The 750 Saison

Thiriez Blonde

I wanted to start this thread with Saison Dupont and it only made sense to follow that up with some yins to that yang. The current version of Saison Dupont is supposedly the same recipe dating back almost a century. Fantome, on the other hand, supposedly changes some of their recipes year after year. It's the yeast that brings me to Thiriez now. In the land of the American yeast banks, the "Belgian Saison" yeast is believed to be derived from Dupont. This yeast is notoriously difficult to work with. The "French Saison" yeast seems to have become the popular choice because it doesn't present the same challenges. This yeast is believed to be derived from Thiriez. There are those who believe that the Dupont yeast provides much higher rewards, but it comes at a cost that most aren't willing to work with. As one might expect from the name of that yeast, Thiriez is in France, near the Belgian border (but their yeast actually came from a collection in Brussels).




If the above doesn't look appealing to you then you might be on the wrong website. You'll notice that there's quite a bit of banners for English bitter there. The brewer apparently cares for this style more than the locals. His Extra (a really nice beer) was inspired by bitter.



I haven't had the "Blonde" before and didn't know what to expect. I think it's their flagship beer. The American label calls it a dry-hopped French farmhouse ale. I think most American folks associate "Blondes" with the Belgian Pale Ale style. It looks like the brewery website calls it a Biere De Garde. This is typical of these beers even though it would make a beer geek's head spin. The brewer was looking towards Belgian beers for inspiration. The labeling system is just different from what a US enthusiast is accustomed to.

The first impression of this beer is WOW. It's bone dry - incredibly so. The grassy and earthy hops are loud and clear. It's immediately refreshing. (Has a green beer bottle ever looked more refreshing than this one?) There's a tiny bit of funk there in the beginning. The beer is a stunning bright amber. The first half of this bottle really impresses me with it's character. Then a strange thing happened. The second half of the bottle took a different turn - maybe due to the beer warming up, or maybe due to me perceiving it differently after already having some. The grassiness and dry character became much less apparent and the beer became far less enjoyable. A really unexpected and unfortunate turn. Keep in mind that I'm the unreliable narrator.

 

If you are asking that due to the green bottle then that's a very smart question. Kitchen counter during the day. Could that have influenced things? Maybe in this case, but I'm always inclined to go with your second thought - that it's likely me and not the beer.

 

Now I'm moving on to a trio of American saisons brewed with flowers. First up:



Cambridge Brewing Company Morning Dew

I was anticipating this beer for two reasons:

1) I'm only two beers into my sixer of it, but CBC's Working Class Hero is probably my favorite saison in a can. OK, I've only ever had a few saisons in a can, but it's seriously a contender for one of my favorite 12oz saisons.

2) Morning Dew is brewed with elderflowers. I don't ordinarily put much stock in that, but when I was in Brussels, I fell in love with Saison Cazeau. I'm not going to find any fresh bottles of that beer in the US. Saison Cazeau was also brewed with elderflowers. I wasn't putting too much faith in any similarities as a result, but I was happy to make a wishful tangential connection.

The first thing you notice about this beer is that the earthy bitterness that was so prevalent in all of the French and Belgian saisons is absent. There still is a noticeable hop influence but it's a very different beast. There's a white wine quality lurking in the back. After drinking the beer, I found out that it is dry-hopped with Nelson Sauvin - so that explains things. I also discovered that it incorporates barley, wheat, rye, and buckwheat. Some modern brewers have latched onto the idea that a historical saison would have incorporated whatever grains were available. I don't know how many brewers use buckwheat, and what beers they are using it in, but I've only seen it in saisons (including grisettes).

Against my better judgement, I decided to open this beer after a long evening of applying grout to tile. It was fantastic. I fell asleep immediately after finishing it. When I awoke, any other impressions of this beer were lost as if I was trying to hopelessly remember a dream. I went from being eager to try this beer to being eager to revisit this beer.

It's listed here as a Belgian Pale Ale, but it should be grouped as a saison in my opinion and I will submit a request for this.

 

Well said.

 

Perennial Saison de Lis

Of all the saisons so far, this one showcases hops the least. It has a light body and a wonderful soft head. There's also more tartness here than in previous saisons. There's a lemon, green apple and melon quality. It is brewed with chamomile.

 

Thank you. As you can see, I'm likely to spend more time talking about dandelions, yeast banks, Michael Jackson or whatever than describing the actual beer, but that's just my approach to things. We've got @utopiajane for all the heavy lifting.