known in France as Jenlain ambree and traditionally as Jenlain bière de garde, a specialty ale from Brasserie Duyck, is considered by many the standard bearer of the French bière de garde style.

Since its inception in 1922, Brasserie Duyck has brewed a version of bière de garde, an otherwise forgotten traditional ale style with origins in farmhouse breweries once scattered throughout the French departments of Nord and Pas-de-Calais along the border with Belgium.

In the early 1950s Duyck broke with the tradition of bière de garde as a low-alcohol, draft-only product by offering it in large bottles (750 ml) with an elevated alcohol content (7.5%) and a traditional “Champagne” cork finish. These innovations each stand as watermarks in the advent of the French specialty brewing movement. Jenlain is made with three types of malt (pilsner, Munich, and color malts) and three varieties of hops grown in the Alsace region.

Jenlain bière de garde remained an obscure specialty ale until embraced by university students in and around Lille, the cosmopolitan capital of northern France. The French public chose Jenlain bière de garde as the French answer to the increasing presence of imported Belgian specialty beers. This unexpected success transformed Brasserie Duyck from a small regional brewery to a leader in the French specialty brewing industry.

Today Jenlain Original French Ale continues to be the best known example of French bière de garde. Although the product may have a less distinctive character nowadays than it once did, it still maintains an air of rusticity and complexity despite being produced in a state-of-the-art brewery.

See also bière de garde, duyck, brasserie.