Saison Deliciousness

I pretty much agree with everything you are saying, but I think this is really a function of the number of breweries operating in the US today. As a percentage, a tiny fraction of American brewers make great saisons.

 

I have tried a few and I really like Seventeen by Weyenbacher , my only minor complaint is that at 10.5% it really goes to your head quickly.

 

I've started trying some saisons and I appreciate all of the interesting flavors in this style. Tank 7 is a little too smooth and balanced for my tastes. I really like Prairie Hop and Prairie Standard. Saison Diego is OK, but the price tag seemed out of whack.

 

I love being in Colorado and having access to Funkwerks, their Saison and Tropic King are top notch. Still, there's something about Saison-Brett that can't be beat IMHO, even by the Belgian breweries.

 

I think a relatively underrated saison is Great Divide's Colette.

 

Not really true, nor is it hard to do in a unitank. All you need to do is pitch at say 75-78F and turn off the glycol. Then set the glycol to about 88-90F. Primary fermentation of a 17P beer will generate quite enough exothermic activity to achieve at least a 10F rise.

 

Love saisons. Bring 'em on.

 

Funkwerks crushes most saisons, and yeah, prairie artisanal ales have brett.

 

Tank 7 is yum

 

So in a brewery where there is no heating mechanism, and the cooling jackets could be set to 88-90F, to cool if the temp went higher, you are saying that a good Saison could be made? I think that is in line with what I said

------ Of course, I am sure there are breweries that manage to let the ferm temp do it on its own, but I've seen schedules that go upwards of 90f and most brewhouses are cold, not warm-----

But I also know of breweries that have external temps at 60F or lower on small barrel systems where it is unrealistic to get the temp anywhere near 80f. Obviously the ferm temps generate heat, but that is also only when the brewer does a full batch. Most breweries aren't set up to test a 5 gallon test batch that can heat itself enough, nor do all of them like to invest in more test batch equipment.

As a side question, what is 17P of beer?

 

Is Boulevard not in all 48 contiguous states? Tank 7 and Saison-Brett are both renowned. Boulevard don't play no shit.

 

Not in CT.

 

only in about 25 states plus DC

 

17P is a general OG for many saisons, 16-17 degrees Plato, or about 1.064-1.072 SG.

Im lost on your most breweries are cold comment, a tank is jacketed to apply glycol to attemperate the fermenter and chill the beer. Leave it off and the exothermic activity of the primary fermentation will climb, at least 10-15F above ambient. The trick is to pitch high enough at the start to hit the target temp at high krausen.

 

Lagunitas has one in the tap room and it really just isn't that solid, at least not at the polish level of their distributed stuff. I think they make it for the experiment, but it is hard to compete with all the great ones already available. I really don't expect to see them put it out in bottles

 

Oh Plato, duh. I always think in SG or OG/FG.

And I get what your saying with the pitching temp. I'll have to try that. The ones that I've made, we pitched lower with the goal of starting the temp ower for the first 24 hours and then ramping up --- but as I said, we didn't have any equipment to ramp it up, which prevented getting the temp high enough to create any meaningful flavor. A saison with mild flavors is pretty meh -- and that is why I think that some breweries don't do it. I don't think that small batch sizes, like a nanobrewery has, in an industrial building with an ambient temp of 60F, can make a great Saison without a little more temp manipulation, but maybe I just need to experiment more with it.

In any case, maybe pitching at a higher temp could work so next time I will try that and just let it ride.

 

Ah ignorance...saisons were the traditional provision beers brewed by farmers(men) for anyone working on the farm. Low abv, thirst quenching, and packed with microflora. Saisons are the working man's beer. There are breweries who specialize in saisons, and that is basically all they brew. I suggest any of the following breweries: Upright, St. Somewhere, Crooked Stave, Tired Hands, Oxbow, and Stillwater.

 

Epic has a couple I enjoy, so does Avery

 

Can't add any more to this. Just the truth, right there. Look for saisons from the area that brewing style dominates (or any very region specific beer, for that matter)

 

SO JEALOUS. I've been lusting after Fantome after reading about it. I am pretty sure I've never seen it in store...EVER