Saison/Farmhouse Preference

Hennepin is a pretty common starting place. If I could rewind, I would start with Dupont in brown bottles. Then Moinette blonde for that bumped abv experience. If the Fantomes are properly carbonated, all of them. Stillwater is legit. Ommegang is mostly legit. Boulevard... off the track. Want a cheap mildly Brett'd saison? Uinta and Smuttnose each make one. Want to ball up and stay stateside? Jolly Pumpkin!

Also St Somewhere if you can find it.

 

When I tried dupont it was a green bottle and had a really funky, pungent, overpowering "bread" scent to it. It was a bit unpleasant and very noticable (my room wreaked of it for a day). Did I just get a bad bottle or is this the profile of the beer?

 

Goose's Sofie, Lost Abbey's Saints Devotion, Russian Rivers Sanctification, logsdon's Seizon Bretta are all good choices if your in a little funky farmhouse mood.

 

Picked up a bomber of this for $3 at a supermarket clearance (Proprietor's Reserve):

http://www.mustlovebeer.com/public/album_photo/15/9f/9e76_4cde.JPG?c=876c

Was bottled 10/14. Anyone know what it sells for normally?

 

seizon bretta or the chancy bottle of fantome

 

After chasing many, I keep coming back to Hennepin. It just has everything I want in a Saison, and it is readily available, all the time.

 

Gotta say my current favorite is Sorachi Ace. It's got that really interesting, subtle dill characteristic.
Allagash Saison is solid as hell, and drinkable at 6.1%.
Stillwater Cellar Door is crisp, and the sage is a nice touch. Stillwater Stateside is also worth a try.
Sofie is always really nice, the white wine comes through (in a good way).
I like Tank 7 a lot, though it is a bit heavy. Delicious all the same.
Hennepin was one of the first saisons I've tried, but after trying all of the others above, it seems a little plain by comparison.
Firestone Walker's Opal is very, very dry and effervescent. Tasty, but more of something I would pop at a special occasion in lieu of champagne.
Great Divide's Collette was a little disappointing to me, a little too sweet.
Red Sky At Night I thought was super spicy, but too heavy, not enough sparkle.

 

Take 7 or Dupont. But after a trip to HF the Anna, Arthur, and Dorthy rotation has been nice

 

Tank 7 is abhorrent no matter the age. The hops are muddled by the yeast, and the banana esters are better suited for a hefe.
EDIT: the IBU's are also double what you usually see in a saison... so I think overly bitter could be a good descriptor...

I'll add sofie to the list along with crooked stave veille. Dry, funky, and refreshing.

 

how many of you never had a proper Belgian or French saison?

 

I have had a number of Belgian Saisons and Saison Dupont has always been my favorite. I have had a few French Biere de Garde beers but never a French beer that I would consider a Saison. Do you have a French brewed Saison that you would recommend?

Cheers!

 

Dupont, D'erpe Mere, and Helios are my favorite that are readily available to me. I wish I could get Boulevard, HF, and Fantome

 

I second this comment. Hennepin got me into craft beer probably 15 years ago. For early 2000's it was awesome and still is in my opinion. This is my benchmark saison that all others are compared to.

I have noticed there can be a wide variation of Saisons to the point where I hesitate to try new ones because when I get one I don't like I really hate it (Publick House comes to mind). Be careful with Sorachi Ace I have heard that you either love it or hate it - nothing in between. I thought it tasted like lemon furniture polish.

 

I know this may not be widely available, but the Stillwater Lower Dens Remastered w/ Brett is absolutley fantastic and well worth the try..

 

That's the good stuff. I like the good stuff. Saison Dupont and Avec Les Bons Voeux are the bees knees.

 

I get nervous that some BA's havent had German lagers, Belgian/French saisons ect..
Its hard to tell if an American version is good if you havent done homework with the originals.

 

Always hated homework

 

Funkwerks
prairie standard
Avril

 

I usually see it around here for $7.99