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Added blending info
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>. 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> (post 361517).
Brewers prefers cool fermentation and aging temperatures to discourage [[Acetic_Acid | acetic acid]] production, but peak fermentation temperature can creep up to 84°F in the foeders <ref name="craftbeertemple"></ref>. Ambient warehouse temperature is consistently 55-60°F, allowing de Grade to skip climate control <ref name="beervana"></ref>. Beers are fermented and aged on the lees and the ambient microflora is never repitched into subsequent beers <ref name="thesourhour1"></ref>. The berliner weisse/gose-inspired beers complete fermentation in as little as three months <ref name="thesourhour2"></ref>.
Approximately 15% of production is set-aside for off-flavor rectification or to be dumped. Brewers see intense [[Butyric_Acid | butyric acid]] and [[Isovaleric_Acid | isovaleric acid]] character early in fermentation but expect flavor resolution around the one-year mark. However sometimes these off-flavors are persistent and the beer is dumped. Any beers demonstrating acetic acid are immediately discarded <ref name="thesourhour2"></ref>, including the barrel <ref name="craftbeertemple"></ref>.
Overall, spontaneous fermentation character is consistent year round but intra-batch variation (from barrel to barrel) varies widely. It is rare to dump an entire batch, often just individual barrels from a batch. Rogers has intentionally left barrels exceed the four-year mark to see how they will evolve. His willingness to gamble at times is a direct desire to make the best beer possible <ref name="craftbeertemple"></ref>.
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 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>. Rogers prefers frozen fruit for its enhanced color and flavor <ref name="talkbeer"></ref> (post 737875). 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> (post 158205). Beer is conditioned on fruit until the desired character is obtained, ranging from one week to three months <ref name="talkbeer"></ref> (post 194702).
Rogers' greatest goal is to produce drinkable beer with character <ref name="thesourhour1"></ref>. He craves depth of flavor, funk, and nuance - not just aggressive acidity or fruit <ref name="thesourhour2"></ref>. Blending is a collaborative process at de Garde. 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>. 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 name="talkbeer"></ref> (post 733541).
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>. Ideally, Rogers would like to target a $10 4-pack of 16 oz cans <ref name="talkbeer"></ref> (post 361517).
==Recipes==