Do Americans not appreciate imported saisons?

Bitter Monk is the best of an Anchorage lineup that includes others that are nearly as good. Evil Twin makes Femme Fatale and variants and they are pretty decent

The best one ever IMO was Super Friends but that was a collab. and one off never to be repeated.

It is possible you won't like any of this style, or it may suddenly dawn on you how great it tastes, like it did for me when I tried Raging Bitch for the fourth time at a friend's instigation.

 

This, exactly this. And just to throw it out there, Tired Hands is doing some amazing things with the style, some more true to style and some decidedly not, but I haven't had one yet that they call a 'saison' that wasn't awesome.


ps- Also, don't forget that saison, unlike say a Czech Pils, is not nearly so specific a style, but rather a tradition, that is well-embodied by some brewers such as Dupont and Fantome.

 

I recently had a beautiful saison by Perennial Artisan Ales called Regalia. Did the brett perfectly and lost none of the fruitiness. The only imported saison I have ha dis saison dupont. I can't even think of another.

 

So I don't have an abundance of experience with saison, but I've had few American Saisons that I thought were very good to excellent. Last one I had that I thought was very good was Funkwerks' saison. I've brewed saison once, and it came out pretty well. A trend I've observed is that American Saisons tend to have spices or non-traditional ingredients added. In my limited understanding, the the funk/spice in Belgians and Saisons in particular should come from yeast and fermentation, not additives. Also, it's my understanding that these need to be fermented quite warm to achieve those flavors--which may be contrary to the inclinations of most American brewers?

 

I guess I'll see it now that my eyes are open

 

I, for one, don't care for Saisons. Taste like an old person's wardrobe (as I would imagine). Probably in the minority here.

 

Houblon Chouffe is incredible, course the best I've had it is on tap at a little restaurant down the hill from the brewery in Achouffe. Avoid the green bottle version, I think the 33cl bottles are brown.

 

Saison DuPont was my first for the style and I liked it. I think Hennepin is awesome as well as Sorachi Ace. And they taste nothing like straight up witbiers if you ask me.

 

You lost me at Sofie being boring.

Dupont is a favorite of mine, but there are some amazing American saisons.

 

I'm a fan of imported Saison's & I think that the style has been picking up steam in the states the last couple years. But I agree with the OP that the American versions may be slightly lacking in comparison to those across the pond. Really more so in the funk than anything else but I wouldn't call them witbiers. SE Ohio has Rockmill Brewing which makes probably my favorite domestic saison...

 

I like imported and domestic saisons - a good beer doesn't care where it came from. I do remember Great Lakes had a saison out (Grassroots) that was awful - it tasted like a fart in a glass. I'm about to crack my first New Holland Monkey King, I have high hopes for that.

 

Ask your store to order Saison DuPont in brown bottles. They do make it. A couple of stores near me order it specifically.

 

A big problem with the imported saisons is their inconsistency here in America. Dupont is excellent if you get a well protected bottle, but I've had enough skunked bottles at this point that I'm done buying it for now. Same goes with Fantôme, but even with a good bottle, the brewery itself can be rather inconsistent. So yea, I love a good imported saison, but I don't like the gamble that comes with buying one.

For Americans, I find Sofie, Hennepin, and Tank 7 all to be great intro saisons. Simple and straightforward enough for a saison newbie to appreciate, but still showcasing all different aspects that make up a great saison. From there, the style really explodes into a whole variety from yeasty and earthy, to hoppy, to fruity, and everything in between.

 

It is not my impression that Belgian saisons avoid additives. You're correct that the yeast esters contribute much more to the flavor than typically colder American fermentations, but I wouldn't say that's exclusively where the flavors come from.

 

Totally agree. I found 8 - 12 months is when Sofie (and Matilda) really start to shine. And since these brews do see to be "pre-aged" in many shops, it works out well.

That being said, I think one also needs to be somewhat of a wine-lover as well as a BA in order to fully appreciate Sofie.

 

To the OP...I agree w/the basic premise of your post...I've had a lot of American saisons that are too heavy/thick feeling, too high in alcohol, where the spices are used in a ham-fisted way, and/or the beers taste basically like 'double-witbiers'. That being said, there are some really high quality ones out there. I honestly hated Sofie the first time I had her...you might want to try another bottle with about a year on it...it's certainly not the first saison I go to, but with enough time for the Brett to shine through just a bit, it becomes refreshing, funky, and delicately delicious. I'm honestly a bit bemused on Hennepin, as I think that's one of the better, clearly American, yet fairly authentically Belgian ones out there. So, while I disagree w/some of the examples you use as evidence, I do think that examples that MATCH a (in good condition) Dupont or Fantome are, while certainly not impossible to find, not everywhere for the taking.

 

As Michael Jackson said, there's no model flavor for a Saison. He quoted a brewer saying the foremost thing is to be an honest beer. As said here, it's a tradition more than a defined style. I do think of the Belgian ones as loosely characterized as a refreshing and zesty and perhaps subtly spicy brew. Funk is optional and wouldn't get all the way sour. They're made to keep, meaning months, rather than age for years. Even among the classic producers from in/near Hainaut province in Belgium, Dupont isn't necessarily the yardstick. Incidentally, Erpe-Mere is kind of a newcomer rather than the exemplar (which is not a reason not to like it). With the Americans, I've had some that seemed to fit my expectations, and some excellent beers that wouldn't have occurred to me to call a Saison. I think some of this reflects the state of play in American brewing, which started out mainly imitating European styles, and now feels confident enough to branch out. I like that, where a brewer is respectful and knowledgeable enough to make clear where it stands. Let it ride this and see where it goes. Just don't assume that it's not Saison without a mouth of hay from the barn floor.

 

On a side not, I bought my first Saison Dupont a few weeks ago (4-pack of 11.2 oz. brown bottles). I'd always been turned off to it because of price. But I had a Total Wine coupon & splurged.

Unfortunately, I wasn't aware of their date code at the time I bought them. I thought they were reasonably fresh because the store employee just opened the case. They were brewed (according to their date code) in October 2012. About 19 months old.

I enjoyed it, though. As the beer warmed, I noticed a nice lemony & peppery flavor profile. However, the brew was a little more bitter than other saisons I've had (not much more, and it wasn't necessarily a bad thing).

So my question is this for those who love this brew. Do you usually prefer it with some age? It's bottle conditioned and not a hop-forward brew, so I'm guessing having one of these with a bit of age isn't that uncommon.

 

Saison is a style that seems to cover a lot of ground. I like some and dislike other both US brewed and imports.

 

The ingredients can include other grains and spices and still be traditional.

Some of the yeast will perform well at temperatures that make most brewers fearful. Some think the Dupont strain is evolved from a wine yeast. It is happy when it is up around 85F to 90F.
http://www.wyeastlab.com/hb_yeaststrain_detail.cfm?ID=60