Saison/Farmhouse Ales

Go to Upright and The Commons and get taster trays.

 

Agreed, Commons, Logsdons, Upright, Pfriem.

 

Block 15 bottles hit occasionally. That Autumn Farmhouse was quite good.

Do Ale Apothecary beers count as "saisons"? Probably not really. But still great.

I'm one of the rare vocal supporters of Propolis. Not gonna be your predictable saisons, but they're one of the most unique breweries around and well worth investigating.

 

I get the impression that such supporters are becoming less rare. Good to see.

 

They're now available just up the hill from me, but I've yet to try any of them.

 

You should some time. Nectar always has bottles too at a good price. Super solid stuff.

 

A buddy of mine, who's a brewer here in town, was over in PT a couple weekends ago, and says they have some very interesting stuff in the pipeline. Also said their new facility is great.

 

Fix that. Their stuff can be a bit different, but it's worth a test drive.

 

Of those I've tried, Zephyros and Beltane are two of the best starters. Zephyros is a dry-hopped brett saison with Rakau and has some elderflower. Floral and super tropical. Approachable and delicious. Beltane is basically the same beer with noble hops. Start there.

 

Heh, I bought Zephryros on a whim because I love dry-hopped saisons. I never had it before. I shared it with some friends and we unanimously agreed it's really good. Your description is spot on. The bottle is corked, capped and sealed with beeswax, which I thought was a nice touch.

Regarding the initial question, you might find some de Garde bottles in Portland. I've seen some occasionally at Beer Mongers, Tin Bucket and Imperial. I also second Commons and Upright. I had Special Herbs at a share recently and I would love to see them bottle it again. There's a relatively new gypsy brewery run by Shaun Kalis called Ruse, operating at Culmination. I believe they will be focusing on saisons.

 

Not to go too far off-topic, but I had the Ruse Translator IPA at Culmination last weekend, and it was solid. A nice rejuvenator in the midst of a long bike ride on a warm afternoon.

And to get back on-topic: I tried Lompoc's Saison de L'evolution at 5th Quadrant a couple days ago, and it was a tasty rendition of a spicy/fruity/earthy/non-wild saison.

 

regular Crux Impasse is pretty solid and the recent Pfriem Lemon Saison is really nice.

 

Strange that Propolis hasn't taken off more than they have. Clearly they're doing well enough to build the new brewery, but I'm surprised I don't see more people talking about them. If it's due to a lack of fruit, their strawberry rhubarb "Pi" was awesome.

 

I think it's a combination of factors. The price probably pushes some folks away, and perhaps their choices of ingredients. Getting your average PNW beer consumer to slap a Tubman on the counter for a new, hyped-hopped IPA isn't that difficult. That same money for a "lesser" style, combined with unique ingredients, might be a deciding factor. Whatevs, I like their stuff fairly well.

 

Hardly ever see Propolis in Portland anymore... About a year and a half again, Belmont Station had a whole shelf of their beers. Now they don't carry them at all. Occasionally, I'll find one or two at BeerMongers - but that's all I've seen in a while.

 

Seriously, Pi was my first introduction to Propolis and it was fantastic. Shame I haven't seen bottles around PDX.

 

I really like Beltane, Zephyros and Cedar. Especially Cedar.

 

Yeah, I noticed that as well. I used to pick up a bottle once in a while if the ingredients interested me, I liked how they released a new beer each month. I don't remember paying more than $15 for a bottle either so the pricing didn't seem like that big of a deal. It is weird though, they seem to have all the makings of a hyped brewery but never really got the hype.