Your top 5 favorites Saisons / Farmhouse Ale?

Discussion in 'Beer Talk' started by Shanex, Apr 27, 2017.

Tags:
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Gemini6

    Gemini6 Savant (1,165) Oct 5, 2013 Michigan

    Wow. At that price, I'd by it much more often!
     
    Shanex likes this.
  2. bleakies

    bleakies Maven (1,319) Apr 11, 2011 Massachusetts

    My list would be headed up by Field Mouse's Farewell and Jack D'Or, both by Pretty Things, but they're no longer in production, so how about:

    Logsdon Seizoen Bretta
    Boulevard Saison Brett
    Cambridge Brewing Sgt. Pepper
    Notch Saison
    G.I. Sofie

    Seems strange to me that all these brews are American, but there it is.
     
    Witherby and zid like this.
  3. zid

    zid Grand Pooh-Bah (3,058) Feb 15, 2010 New York
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    That was simply one of my favorite beers.
     
  4. Maestro0708

    Maestro0708 Initiate (0) Feb 27, 2015 Kentucky

    Picked up some Stillwater Cellar Door recently and thought it was excellent.


    Nice to see some love for Apex Predator. I thought it was really a nice beer.
     
  5. JonnyBeers

    JonnyBeers Savant (1,187) Oct 24, 2012 Canada (BC)

    Top 5 from Vancouver BC Canada in no particular order:

    Four Winds Operis
    Strange Fellows Strange Times For Modern Fellows
    Brassneck Stockholm Syndrome
    Dageraad Randonneur
    Four Winds Sovereign
     
  6. ManforallSaisons

    ManforallSaisons Maven (1,480) Mar 20, 2008 Belgium

    Drat, because the bottle I picked up is right at its best-by date. Well, looking forward to it all the same.
     
  7. ManforallSaisons

    ManforallSaisons Maven (1,480) Mar 20, 2008 Belgium

    I actually don't count Bons Voeux, much as I love it. I was also thinking of other de Blaugies beer, but they don't count those as saisons, either.

    Iiiiii misspoke, or rather, mistyped. I meant the Blaugies-Hill collab, la Vermontoise. I had the Dupont-Lost Abbey bier, Deux Amis, in mind for something else. (Actually I struggle to remember if I've tasted it, but have some in the cellar.) ... Appreciate the link, @drtth, wish I'd come across it.
     
    zid and drtth like this.
  8. VurnXBrew

    VurnXBrew Initiate (0) Apr 7, 2017 Florida

    Some of my go-to Saisons

    Blackberry Farm Brett Saison
    Prairie Vous Francais
    Saison DuPont
    Off Color Apex Predator
    Crooked Stave Surette
    Stillwater Extra Dry
     
    Shanex likes this.
  9. CaptainHate

    CaptainHate Initiate (0) Apr 22, 2006 Ohio

    If it's descriptions and comments the OP wants, then descriptions he shall get:

    Saison Dupont - one of my favorite beer drinking buds, who first introduced me to Arrogant Bastard, was visiting over a long weekend and we went to Warehouse Beverage for essential provisions. While there he spied this and said "this is for you to drink after I've gone". He's an excellent friend.

    Sante Adairius Saison Bernice - While visiting my daughter, son in law and grandchildren a couple months ago in Santa Cruz, I checked out the Pacific forum to see what to catch (it's a great beer area imo) and SARA was prominently mentioned and for good reason. Once I finally found the place (google maps FTW) everything on tap looked great. I could've pounded these forever; unfortunately I had to be aware of not getting hammered before driving the rental car back. So I just made multiple return visits. Just a wonderful experience.

    Boulevard Tank 7 - this was a recommendation from the beer guy at Warehouse Beverage. He knows my tastes very well. I've brought this to various get togethers since and have never heard anything less than enthusiastic feedback.

    Goose Island Sofie - Mrs Hate's retirement dinner was at a restaurant that didn't have anything on tap, which needless to say put me in a foul mood. Furthermore the bottled selection seemed pretty fucking boring and I'm not sure there was a decent description of this or if I was so discouraged I ignored it and just ordered it not expecting much. The waitress poured it into a tulip and as I took a desultory sip, my eyes opened wide and I started gazing at the bottle to lock it into memory.

    Ommegang Hennepin - this was my initiation to the style. I don't know if this was my first Ommegang I had but I've been a big fan of the brewery ever since. The above beers have overtaken it in preference but it's still a great go-to beer if nothing else looks appealing. Plus it's inexpensive.
     
