08/25/2026
🍺 NEW BREW TODAY! 🇫🇷🤝🇨🇦
LIL BIÈRE DE GARDE
Farmhouse Lager • 7% ABV • 20 IBU
Our first-ever interprovincial collaboration comes courtesy of our new friends at Cold Bear Brewing Co. in Arnprior, Ontario — and this one started a long way from either brewery.
Back in March, Colin met the Cold Bear crew while attending a yeast seminar in Lille, France, followed by some beer-fuelled exploring through Belgium. Naturally, we decided we should make a beer together.
Enter LIL — named after Lille’s airport code — and our take on the traditional French Bière de Garde, literally “beer for keeping/storing.”
We approached ours as a Farmhouse Lager: a hybrid fermentation using both Fermentis Lager and Belgian Ale yeast, combining the clean, crisp drinkability of a lager with the expressive fermentation character and dryness of a farmhouse ale.
🌾 Penhold Pilsner, Kananaskis, CaraMunich & Biscuit Malts
🌿 Strisselspalt Hops
🧫 Lager + Belgian Ale Yeast
Pouring a deep orange with a big fluffy white head, expect:
🥖 Freshly baked spiced bread & light cracker
🍐 Pear, preserved stone fruit & citrus
🌶️ A subtle clove-like farmhouse character
🍬 Rich malt sweetness with a touch of toffee
⚖️ A lingering, slightly sweet finish balanced by just enough bitterness
At 7%, it’s a little higher-test than your everyday lager, but remarkably drinkable — rich, rustic, malty and packed with character.
From Lille 🇫🇷 → Arnprior 🇨🇦 → Bowness 🇨🇦.
LIL BIÈRE DE GARDE is pouring NOW at Brewsmith. 🍻
