The 750 Saison

Glad to hear you enjoyed the Seizoen Bretta. I had an interesting experience while having this beer for the first time last year. Like yours, the beer gushed out of my bottle upon opening. What was interesting though was how much the flavor improved as the beer warmed up. It started off thin and bland but did become more complex and enjoyable as I kept drinking. Did you happen to notice anything like that? Unfortunately, I think I may have gotten a bad bottle and have not had a chance to revisit it.

Here was my full review, if you are interested:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/25710/69702/?ba=Jacobob10#review

 

Earlier tonight I had this "saison" from a newer brewer hyped heavily for their cloudy, I say "juicy" IPAs. They do other styles, but nary a single beer that I've had has been anywhere near clear:


Called Hoppy Saison, by Aslin in Gerndon, VA, I throw this on this thread as a very "new school" interpretation of the style. Hops are Hull Melon and Sorachi, of all things.

Definitely a hint of the supposed base beer. Nose has a lightly floral yeasty, peppery note (in that order). Taste has a decent peppery note, and the feel is dry. End brings the Sorachi distinction more than any part of the taste.

Funny thing about this beer, what I looked for I found more almost every time. Look for the distinctive hop note, I get it; look for the saison notes, I get them. Was never near a classic saison overall, but when I focused on them, the classic saison characteristics were obviously in the mix.

In the end, warmth brings the hops out more and gets it more towards what I assumed it would be - a Belgian [I?]PA, and a dry one. Also nearer and nearer the last sips, lemon notes grew stronger.

Adventurous saison or merely a nod to the style??

 

I really love this substyle, and hope to see more of it. To me they capture the best qualities of a Belgian IPA without the usual overbearing annoying parts . Even better if there's Brett in there too.

 

If you enjoy drinking the beer do you really care about the answer to this question?

I am with Michael (@TongoRad) in that I too enjoy this 'substyle' and as a nod to the Belgians who are not all that wrapped up about strict style guidelines maybe we should not use the term of 'substyle' and simply call it a Saison.

Cheers!

 

Nothing official just yet, but I shall lobby for it to be called the American Extra Tangy Saison .

 

Hoppy Saisons usually don't hit me quite right - my guess is it's the yeast combining with the hops that gets weird in most cases. Hoppy Brett beers are worse though .

I liked the Aslin beer beer because that "conflict" on my palate was not present. I'd easily have it again. In a discussion thread about saisons, though, I figure debating a "definition" might be fun (though I guess I'm only debating with myself on this particular beer ).

 

In that case you are bound to win!!

Cheers!

 

... and lose! But I would only mention that if I were a glass half empty guy

Which when it comes to beer, I am, b/c if my glass is <whisper>half</whisper> empty, I get more beer! Wait, I might have just created a paradox - as half empty is then good!!

 

My street has been closed lately but today I am heading downtown. Let's see what they have =) I'll be bock!

 

SHHHH. Everyone must be sleeping. I have 3 new saisons to try . You will notice a few variations, in malt, in style and with the addition of brett. They are chilling.

Also @zid I have a suggestion for next summers starter thread. Kolsch.






. . . go back to sleep, go back to sleep.

 

I realized my last two beers were not actually 750mL, though one was on tap and therefore was actually probably 58K mL or so as I am to understand, but I digress . This beer is no different, but I decided to "force" the GF to join me so we at least have 24oz of beer to offer, forgive me the extra 1.4oz.

That small mea culpa aside, I will credit this thread for making me look at this beer, and that is a good thing. I had given this a straight 4 two years ago, and while I have had it since and enjoyed it, I took the time to review it:


The only downside to this beer today was the feel to me - it seemed... bland. The nose and flavor were things I could get on board with, though. Seemed decently bitter in the end, but this was more what I think of as a classic farmhouse than the last beer I posted here. I have decided after this that I will likely grab this a bit more on the regular (it is not an uncommon, though not prevalent, tap choice around here).

