Paste Magazine Blind Tasting: Saisons

Was not expecting a Burial beer to be number one, but I'll take it.

 

Pockets of Sunlight is great

 

Interesting list with some good choices among the ones listed I've been able to try. Surprised to not see any Stillwater saisons listed.

 

Another good showing for Brew Gentlemen. Missed out on the first Mise en Rose release, will make sure I don't miss the next.

 

Damnit, you ruined the surprise!

 

The Burial that is rated 1 is really good.

 

Go Burial!!!!!

 

Glad to see funkwerks up near the top at #2, it's a great beer.

 

Was Chris (@zid) part of the tasting panel?

Cheers!

 

Even though no matter how "blind" a test is, I still take it with caution. With that being said, I actually love Paste Magazine's rankings. Nothing is ever perfect but it does give me ideas of what I should try.

 

Happy to see Yazoo (#4!), Blackberry Farm, and Good People on the list. I also like these blind tastings.

 

Hard to say these words, but "Paste usually does better than this."

Yes, we realize the inherent level of absurdity and difficulty in comparing them to one another. In the end, a puckeringly tart, wine barrel-aged saison has little in common with a classic Franco-Belgian example of the style, such as Saison Dupont

You realize it's absurd, then don't put them all in the same list ya mook.

 

i had the last of my Prairie Standard tonite and I've never had a better Saison. maybe it isn't true to style because of the hops but this is great. it isn't funky, bone dry or oddly spicy.

i've had it before and i love it.

so many Saisons are uber dry and/or super funky. i know that is the style but i enjoy a nicely hopped saison. to me it is much more refreshing

 

Give ommegang short sleeve a try if it's still around. Or a similar but hopped one, allagash hoppy table beer. I think you'd like them. Less funk in those.

 

I thought the same thing but splitting into multiple saison tastings might be a little repetitive. Sure, some of us beer geeks would love to see those tastings between clean, mixed culture, barrel aged, etc. but I can see why they included them all in one list.

 

Interesting list that unfortunately helps cements the fact that Saisons are just a complete blind spot for me. I know they vary a lot, but they bring together my three least favorite beer flavors (Belgian yeast, spicy/clovey, funky). Nice to see a couple of our local places make the top 40 though (Night Shift and Ipswich).

More for the rest of you I guess

 

Maybe I'll finally get around to trying Saison Dupont...

 

I could happily drink Ghost by Foam Brewers every day for the rest of my life.