5.9% ABV and 24 IBUs, this is a year round offering. Domain "DuPage" is likely a reference to DuPage County, where the Two Brothers brewery is located. 

 

Bière de Garde is a French Ale, and is supposed to be quite complex. The aroma is supposed to be malty, toasty, and complex, with musty or woodsy notes. The taste is supposed to be malty with medium-low hop bitterness. Bière de Garde reminds me of a German Märzen as it historically was brewed in early spring and kept in cold cellars for drinking in warmer weather. The style originated in Northern France, and is related to the Belgian Saison style. 

 

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The pour gives way to a hazy, unfiltered, brownish/golden-orange/straw-colored looking beer. At pour the head is about 2-fingers of straw-colored bubbles, but it has receded into a nice thin coating of bubbles. Good cauldron effect. Bière de Garde is a style that not many American brewers try to tackle, and just looking at this beer, it is evident this has an interesting appearance. There is good carbonation in the haze, lots of clinging bubbles on the side of my glass, nice lacing, and I'm able to stir up some head while swirling the beer in the snifter.

I'm smelling some faint Noble hop-esque notes; some light citrus, maybe some fresh grass or straw, or an herbal tea-leaf note. I'm picking up on some grain, some toast, a little sweet malt, some candied fruits and light raisins, and some funky yeast akin to a Belgian beer.

Two Brothers Domaine DuPage

Like a wine, this is subtle and complex. I'm picking up some booze and woody/musty notes on the back end with some toast. There's caramel and toast in here, dried fruits and light/gold raisins, slight hop bitterness and a pull towards hoppy flower/grass/straw notes. Really big toast and even bready notes on the back end, and some funky yeast in the mix.

 

The woody/toasty notes on the back end combined with the slight bitterness make for a dry finish. To my palate this is slightly vinous and almost dusty. This is a medium-bodied beer with a medium carbonation. The mouthfeel is smooth and the carbonation is medium. At 5.9% ABV this is drinkable and would pair well with many different foods.

 

The front end is sweet malts and raisins with good carbonation; the middle rolls into more malts, dried fruits, hops; the back end is woody, almost dusty, drying. The back-back end is slightly boozy and really hits that vinous cellar note home.

Rating: Above-Average
Score: 85%

 

I like this beer a lot. This is a really bold attempt at a traditional French style Ale. The Two Brothers brewery is just a town over from me, and just a few towns over from Chicago. Domain DuPage is a beer that is available, affordable, and not very hard to get if you live in the Illinois area. When you consider that a 6-pack of this stuff is between 8 and 12 dollars, I would consider this to be a pretty good deal

 

I would pick this up again as a subtle, complex, non-obtrusive dinner beer to serve with a meal. This would probably go better with more toned down food as opposed to something that is super spicy or greasy. Worth checking out, especially if you have easy access to the Two Brothers beer.