What makes a good saison?

I think like most styles I like balance. I am not looking for a large hop presence, I prefer citrus flavored saisons and a good sach and brett blend! HF nails all of theirs for sure, lucky to be able to get my hands on them on the regular

 

Bad saisons are sweet. Good saisons are dry.

 

What makes a good saison: keeping the cap on it or giving it to someone else.

What makes a bad saison: pouring it in my glass.

(I'm not a big fan of the style...does it show?)

 

I'm beginning to wonder if that's not the way I feel as well... er, I can enjoy one here and there, but the other night I capped off my session of too many beers with a saison, and wasn't pleased about that fact the next morning.

 

For me, I enjoy beers that are very dry and when it's a Saison I enjoy it being quite effervescent (doesn't have to be Duvel carbonated, but closer to it than cask ale).

I can appreciate ones that are on the hoppy side; but too much bitterness takes away from the yeast character for me and if it's too strong; stronger than Saison Dupont, then it's really a whole other thing and not a Saison. If the alcohol is high and well hidden then I won't complain, but generally 5-6% is plenty and ideally no alcohol is perceived.

A saison, by definition should not be sweet, at all. It should attenuate well and finish with as low a FG as possible. I'm down with a bit of sourness in my saison, but too much Brett (like anything else) is not a good thing.

In a nutshell, my ideal saison is bone-dry, well carbed, somewhat hoppy, and with a touch of funk/sourness. Some of my favorites stateside are from Upright and Logsdon's.

The following get honorable mention for pricepoint/I think all around fit the bill of what I described although most are a little too high in terms of abv.
Great Divide Colette, Ommegang Hennepin, Blvd Tank 7, and Brooklyn Sorachi Ace.

 

Less funk is better to me but more funk makes it good is what people will say.

 

Saison is such a wide style these days I frankly do not know anymore.
If I think of a couple of saisons that I think are great, I find that they have basically nothing in common.

 

It should be light bodied and dry on the palate. Above average carbonation is a plus too. These all add up to a thirst quenching style that makes you want to keep drinking it. As far as taste, I prefer less hop presence, more of a spicy quality and some subtle fruit notes from the yeast only.

 

For me it has to live up to its roots. It has to be refreshing. It has to be the full and refreshing beer that will fill and quench a man who's been doing hard work in the field.

To accomplish this it is a beer that is full of flavor, clean flavor that never builds and dulls. Spicy notes help it to be a refreshing beer, and the associated notes of tart, and funk, and unripe fruit we all love to experience give it a drinkability that begs us to take another sip. A peppery one can be great, and ones showing the bugs and strong yeast are wonderful, but a clean one that shows some hops and ripe fruit can be good too. Best of all it is a beer that can have a million representations, and still be true to its farmhouse roots.

It is a style to drink for pleasure, drink for refreshment, drink for nourishment, and not be all high falutin about doing it. Were the world a just place, folks who now drink AAL after a day of work would grab a Hennepin or a Dupont.

 

Someone once told me "Saison is like a pretty girl. They smile sweetly but they can bite and be tart too."

 

Drinkability is up there, especially seeing how the style originated.

 

Diversity is what makes saisons so darn good! Saisons are brewed with so many different spins put on them by the brewer that its pretty easy to consider saisons a beer style that gives brewers endless possibilities on a finished product! Things that I personally love in most saisons are light body, a little bit of tartness, proper carbonation levels, and great drinkability. I am a HUGE fan of saison with brewed citrus, that my personal kryptonite!

 

Lots of Horse Blanket

 

I like medium heavy carb, grassy funk, a little hop but not a lot, and a crisp finish. Basically Dupont lol. Fantome is a little different but that one is excellent too. I think balance is the most deciding factor for me.

 

Brett

 

Dry, quenching, highly carbonated, imperceptible hops, very aggressive saison yeast (but preferably not too much of the lemony bitterness that often comes with saison yeast), added fruits and/or spices welcome. I welcome brettanomyces as well but sourness should be low to mild (ie, not much lacto or pedio, mostly funk). Oak-aging is fine. Cork mold/cork fungus greatly desired but never expected, since it's almost never found. Alcohol should be anywhere between 4% and 8.5%, any higher than that and it starts to violate the core tenet of saison (daylong drinkability). Anywhere between amber and straw-yellow in color, preferably unfiltered. I'm indifferent-leaning-towards-unimpressed with so-called "black saisons" or farmhouse stouts (eg Stillwater Existent and Goose Island Pepe Nero).

In terms of the specific spice or fruit characteristics of the yeast, the only one I've encountered that I want way less of is the lemon bitterness found in the DuPont strain. I don't know if it's an ester or a phenol, I just know I want less of it.

In terms of specific spices or fruits added to the beer....any of them? You really don't need to add them if you've got the right yeast, but I don't mind them. Oranges, apricots, peaches various peppers/peppercorns, fine with any of them.


Best saison I've had to date? My first bottle of Fantome. Clearly made with apricots, clearly had some cork yeast/mold/fungus, probably had brett and also just a tad tart from a probable lacto/pedio infection. That specific bottle in six-packs would be my ideal beer....I would buy it every week. Third best bottle I've ever had, and much less filling than my first two (King Henry, 1999 J.W. Lees Harvest Ale).

 

I totally agree with this, and have a hard time with saisons that have been "Americanized" with either high alcohol content, or even worse, high IBUs: the dreaded imperial saison.

Dupont is one of my faves, as is Sophie.

I should also note that I basically only really appreciate them in the summer. I almost never drink saisons (or geuzes) in the winter because they just don't do it for me in the cold months.

 

Cucumbers. Or at least Brett.