This beer lover wanted to settle in Poitou to start a new life there. An evening with a few friends gives rise to the idea of making your own beer. For a few years, Jean-Marie Birtègue takes pleasure in brewing for him. It really took off when he renovated a barn on the farm to market his first La Gabarde beers. Name inspired by the locality where the “Roche Gabard” brewery is located and whose logo takes the profile of the old windmill on the hill.
– Jean-Marie Birtègue
For 2 years, the craft beers of La Gabarde have been 100% organic. This makes it possible to find them in organic stores, but also in shops selling local products, mini markets, restaurants and wine merchants.
Local malt
Beer is made with 4 essential ingredients: malt, hops, water and yeast. He makes lager, white with elderflower, brown, amber, IPA and Christmas beer.
– Jean-Marie Birtègue
For a year now, Jean-Marie Birtègue has been bringing his malt from the Malterie de l’Ouest, to Bernay-Saint-Martin, in Charente Maritime. A malt that comes from barley from Charentes and Deux-Sèvres.
Jean-Marie Birtègue has a nice project for 2022: working with a farmer to grow barley in Clessé, which will be processed at Malterie de l’Ouest. He starts with 11 tonnes of barley to make around ten tonnes of malt. The roasting time gives the malt in beer a different color and taste, from caramelized to chocolate.
– Jean-Marie Birtègue
La Gabarde craft brewery – la Roche-Gabard – 79350 Clessé