Good Commercial Saison Examples?

Folks,

I'd appreciate some input on your favorite commercial examples of a Saison / Farmhouse Ale. After reading on the forums how much people likes Saison's I decided to try one last night when in the local craft beer store. I picked up a bomber of Green Flash Saison Diego and unfortunately I didn't care for it much. While I like funk, the spice notes felt too heavy handed to me, and I couldn't finish the beer.

As this is my only sampling of a Saison I'm thinking maybe I'd like another brewery's offering better and I'm not quite ready to write off the style.

So I turn to you, HBT to provide what you think are the cream of the crop commercial offerings of this style! I prefer to keep the price point to no more than $15 and ideally less than $10.

Saison DuPont is probably the most popular example. Do yourself a favor and find some bottles from Fantome. Both are very good classic examples.

Hennepin from Ommegang is pretty good, easier to find and more affordable.

Enjoy

Saison Dupont is probably the "default" Saison style. Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale from Boulevard Brewing Co. (Kansas City, Missouri) and Claudette from Great Divide (Colorado) are also very good Saisons brewed stateside. Alot of people swear by Hennepin from Ommegang but I've never been a fan personally.

I personally like New Holland's Golden Cap.

The #1 example in the BJCP style guidelines is Saison DuPont Vieille Provision

If you want an example of a "classic" saison then that is what you should seek out, although sometimes you get an older bottle that's been sitting on the shelf for a while and it's gone way past its prime.. Although the DuPont shouldn't be trouble to find a newer one, Ommegang Hennepin is also a good one.

I don't think I have had the Saison San Diego yet, so I cannot really compare it to the others.

Check out any of the classic examples listed in the BJCP guide:

Commercial Examples: Saison Dupont Vieille Provision; Fantôme Saison D’Erezée - Printemps; Saison de Pipaix; Saison Regal; Saison Voisin; Lefebvre Saison 1900; Ellezelloise Saison 2000; Saison Silly; Southampton Saison; New Belgium Saison; Pizza Port SPF 45; Lost Abbey Red Barn Ale; Ommegang Hennepin

I really dig Red Barn Ale by Lost Abbey, which is in Boogie's list from the BJCP guide. There are some spices in there, but an overwhelming banana taste and from the yeast is the defining characteristic of Red Barn. Shouldn't be too hard for you to find at a reasonable price up there either.

PhelanKA7 said:

Saison Dupont is probably the "default" Saison style. Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale from Boulevard Brewing Co. (Kansas City, Missouri) and Claudette from Great Divide (Colorado) are also very good Saisons brewed stateside. Alot of people swear by Hennepin from Ommegang but I've never been a fan personally.

Click to expand...

I think Great Divide's Saison is Collette... It's a good one.

I also like New Holland's Golden Cap. Du Pont is always a classic.

They all likely taste different from each other. A Saison is not an easy to define style.

Victory Helios is awesome and bombers are $2.99

Homercidal said:

I think Great Divide's Saison is Collette... It's a good one.

Click to expand...

You would be correct. Thanks for the correction

Every American saison has been too sweet. I find all the best examples are from Europe. Try dupont because you have to. And fantome is fun but variations in quality from bottle to bottle can make it more of a game. The Italians are doing great things with duchessa and nueva matina. Blaugies and thiriez are both solid but my all time favorite is glazen toren's saison d'erpe-mere. And if you can still find the b united zymatore version from gin barrels drink that because it's heaven in a glass.

pohldogg said:

Every American saison has been too sweet. I find all the best examples are from Europe. Try dupont because you have to.

Click to expand...

I know what you're talking about. That's exactly why I am not overly fond of Hennepin. It's got too much spice in it for the style IMO. Boulevard Brewing Co's Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale on the other hand is almost indistinguishable between Saison Dupont to me. It seems to be very faithful to the Belgian idea of a Saison.

Ommegang Hennepin is widely available and excellent, if spicy. Saison is my personal favorite style.

Silly Saison

SavoryChef said:

Silly Saison

Click to expand...

Just had this for the first time, and while being nothing like what I expected, I enjoyed the sweet and tart, raisiny experience.

Totally different than any other saison I've ever had.

Dupont is my favorite though.

Tank 7 from Boulevard. Sweet and spicy, but finishes pretty hoppy.

Goose Island's Sofie might be worth a try too. Drier, too, due to a touch of brett.

If you can get some of the Tommyknocker Saison, it's a great example of the style.

I find that I like the Dupont in the small brown bottles much better than in the large green bottles.

Try anything from Stillwater Artisanal Ales. Large bottles are brewed in Maryland, small are brewed in Europe at all different breweries. I love the Cellar Door and Existent, but all have been very good so far.