Expensive Saisons....

Hoppy-ish wheat beers that 8 out of 10 times taste similar and are not complex at all. Most of them taste like American Pale Wheat Ale. They belong in 6-pack format for $8-10.

 

I feel like the general consensus is that Bruery beers are cheap in general.
Saisons are amongst my favorite styles so, yes, I would say that you absolutely should try others there are some great ones out there. That said, Tank 7 is one of the best there is in my opinion, so spending more might not necessarily equate a 'better' farmhouse ale.
I am not positive, but I would imagine that even Dupont is cheaper that one from Bruery or other pricey breweries. If you haven't had it, you certainly should give it a shot as well.

 

Trade some CC.

 

“Hoppy-ish wheat beers that 8 out of 10 times taste similar and are not complex at all. Most of them taste like American Pale Wheat Ale.”

Hmm, you must be drinking very different Sasion beers than I am. A Saison yeast strain can produce a very complex mixture of esters (fruity flavors) and phenols (spicy type flavors). I recently bottled a batch of homebrewed Saison and this batch had a very complex mixture of esters & phenols. The Saison beers I drink (commercial and non-commercial) taste nothing like an American Pale Wheat Ale.

“They belong in 6-pack format for $8-10.”

I do agree with that statement. Brewing a non-Wild Saison is easy and there really is no need for a brewery to highly price these beers other than they can.

Cheers!

 

Hmmm, I haven't? Well I guess I'd better see who it was then that hacked my account here and entered my review of that beer back in 2009.

But on the other hand, that I've "never had" it also gives me an excuse to go back to Brussels and complain to the folks at Beer Planet and Bier Temple that those bottles they sold me on my visit a couple of years back must have been counterfiet and demand refund or replacement. I figure that should be a good reason for at least a week to 10 days there drinking Belgian beers that are priced more reasonably than they are here in the States these days.

But all that aside, my point was not that beers like Saison Dupont, Foret, and Avec Les Bons Voeux are not good, even great beers, but rather that even if they are demonstrably better than Hennepin, Sofie, and Tank 7 they are not so much better that they are worth the budgetary impact of regular consumption when I feel like having a Saison. Oh, and BTW, it turns out that Sofie is at least partly fermented with wild yeast and that if you let her mature for a couple of years in the bottle the Brett character emerges quite plainly.

 

Hmm I could be wrong on the price tag range of what you are talking about...but I really enjoy Brooklyn Sorachi Ace..

 

Florence yes. Always buy Anna. Always. There's a reason that it goes into a few barrels every year and comes out as Ann. It is truly great, in many ways. If you ever buy another bottle I would HIGHLY consider stashing it away for 6 months.

 

I also love Tank 7. Opal by FW might be up your alley. Sofie with two years is like heaven. Picked one up like two months ago in a bomber for $3. Although it's not a saison, I'm a huge fan of Orval. Huge funk on the two year mark.

 

Orval ages like so inconsistently, I'd never tell someone how long to age it

 

^truth. =/. Every bottle I've had has been different, mind you delicious in its own way. I've noticed that the "leather" will flex from mild & fresh to old hockey glove.

 

I picked up a 6 pack of orpheus tart plum saison when I was in Georgia and I regret not getting more. I think it was like $12 a six pack. It's awesome IMO. It probably doesn't get distro'd far though.

 

What about Fireston Opal? $5.99 a 22oz.

 

Which do you prefer?

Cheers!

 

A co-worker of mine is a friend of the Stillwater brewer. Supposedly he primarily brews Saisons because they're fast fermenting i.e cost less to make. So other than barrel aging can't fathom why some are so pricey. ??

Anyway just thought I'd give a thumbs up to New Belgium's new saison 'long table'. Ser goot.
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/192/172124/

 

Not to offend but I didn't think much of Ann b1 either. Perhaps the well water doesn't agree with me.

 

I also don't get the "water" thing. . Who knows...

I'm not saying I get the hype, trust me I'm often underwhelmed. I just feel that a $10 bomber for a beer of that magnitude is well worth it. Vera Mae is outstanding this year.

Edit: that beer being Anna.

 

I can't recall a single beer, in any style, that was in the upper tier of the price range and was proportionally better (a proportion consistent with the price difference) than many of the beers in the middle tier of the price range for the style.

 

I've had a lot of excellent Saison's in what I would call the "lower tier" of pricing. In my experience, pricing doesn't necessarily correlate to quality.

 

Yeah, but I save the bombers and use them to bottle my homebrew. ZERO bottle cost at bottling time AND much less work. And I've never heard one of my friends complain that they got 22 ounces of my homebrew for free instead of twelve...

 

In fact, two of my favourite Saisons can be had for less than $5 CAD for a 750 mL. Albeit, they are from a local brewery but I find that your own locale is the best spot to find excellent and cheap beer.