Judging Saisons for review

IMO, the best place to check is the beer judging review site, and their descriptors of ever style. I'm on my phone so I don't have it bookmarked (I do on my big computer) but a quick google search will find it.
I haven't read through them in a while but IIRC most of the classic imported stylist, especially Belgian, have a lot of "often" and "may" in the description, meaning that an award-winning version will not always have that to a T, like some other styles might.

 

Guidelines ? Guidelines ? We don't need no stinking guidelines !!! If it tastes good to you rate it high. If it tastes like shit rate it low. Guidleines....

 

This is pretty much where I'm at. I've had many a spectrum variety of Saisons over the years and within each variant or offshoot or even the "standard" one's I've had very good and pretty bad. Just go with what works for you.

 

True, saisons are wildly varied and I also would not know where to begin with judging saisons. They almost seem to need subcategories.

 

I think the old BJCP guidelines fit quite well for most things.
Aroma: fruitiness with low to moderate hop aroma and moderate to no herb, spice and alcohol aroma.
Apperance: pale orange but may be golden or amber in color.
Flavor: Combination of fruity and spicy flavors supported by a soft malt character, a low to moderate alcohol presence and tart sourness. Extremely high attenuation gives a characteristic dry finish.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium body. Alcohol level can be medium to medium-high, though the warming character is low to medium. No hot alcohol or solvent character
Overall: A refreshing, medium to strong fruity/spicy ale with a distinctive yellow-orange color, highly carbonated, well hopped, and dry with a quenching acidity.

As for Subcategories? Aside from the American Saison-off shoot i doubt it needs one.

 

Yeah, agreed. Saisons are incredibly varied. You have to take in the brewers intention for some. If Jolly Pumpkin or Jester King makes big funky or sour versions, that is their intention. There are many many ways to interpret the style, which might not be the same for everyone. For me, it has to have a distinct yeast character, and some can even be pretty hop forward. For me, yeast is first and foremost. Saison Dupont is not supper funky, sour, barrel aged, Bretted, or anything of the sort. Just a great yeast character and well defined spicy/grassy hops. Finishes dry, with a great effervescent bite. Other versions are completely different, and maybe some people have even different opinions than me. There is enough variation out there to find that sweet spot for anyone. It could be that 4% table Saison, or that adjunct laden barrel aged Brett version.

 

We're Americans, so rules be damned. Which of course means, make it bigger and higher in abv.
6 - 7% seems to be the sweet spot for many American examples, but it is obvious these people aren't making it with the intention of having several in a compressed period of time and remaining functional and on task like the original variants (supposedly) were, and which were probably also designed to be consumed in the place of water which gave them violent diarrhea.

 

The only separate category I could see there being is probably splitting up the dark saisons from the rest. Although, dark saisons seem even less-defined style-wise than the more traditional Dupont-style saisions. Does anybody know if they're a totally American invention, or were/are there any dark saisons made in France/Belgium?

 

Fruitiness and spice on a malt that is not wheat based is the idea of a saison. Highly carbonated , acidic,highly hopped and uses sugar as an adjunct. That creates that sticky feeling in the mouthfeel. Under 7% abv for the most part and also notice that for the saison the higher the abv the DRIER the beer.

 

When I think of Saison/Farmhouse ales I tend to picture classic examples like:

Saison Dupont
Ommegang Hennepin
FW Opal
Off-Color Apex Predator
Boulevard Tank 7.

But when I taste beers like:

Smuttlabs Biere De'Shire or Smuttwater 1.0
Boulevard Saison-Brett
Crooked Stave Surette
Saint Somewhere Saison Athene

these are very funky or sour/tart and almost downright weird. This is not to say that they are bad beers, quite the contrary. They are some of the best beers I've ever had. I almost think these beers should be in the American Wild Ale category or a whole new one altogether.

I'm looking for higher carbonation, yeasty and fruity esters, excellent drinkability, 5-7% ABV, some spiciness and maybe some Belgian funk (that classic Belgian flavor not necessarily Brett). I know that historically ALL saisons and farmhouse ales were funky because of the barrels, casks and fouders that were used to ferment and store the beers. The beauty of this style (my favorite BTW) is that it can encompass so many variations. You can dry hop it, fruit it, age it in stainless or wood, etc. I'm not convinced that there is such a thing as an "Imperial Saison". These were beers for drinking on the farm after or during a hard days labor, not to get drunk on. I just think it is turning into a catch-all category.

 

The interesting thing about this is that if you reference the old BJCP guidelines that @Relik provided, some of those "classic" examples you've mentioned--especially the extra hoppy versions like Opal and Tank 7--don't technically fit the description. Whereas something like Surette might fit it exactly, given the tartness.

And if you want to get really obnoxious about it, 5% abv is probably on the higher end of the origins of the style, and 7% and above is extremely high. But I guess all I'm getting at is that I agree with you about it being a catchall style. Some styles are more suited to detailed classification than others. Saisons, imho, would tend to qualify as "less suited".

 

While Saisons are mostly Pilsner malt based with a few specialty grains to add character and colour it can also include Wheat/Rye/Oats/Spelt along with sugars or honey to help encourage a complete fermentation and yield a drier more refreshing beer.

 

Classic in who's mind? Opal and Apex are fairly new beers while Hennepin and Tank 7 are neither fermented with yeast considered as saison yeast by most people. Moreover, Dupont Vieille Provision is a mixed fermentation beer more similar to those you list below.

But you could easily put those beers into a category with other long-brewed Belgian or French saisons, particularly Fantome, that are mixed fermentations with brett character.

There are certainly those that agree with you regarding the distinction between the two lists. The new BJCP guidelines share your opinion although Fantome is listed as a non-brett example of saison.

There's a mix of ideas here, some of which are contradictory. If you consider 5-7% appropriate for saison because it used to be a beer for farm labor then you have an invalid view of historical saison. A 5-7% beer would have been far above the ABV of the beers served to farm labor by half or more.

You could have stopped at the first sentence. You like saisons in the vein of Dupont Vieille Provision. There is nothing wrong with that.

 

Must be dry, spicy and some hop kick. Some level of complexity.
For me.