  10. Dan_K

    Dan_K Initiate (0) Nov 8, 2013 Colorado
    Trader

    1-5) Casey Saison
     
    SFACRKnight likes this.
  11. ManforallSaisons

    ManforallSaisons Maven (1,480) Mar 20, 2008 Belgium

    Tank 7: finally tried it, and it's a hit with me -- thank you. I got enough citrus pith to satisfy. It's certainly at the hoppy end of the scale (perhaps not the hoppiest, then again it was in only a couple weeks from its best-by date) for the style as understood in Belgium. It's a good mouthful, while dry and quenching, creditable for the style even in the Belgian market. Not my last time picking this up.

    Addendum to my list above: I was remiss not to mention Silly. A serious oversight. It is quite different than many of the others, but it is truly in the spirit of saison -- I don't think this would be considered a dark beer in the era in which it arose -- and must be mentioned here, almost as a matter of honor.
     
  12. drtth

    drtth Initiate (0) Nov 25, 2007 Pennsylvania
    In Memoriam

    Glad to hear you liked it. During the first year after Boulevard began distribution to PA (thanks to Duvel Moortgat for that) I managed to finish off a couple of cases and track some of the changes with age. While I enjoyed it at all ages during it's shelf life, for me the "sweet spot" was about 2-3 weeks after bottling through about 8 weeks after that.
     
    ManforallSaisons likes this.
  13. KBlodorn

    KBlodorn Initiate (0) Oct 3, 2014 Ohio
    Trader

    In no particular order:

    Sofie
    Halia
    Tank 7
    Saison Dupont
    Blvd. Saison Brett
     
    Shanex and SFACRKnight like this.
  14. Nickwierda

    Nickwierda Initiate (0) Feb 8, 2015 New Jersey

    My favorite beer style(s)! So many to choose from, and the list is ever changing. Here are my current all-time faves:

    HF Arthur. Absolutely mind-blowing. Also the dry-hopped version. Splitting a bottle of that at the brewery with two of my best buds on a beautiful day is my number one best beer experience of all time thus far.

    TH Native 5. Also mind-blowing. So many subtle flavors, transitions so well, dances on your palate. All of Nate's beers are insane. That guy has a gift.

    Carton Tharsis. Saison with chilis and saffron. Cool idea, amazing execution. Probably my favorite Carton beer.

    Logsdon Peche n Brett. The saison yeast character, the Brett, the tartness, and the subtle peach all blend so well in this one. Incredibly complex and delicious. Only downside is that it's a 10 percenter in a 750.

    Suarez Slow Bustle. A perfectly balanced farmhouse ale. Bready, yeasty, vinous, tart, a touch of funk and floral honey. Transitions much the same way as Native 5, and slightly better than HF Anna, IMO.
     
    Shanex likes this.
  15. captaincoffee

    captaincoffee Pooh-Bah (2,194) Jul 10, 2011 Virginia
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    Moinette Blond Biologique (I personally think this has more saison characteristics than strong pale as it is listed in BA despite the high abv). Either way, I list it because it is amazing.
    Fantôme Saison
    Saison Dupont
    Cuvée Des Jonquilles (again, personal opinion is this has as much saison characteristics as bière de garde...hopefully Simon at Cave a Bulles will forgive me for saying that)
     
    ManforallSaisons likes this.
  16. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,181) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Society

    I attended the 10th Annual Yards Real Ale beer festival yesterday and I remembered a beer I had the year before at this event: Carton Eden Saison. Below is what I posted last year:

    “If anybody cares my favorite beer at the Real Ale event was Carton Eden Saison with grains of paradise and jasmine. That beer was AWESOME!!”

    Cheers!
     
  17. jman005

    jman005 Initiate (0) Jan 21, 2013 Kentucky

    Ommegang Hennepin
    Prairie Merica
    North Coast Le Merle
    Anchorage Love Buzz
    Any Allagash saison

    Such a great style.
     
  18. Scott17Taylor

    Scott17Taylor Initiate (0) Oct 28, 2013 Iowa
    Trader

    IN no particular order, funkwerks saison and pair saison, boulevard saison Brett, tank 7, and the collab 4 they did with ommegang.
     
    SFACRKnight likes this.
  19. thedifferencemaker

    thedifferencemaker Zealot (740) Nov 17, 2013 Ohio

    Have enjoyed Tank 7 and Sofie. Saison is an excellent, under appreciated style, IMO.
     
  20. babaracas

    babaracas Initiate (0) Jan 30, 2008 Florida

    It's hard for me to pick my top 5 breweries known for saisons, much less top 5 saisons. So I'll focus on #1... I can't overstate how great Dupont's classic saison is. Fresh or 2 years old, the age is just variation on perfection. Brett, fruit, lacto, spices, US hop varieties, Americanized hop schedules... all these can be fun, but you don't need them. Yeast, temperature, gravity, far more important.
     
    JackHorzempa, Maestro0708 and zid like this.
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.