On our recent trip to Strasbourg we found a pub we liked so much we visited twice.
Strasbourg was the last substantial stop on our trip last month. We last visited in 2013 and, this time, spent a couple of nights in one of the capitals of the European Union.
Most of our observations from that previous trip still hold; there has not been a total change in the beer culture in this part of the world in the past decade.
Still, there are a couple of brewpubs that have opened since we last visited. So, we started off with good intentions and went to Le Petit Tigre where the beer was… well, we enjoyed the Flammkuchen. We only tried two of the fairly wide range of own-brand beers on offer, including an incredibly buttery lager. Perhaps the other three would have had redeeming qualities. We didn’t feel inclined to find out.
At the end of a fun but tiring couple of weeks where we had drunk some truly glorious beer in Czechia and experienced German festbier culture this was enough to make us decide that we weren’t going to trek about trying another microbrewery or tap on this occasion. Sorry, Strasbourg. Maybe next time when we’re feeling more adventurous.
Instead, we went to Le Garde Fou, a pub which is generally very well reviewed – and we can see why. It felt more like a Belgian or British pub than a typical French establishment. So much so, in fact that we wondered whether it might be service au bar. It wasn’t, but the waiter service was friendly, quick and unobtrusive.
It had greebling and dark corners. There was wonky, worn-in furniture. And, crucially, it had 14 beers on tap, all French, with a preference for Alsatian microbreweries like Bendorf and St Cru.
By way of comparison with the beer we’d had earlier in the evening, Stamm Pils (4.8%) from nearby Mutzig was a firmly bready, gently floral lager, full of character, but not straying far from expectations of the style. We found it extremely satisfying and could easily have settled on it for the rest of the trip.
But tasting the Stamm made us want to revisit Meteor for reference, which we did at Le Meteor in the centre of town. This is a large beer hall with chain pub vibes and a range of Meteor beers on tap. On a midweek evening it was crowded with twenty- and thirty-somethings in large parties, with beer and Flammkuchen to accompany their animated conversation. We confirmed our conclusion that Meteor is a decent option but it wasn’t exciting and we kept thinking of the long list of interesting sounding beers at Le Garde Fou.
During our second session, feeling that Le Garde Fou had earned our trust, we worked our way through a good part of the menu. We found every beer we tried at least decent, and some of it excellent.
Among the highlights were Mama Whipa by Les Intenables, a 6% hazy white IPA, and a great example of this sadly rare style. It came across first as a Belgian wit, then delivered a subtly hoppy tropical fruit overlay. The only issue is that it feels like 4% (light, refreshing) rather than 6% (getting into dangerous territory).
We also rated Orange Mecanique (7%) by Sainte Cru which was described as a Triple au Miel on the menu but didn’t really taste to us like either (a) a Tripel or (b) a beer with honey in it. What it did resemble, rather pleasingly, was an old-fashioned strong ale like McEwan’s Champion, or a barley wine from Belgium via England. There was a butterscotch note in the finish that, in this context, worked.
It was fantastic to be able to try a curated and well-looked after list of local beers, served in unfussy surroundings. We’re not sure why the place is called ‘The Guard Rail’, but perhaps it’s a metaphor, because it certainly is a safe place to try French microbrewed beers.
