The Saison Thread

[masterovkhaos]

No sour wanted :|

Side Project beers are mostly all quite acidic, including SdB and SdF. I recommend trying Biere du Pays, which I had at a share recently and found to be very nice and not sour at all. Grisette is another good choice. They're also easier to trade for as far as SP goes.

 

[jmgrub]

I never try to trade for SP and haven't really had anything from them besides a Grisette I stumbled upon in an easy IP trade and pours of a few sours at Shelton (not really my thing). Which of their saisons should I ...investigate?

Saison du Ble is one of my favorite beers period. As somewhat of a ticker, I don't have a ton of beers that I drink over and over. I think I've been through 12 or 15 bottles of du Ble between all of the batches. If I could only drink one beer for the rest of my life, it would be in the running. You should be able to pick up a bottle of du Ble without too much trouble.

Biere du Pays, Grisette, Marietta Ave, and Lattice should be pretty accessible as well (at least for SP).

Fermier is great too (especially b1 as Gonzoillini noted), but I found the last couple batches very lemony, and it tends to command a higher price than the others.

Have no idea how the Brett Projects/Ventures are doing at this point, though they seem to have faded quite a bit last time I had them.

 

[iong516]

As somewhat of a ticker, I don't have a ton of beers that I drink over and over.

Ha I feel you. I'll have to try a du Ble.

 

[Treebs]

DDT cross post. 3/2015 Arthur is on point right now. Bright and lemony with a dry finish.

 

[ilovestouts]

Back to back HF posts, but quite different beers

Florence aged in stainless, with a ferulic acid rest, different yeast blend, and modified hopping.

Crystal clear appearance. One of the few HF beers where I can see my fingers holding the glass, through the beer.
Surprisingly, I'm not getting any of the phenols that the ferulic acid rest was supposed to produce. Although, this beer was bottles last summer.
I am getting a distinctive earthy, European hop bitterness in this beer. The yeast strain if I had to guess would be primarily sacch, and there is absolutely not tartness/sour to be found. It is quite dry.

 

[chongcheesol]

Cracked that open last night. Excellent in every aspect. Great mouthfeel, nice barrel and that signature Sante funk. I could drink gallons of this stuff.

 

[austinbridges]

Gushers be gushin'



This beer is much better than it was a few years ago. Pumpkin spice is very subtle, but nice. Lime still seems to be pretty prevalent. I enjoy it quite a bit.

 

[Gonzoillini1]

Side Project Biere du Pays Batch 3

A nicely balanced light saison with a firm brett funk character that leans to the musty side, earthy hop aromatics, light to moderate acidity, wheat / hay malt character, lemony touch, and just an all around nice light and complex "easy drinker".

I used to think Saison du Fermier was my favorite Side Project, but recent batches have increased in acidity while Biere du Pays is at the level I really enjoy.

Great stuff that if you can lead without giving up an arm and a leg I highly recommend.

#properglassware

 

[stakem1]

Been drinking the **** outta Brew Gentlemen saisons lately. They've been killing it.

The bottle you gave me was ******* killer. Definitely an unexpected surprise. What are their releases like? Just a mellow come and get however many you want at your leisure, or is there tight limits, lines and fast sellouts?

Im asking because I need more in my life before they fall victim to the secondary shitlord market.

 

[Calcifer]

The bottle you gave me was ******* killer. Definitely an unexpected surprise. What are their releases like? Just a mellow come and get however many you want at your leisure, or is there tight limits, lines and fast sellouts?

Im asking because I need more in my life before they fall victim to the secondary shitlord market.

Right now I can walk in and pick up Ligne Claire, Mosaic Saison, and Homegrown Saison with no limits and no hassle. I believe their Grisette called Runaway (clocking in around 4%) is bottled and conditioning now as well. Whatever you want I'll pick up and can drop off next time I'm in Harrisburg for work.

 

[iong516]

My interest, you have it...

 

[PHBoiler]

Side Project Biere du Pays Batch 3

A nicely balanced light saison with a firm brett funk character that leans to the musty side, earthy hop aromatics, light to moderate acidity, wheat / hay malt character, lemony touch, and just an all around nice light and complex "easy drinker".

I used to think Saison du Fermier was my favorite Side Project, but recent batches have increased in acidity while Biere du Pays is at the level I really enjoy.

Great stuff that if you can lead without giving up an arm and a leg I highly recommend.

#properglassware

Great minds think alike. I had my last bottle of Batch 1 last night. Crisp and clean. I get a slight bit more hay/funk than I did fresh, but there's minimal tartness. Just a crisp clean bite like a fresh apple. Light body. Well carbed but not overcarbed. Bottle is so easy to dome. That's why I love this beer. Of all the SP offerings, this is the one that I only open by myself. No need to share. I also agree wholeheartedly on the SdF comment. That may still be my favorite saison, but it's more of a two person job now from an acid level. BdP is a one man job.

 

[PHBoiler]

If you've got a Foeder Saison from Perennial, I'd cellar it for a bit. There appears to be some diacetyl present, or at least there was in the bottle I opened last night. It started out pretty juicy. Full bodied orange colored saison. I got a hint of cereal grain and oak on the finish at fridge temp. Each degree seemed to turn that cereal grain character into full blown buttered popcorn jelly bellies. It isn't quite a butter bomb, so I do think that extended cellar time may clean this up. I could be wrong though because I wasn't getting much Brett character. Either way, I had heard good things about the tap version of this beer, so I was disappointed when I opened my bottle last night.

