Expensive Saisons....

Most of the Prairie saisons that I've tried haven't been worth the price.

 

It's not my intention to get into a back and forth, you must have some favorites that are more expensive.
Keep in mind that Backwoods Bastard, Wulver, Bourbon County, Central Waters, Rodenbach, Duchesse, Jacobins, and Ritterguts (to pick 4 of each off the top of my head) are not over that price.

 

Let's not forget that breweries such as Anchor and Samuel Smith use open fermentation.

 

I don't have a problem paying $10-15 for a 750 of a great saison. The problem I have is that a lot of American upstarts think they're producing beer in the same realm as DuPont and charging accordingly, when the reality is that their beers are flabby, overly-estery, and over-spiced crap compared to the classics.

Oh, and they're charging more for their locally produced (relatively speaking) bottles than many of the best imported saisons. That's fucked. I'm willing to pay a bit more for a true Belgian/French saison/farmhouse because I understand that they have extra shipping and import costs, plus another level of mark up due to the importer. The American breweries putting out mediocre $15 saisons are only getting away with it because people have become conditioned to think that's how much the style should cost.

I'm more than happy to support breweries like Upright, Logsdon, Ommegang, etc that keep their main line Belgian styles at ~$10-12, but if you try to sell me something for more than that and it can't stand up to the originals like DuPont, Chouffe, etc, I'm going to be sorely disappointed.

 

Fantome is great but hit or miss. Bruery I just avoid like the plague.
Really enjoying some Prairie Standard tonight. Very drinkable, not cheap but not overly expensive.

 

I'm also in the actively dislike Hennepin club - too sweet and just wrong. The Duponts (and de Glazen Toren and de Blaugies) are an order of magnitude better IMO and I'd far, far sooner drink Tank 7, Sofie, Apex Predator or Stateside than Hennepin.

 

Also agreed on Hennepin. Love Tank 7, in fact, it's the beer that turned me back to the style after Hennepin almost drove me away. Now I'm trading for HF/Casey, and picking up every bottle I can at the store. Loved Arthur, Florence was ok.

Jolly pumpkin stuff is good, though hard to pin to a specific style many times. Small format bottles are nice too.

Really wish Boulevard was in WI, great brewery.

 

I guess the difference is the location of the vessels. Lambic vessels are basically outdoors, Anchor and Sam Smith are in a relatively sanitary/controlled environment.

 

Both Anchor and Samuel Smith traditionally used open fermentation. S Smith has been around since the 18th century, so while I imagine that the environment today is "relatively sanitary," I don't picture it being the same at the start. Supposedly, "Yorkshire Squares" have been in use for 200 years. The sour aspects of British beer have been researched, but I've only ever seen it attributed to mature beer after aging in vats. Anchor struggled with sour beer in the early days, but I've never seen any mention of what brought this on. As far as I know, it's believed that the krausen acts as a protective barrier with open fermentation.

 

BBA Stouts are not the apex of beer. It's a ruse on good taste and judgement!

 

The Side Project saisons aren't exactly cheap, but that doesn't seem to stop them from selling out

 

Not spending more than $7 per 12oz serving is more than reasonable, and you really don't miss out on much with that cut-off in my opinion. Almost every time I break the bank for a beer it's not worth it. I actually keep it to $5 and under in most cases.

 

Noteworthy because they're the best saisons in the country. Anything more than $10/750 is overpriced, IMO. Especially considering HF's value. Now, getting them is a different story ...

 

I'll second Stillwater. Stateside and Cellar Door are really great, dry saisons.

I'll also suggest Allagash's Saison, which I don't think has been said yet.

 

There are many great saisons that are worth the splurge (Crooked Stave, for example), but one well priced saison to consider is Boulevard's Tank 7.

 

Saison D'Epeautre by Blaugies is always a winner in my book.

 

That's over $18 a six pack. I've been enjoying the stone saison from the mix 12 pack. Not world class but enjoyable. Cellar door is great but pricey too

Enjoy

 

Blaugies makes some great saisons! I really dig Saison D'Epeautre as well and La Moneuse is excellant!

 

Yes I really like this beer, but can't justify buying it in the 750ml format for $10, then I'll be damned I found it in 4 packs for the same price