The 750 Saison

Off the top of my head if you get Avery their perzik Saison is pretty straight foward in style with the addition of peach it comes in cans a summer seasonal, also Sly Fox Grisette.

 

Great Divide Colette is another one.

 

I remember when I first tasted Sofie I had all kinds of quips. "Sofie is a tart." and "A saison is like a pretty girl. It's her perfume but watch out because she does bite a little." Then I started getting this beer fresh and I started not to like it as much . Today I have last years beer and I am back to thinking Sofie is a tart. I'll try and compare it to Saison Dupont.



Sofie smells lemony sweet at first. Soft haze on a yellow beer topped with a thinner head than Saison Dupont as it also fell faster. ( I 'll just say Dupont from now on) There is spice and the malt is crackery and shows itself on the nose. There is funk on this beer and compared to Dupont it is a bit different. So I think we can say the yeast strain may be different? Funky can be mild or strong and is not a flaw either way. In tasting I think a lot of people who get their first taste of funk think it's a flaw. Spice backs the lemon in this one with a bit more sweetness than Dupont and smells like a lemon meringue pie with crust. Herbal is behind the funk and it's peppery. Not peppery like black pepper, but peppery like herbal pepper. There is a sweaty little tartness on the nose but it is not barnyard. It is more mild and a bit different but it's the same kind character from the yeast.

This beer smells more like the first one I remember rather than ones I had after that, that were fresher.

Taste is very earthy and has lost the sweetness from the sugar on the palate because the funk has taken over a bit. On the palate it's more like a tart little bit of lemon. The spice is more mild because of the funk and the sweat I talked about in both Dupont and Sofie is more mild in this beer overall and does not show itself to the palate as much. It's not barnyard it's more toward what you would call sweeter earth. Sofie has plenty of sweet grasses and finishes with less of a hops bitter than does Dupont. Sofie has lots of herbal pepper and spice in the finish. She does finish a touch sweeter overall and has a different hop character.

Freshness date says bottled on 18Nov15 . I want one from 2013 please.

Dupont is spice and sweet dryness and Sofie really is a tart with her lemony peppery herbal. Cheers you all and Happy Saison Wednesday

 

I have several left as well. Smuttynose hayseed could be categorized as a grisette so i was ready to compare it to that but i feel sly fox mafe a version that is much mor full. Further proof that saison is merely a beer in a range of characters and not just a set style. Hayseed is light, a bit tart and almost completely clear a very light yellow. Sly fox does it hazy with a bigger ody Wil post a side by side in this thread this evening. Sly fox with almost Hefeweizen like quality both considered saison (grisette yet so very different

 

I too really like this stuff. It's a real quencher with a surprisingly substantial body for a 4.5% brew.

 

Yup, the Sly Fox Grisette has some body to it vs. being bone dry.

I attended a very interesting seminar at the recent National Homebrewers Conference (Homebrew Con) on the topic of the history of Saison beers (and Grisette style beers too). The presenter spent the past year or so in Belgium researching the history of these beers plus how they are brewed today. There is a ton of variation in terms of ingredients and brewing process from brewery to brewery. When you consider that these beers were also brewed in households (i.e., Farmhouse Ales) the variation is even greater. He provided some 'guidance' on recipes for brewing historical Saison and Grisette beers with the caution that there are wide ranges here.

Cheers!

 

I am very new to craft beer and thanks to this site, some great people here, and a supportive wife I am learning a lot. I find myself gravitating to the Belgians and particularly the Saisons. Granted I have only tried 2 thus far, Goose Island Sofie and Blackberry Farms Classic Saison. Both of these seemed to be highly respected and rated which was what led me to trying them. So I guess I was fortunate that my first exposure to this wonderful style was with the artisanal and quality Saisons. My current quest is to find a bottle Saison DuPont as I have heard great things about it. Any other recommendations?

 

Boulevard Tank 7 and Brooklyn Sorachi Ace, for versions on the dry and hoppy side.

 

A side by side. Smutty is my buddy is light semi tart as it warms it dry byt not dry as a mofo. A bit stanky. Some sour tinge. Banana . Took a few sips for science. As it warms it gets drier. Reason for this tasting is to sgow @zid is correct its more of a broad category tgan true style. Solid offering from Smuttynose


Aaaaand aly fox grisette as you see a bit darker. A ton more pepper and fruit like fruiti tutti. Juicyfruit. Hefeweizen like body. As it warms dry as a mofo and the fruit turns a bit salty. Not as sweet.

I cant choose because both are great in their owm ways. Cheers to @zid. The french. The belgians. To farms. May this thread last all summer.

 

Both are categorized as a Grisette. Or low abv saison. Session Saison as redundant as that is because even at 8% they hide abv well. But a sub category of a said style is still so different individually

 

A recommendation from me would be try everything. And dont worry too much about ratings. Try allbthe belgians. If you can find Weyerbacher Merry Monks that's a great beer albeit high alcohol content. Tank 7 from Boulevard and Smuttynose Hayseed (its in season) are great starters if you still want to be careful of your purchases. Or anything from Ommegang. Cheers.

 

@Urk1127 you are so dead on with this. I have found for Saison's they don't get much love here, I have had some rated 3.5 that I have been in my mind excellent. I tend to wholesale ignore ratings on this style, Gose & Berliner Wiesse.

 

Buy a copy of Michael Jackson's Great Beers of Belgium and drop down the rabbit hole. You really can't possibly regret it. His rapturous descriptions led me astray and I've never quite recovered. American versions of the styles, for me (disclaimer), always seem over processed and less complex. Still there are excellent examples.

 

This is what i'll probably look for! We get a lot of Great Divide in NC.

Also what is the general thoughts on Foret? i see it all the time and I like the bottle.

 

Wait for meeeeee! I was warming up my tastebuds for another saison earlier with southern tiers 2XTangier . Fruit peel is also a traditional addition to the saison and for the beholder it also can be added to the IPA. I am finding a lot of additions from brewers and not just in the saison. Combinations this year are wheat and blood orange, and black teas with peaches. Perzik from Avery uses peaches and Bravo hops.

See ya later. =)