 

[stakem1]

Right now I can walk in and pick up Ligne Claire, Mosaic Saison, and Homegrown Saison with no limits and no hassle. I believe their Grisette called Runaway (clocking in around 4%) is bottled and conditioning now as well. Whatever you want I'll pick up and can drop off next time I'm in Harrisburg for work.

You are a beautiful creature.

Where can one go to read the specifics of these brews? Such as if they are brett'd, abv and price point? I looked at their facebook page and its worthless. The only thing posted on there is about yoga...

Their website looks like its only helpful for draft/growler options.

 

[Calcifer]

http://www.brewgentlemen.com/beer

You can choose "Bottled" in the drop down menu at the top to view their saisons (not crazy informative, but it's a start - I think they're working to improve this feature still with more information). The three I listed are the ones currently available, with Runaway on the horizon. Price point is $10-$12 per 750 ml (I believe Homegrown is $12 and the other two are $10). All three are brett'd (not sure it says that on the website).

 

[holldy01]

Had this last night. Reminded me of a BU. Just tart raspberry juice especially as it warmed.

 

[ccbstl]

I love SP Biere du Pays, it's crushable. If anyone's interested I'd be willing to do a GPIUFMB or two. They have bottles to go at the SP Cellar right now, 2pp, $20 a pop. Let me know!

 

[RochesterAaron1]

I love SP Biere du Pays, it's crushable. If anyone's interested I'd be willing to do a GPIUFMB or two. They have bottles to go at the SP Cellar right now, 2pp, $20 a pop. Let me know!

I would love you forever if you're serious. I've yet to try anything from SP and bdp sounds much better to me than the highly acidic stuff.

 

[ccbstl]

I would love you forever if you're serious. I've yet to try anything from SP and bdp sounds much better to me than the highly acidic stuff.

I'm totally serious, I'll be there tonight. Send me your info.

 

[jupiter6xx]

I love SP Biere du Pays, it's crushable. If anyone's interested I'd be willing to do a GPIUFMB or two. They have bottles to go at the SP Cellar right now, 2pp, $20 a pop. Let me know!

Whoa... very generous! Had b1 a few years ago and it remains one of the best saisons I've ever had.

 

[ccbstl]

Whoa... very generous! Had b1 a few years ago and it remains one of the best saisons I've ever had.

I agree, it's underrated in terms of SP stuff. I'm sending one to RochesterAaron, anyone else interested?

 

[jupiter6xx]

I agree, it's underrated in terms of SP stuff. I'm sending one to RochesterAaron, anyone else interested?

I certainly would be!

 

[quirk6]

I agree, it's underrated in terms of SP stuff. I'm sending one to RochesterAaron, anyone else interested?

I'd also be interested but I'm guess at 2pp, I'm one person too late.

 

[RyanG1]

Fresh? batch of barrel aged Cellarman at SARA, followed by Cask 200 and Bernice.

 

[chongcheesol]

I must be one of the few who doesn't mind the SP acidity. I can't really see how one can dig a lot of de Garde offerings and then give **** to side project. Oh well. More for me I guess.

 

[Gonzoillini1]

I must be one of the few who doesn't mind the SP acidity. I can't really see how one can dig a lot of de Garde offerings and then give **** to side project. Oh well. More for me I guess.

I don't mind it per se, but I personally prefer the funkier / drier side of saisons, and the acidity (likely from the reuse of barrels) has seemed to have generally creeped up in the saisons he has been producing.

Believe I've only had some of the Desays from De Garde and I definitely want to try other "saisons" from them.

Now the acidity in Side Project's fruited sours on the other hand...

 

[drgarage1]

I don't mind it per se, but I personally prefer the funkier / drier side of saisons, and the acidity (likely from the reuse of barrels) has seemed to have generally creeped up in the saisons he has been producing.

Believe I've only had some of the Desays from De Garde and I definitely want to try other "saisons" from them.

Now the acidity in Side Project's fruited sours on the other hand...

It's really weird to me how few American makers of saisons use hops to control their acidity levels. Saisons should ultimately be quite balanced, and this was historically done by using a huge amount of low-alpha hops that kept acidity down, or at least slowed its progress, while letting the brett set the initial character. Older bottles would go sourer in time, and then get blended back in. It just makes sense.

 

[ExPimp]

I agree, it's underrated in terms of SP stuff. I'm sending one to RochesterAaron, anyone else interested?

I would totally be interested in trying any of their regular saison line-up if you ever end up with something extra. I've only ever had Blanc and I loved it. Most of their stuff seems to obtainable so I stopped trying.

 

[quirkzoo1]

X post. So this is basically just straight, aged beer from a foeder, correct? It reminds me of an unblended lambic in that it's oaky and slightly sour with a really layered funk. You could blend this into all kinds of stuff.

We had a pretty old bottle of Surette Reserva (750ml) at the CO Gang Bang packing party a while back and it was phenomenal. If you have access to bottles of surette I would definitely encourage aging a couple to see what happens.

 

[doobiegoobie]

We had a pretty old bottle of Surette Reserva (750ml) at the CO Gang Bang packing party a while back and it was phenomenal. If you have access to bottles I would definitely encourage aging a couple to see what happens.

I feel the same way about Vielle. Pretty good fresh, but fantastic ****** beer with some age.