Driving into the northernmost region of France, one sees strange, conical hills dotting the landscape. As tall as 480 feet, these are slag heaps, built up over more than two centuries of coal mining. Even more common are the quiet, green expanses of World War I cemeteries that dot the region—more than 600 of them. The two are related—German troops came to the region to secure those coal resources, and they fought the French and their allies for four years there. This is also France’s historic brewing region, home to fields of barley, wheat, and hops, and to a once-booming industry centered on Lille. No doubt the thirsty coal miners played a role in that, too.
The Nord-Pas-de-Calais region—now called Hauts-de-France, after merging with Picardy in 2014—is also where the revival of French artisanal brewing restarted in the 1970s. That revival orbited around an unusual range of beers—typically strong, smooth, and malty—known collectively as bières de garde. While the name may be familiar, the beers are among the most misunderstood. Routinely described as “farmhouse ales” and lumped together with Belgian saison, they can surprise drinkers with some decidedly un-Belgian flavors. In both characteristics and process, modern bière de garde often has more in common with German bock than with anything Belgian. Yet the association isn’t entirely wrong—it’s just outdated.
Much as it’s impossible to separate the slag heaps and cemeteries from the history of the region, it’s equally hard to ignore the history that transformed its native beers.