 

This is Stillwater extra dry and it's made with rice. It gushed a little. The pour was a soft yellow. Hazy with a fat head of foam that fell pretty fast once it got going. At first I thought I smelled citrus then no. Then I thought I smelled peach. A scent like brown rice and citrus. Hop spice. Some bread. In fact I was a little surprised at the bread on the nose but I like it. This is a very low abv beer. It does drink very dry but a bit bland. There is a touch of sugar on the palate but it stands out against the rice. The peach keeps coming forward on the nose. Carbonation is bubbly. Lively. Now I smell melon. It's very dry and has a nice finishing bitterness that shows you how light the body really is and gives you a good taste of all the rice. What it is missing as far as the saison style is that moment of tartness as it goes to the finish. That is on the nose very lightly but the rice seems to flatten it out at the end. Finishes with subdued citrus and crisp. The fruit never becomes too bold on the palate because of the rice and I kept telling myself this is a sake style saison. Rice leaves a terrible aftertaste imo. Boiled rice water that has a sour tinge to it. The sugar in this style mellowed and married better in the beer as I drank it and it seems to have that taste gently under some control. Also the hops and their spice is constant though out the drink and that is the feature that makes this rice seem like brown rice instead of white and that is an improvement in flavor. Good. I have to admit that I am curious as to how people who drink a lot of sake might feel. It is subtle, well made and has a good flavor overall.



Cheers and see you on Sunday!

 

@utopiajane - saw that at my shop this past week and passed on it, didn't think it would work for me. Still not sure it would, but I might take a flyer on a single can if they have it next time I am in. I could actually compare it to some sake I have .

I'm back from lunch, and I stopped by the local Whole Foods, looking for some 750mL bottles. I got one, but look what they had that I'll have to cheat this thread, yet again!


Must say, I was a little bit surprised to see this at 5.6%. Although it is not an overly strong beer by many craft beer standards these days, most of the Grisettes I have had are closer to or under 4%. Either way, Sly Fox's Grisette comes in at the aforementioned ABV.


The can says unfiltered, and there is a significant haze to this. The can also says it (I assume they mean the style, but maybe they mean the recipe, specifically) was brewed for miners in Belgium's Hainaut province. I must admit, I don't get that from this beer .

Pils and wheat malts are used in this beer, and it uses a farmhouse yeast strain. I like when this information is available, even more when it's conveniently on the packaging. I am still a bit of a novice at trying to discern specific malt notes. Some of the adjunct-like grains I can get at times. In this case, I do actually think I get the pils malts; having had a couple pilsners this summer thanks to BA give me this potentially false sense of accomplishment.

Moving on, this beer is actually kind of tart, in general. I want to say it comes across as nectarine to tangerine laced, mildly funky farmhouse yeast. The nose is similar. Truly, the fruity notes are of the type I generally do not enjoy in many saisons. The farmhouse comes to this beer's aid on that front. The cleanness of the feel and a light bite at the end make this beer enjoyable overall.

 

I have had sake only a few times and I hope you do a review or some kind of side by side comparison =) The grisette you are drinking is the beer I was actually looking for today.

 

Yeah, I almost didn't look in the cooler, as the 750s are elsewhere. But I didn't want to miss anything, either. Sometimes I make good decisions .

 

Not to dominate the thread today, as I expected I was done. I am not sure what I thought of this beer when I bought it. It says Golden Ale, and in my mind I assumed more of a Tripel. In the BA database here, it's a Biere de Garde. Since I had seen those in this thread, I came back with 3 Monts Golden Ale:


Not sure it could be a clearer beer, though I thought there might have been some skunkiness in the nose. This subsided, but combined with a little barn note that I thought I noticed. Very light flavors of flower, fruit, and herb play behind a decently strong pepper note.

To me, it was a more refined yeast note than in many saisons. The flavors, save for the pepper, were also much more subtle and enjoyable because of that.