Salute to Saisons (2024)

Cheers everyone. I love saisons. A saison is defined thusly . . . a saison is like a pretty girl, she smiles at you sweetly entices you with perfume, she can be a bit of a tart but she can also turn sour and bite.

I am drinking saison dupont. There is an organic version to which the brewer has stated that there are differences. Mine is unfiltered and 6.5% abv.

Pours hazy with a fat and ultimately moussy head of foam that wants to last and tempts you with rings and true lace before it falls to spots. Leaves a ring and cap that wanes to a thick film. Sheets of streaming g bubbles are racing ro the top.

Nose is grapefruit and lemon, with an undeveloped yeast character I would call attic must. Light clove. Hops grass and a delightful hop pepper and lighter pepper from clove. Taste is citrusy with a crisp biting bubble and complexity from the hops as well as the earthy phenols. Firm crackery malt establishes itself as you drink. In this version there is nothing tart or funky to speak of and it drinks cool and rather gently for all its complexity. The bitterness is complimentary but also as firm as the malt. It cleanses the palate.

Refreshing, dry and enjoyable with an abv that can sneak up on you. I paired mine with donge brie , rosette de lyon, and fruit. This is a true table beer that can pair with any food.

 

Maria,

A couple of years ago I conducted a side-by-side tasting of Saison Dupont, a bottle vs. can taste test:



https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/new-beer-weekend-99.667388/#post-7544840

My guess from this tasting exercise is the difference between these beers is that the bottle version is bottle conditioned while the can is not can conditioned.

Cheers!

Jack

 

Opened True Anomaly's Small Giant Saison, at 4.4% ABV. Out in my courtyard, starting another Michael Ondaatje novel. Love his books.

Anyway, this uses a bit of Brett and wild yeast. With just a touch of musty basement like "funk." Fruity esters, stone fruits, and peaches to be exact (at least to me). Cracker like malts, a light lingering bitterness. Light body that is crisp, even refreshing, and very moreish.

One of my favorite local Saisons, and they are making it in six packs for the first time, yay. Very nice all around.

 

That’s great thanks for adding this to the conversation. This gives me even more motivation to conduct a personal side-by-side of Saison Dupont.

 

I love that funky character in a saison. If you ask me it's what makes the beer and the style. It's definitely missing when it's not there. I also think that in the fruit beers that allow for funk, it makes them more interesting. The range in abv for the saison is as wide as the range for lagers and the lower abv saisons have a special quality that makes them truly enjoyable. Table beer is a favorite expression of mine for this style as it's so approachable. It's also a very sensual and romantic beer too because it shows so much of itself in each facet. Cheers.

 

Hive - Wayland

Still holds up.

 

Ranked at #7 among saisons at the time of posting, I will say I would rather classify this as a wild ale given the lack of body and contribution of yeast - delightfully refreshing in any case - cheers! Full review here and in NBW #220.

 

Enjoying a lovely table Saison from Obelisk in Astoria, OR. Friend i volunteered with acquired a couple of cans at the Eighth State festival at the end of July. Wow, a ton of flavor going on in this 3.8% abv package. Pilsner malts lend the classic white bread and crackers base, Yuzu lends a nice apple and pear flavor, and the Saaz hops gives it a nice black pepper zing with the finish. Great warm weather beer!
Cheers!
Tom

 

Tank 7
it sits on the shelves here for months, sometimes at or past the best by date. While I was in Missouri I stopped at a Schnucks to get a fresh six pack. Delicious.

 

I miss Birds Fly South. Such a loss.

 

I take it that Bold Monk chooses to not can this brand? I wonder why?

Cheers!

 

I was heretofore unfamiliar with Bold Monk Brewing and I visited the website prior to posting my reply to you. I noted that the brewery canned a number of Belgian Ales: Dubbel, Tripel, Quad and Witbier. I did not see the Saison represented as a canned product.

I suppose that those four aforementioned Belgian Ales sell well but the Saison doesn't?

Oh well.

Cheers!

P.S. On a somewhat related note I placed a homebrewed Quad from my cellar in my refrigerator earlier today to enjoy while watching some basketball later today.

 

I hear what you are saying here. My last batch of Quad was brewed/bottled three years ago and I still have a few six-packs of that beer left. It is a beer that I enjoy occasionally.

I too am a fan of the Dubbel style and I drink them more frequently. I homebrew two batches a year and my most recent batch was bottled last October. I prefer to drink these beers in 'fresher' condition while I prefer my Quads with a year+ of cellaring.

Cheers to tasty Belgian beers!!

 

Casually had the bio version (5.5%) last night before reading this, which is kind of a guilty pleasure. I was a bit drunk back home but it managed to make an impression. The beer is significantly less sharp and biting than “mum”, but the grassy hop is pretty damn tasty and still hits the palate from the middle of the sip on, with a subtle but redeeming fruity finish. It also feels less champagnesque, and more like the slightly soapy unfiltered ciders we drink in northern Spain. The influence to perception of the “bio” tag is hard to measure, but it feels and tastes really natural. A beautiful beer all in all, and reasonably priced at 4.6 euro (75cl); I have no reason to miss getting a couple more bottles for tomorrow´s seafood paella with friends, really.