The Saison Thread

[PHBoiler]

This is right up there for me. Good clean Brett right away. Thicker mouthfeel really brings complementary sweetness to all of the citrus elements. There's a fruit juice level of tartness on the finish that makes you want another drink. Maybe some white grape in there too.

 

[beerisgud1]

Two final beers of an HF centric tasting last night. Both phenomenal, but CD19 was the winner!

Interesting, what did you like most about it? I was thinking about trading for Flora but might try for CD19 too.

 

[More Betterness]

Interesting, what did you like most about it? I was thinking about trading for Flora but might try for CD19 too.

Don't get me wrong Flora was absolutely fantastic! For lack of a better descriptor CD19 was a little more rounded. Flora had definite white wine grape characteristics/acid while CD had "newer" oak flavors and sweetness that brought a bit more balance. Oak character honestly reminded me of red wine rather than white. Gave a perception of sweetness that rounded out the acidity. Could be the fact that there's a bit more age/oxidation on the bottle as well but **** was gud!

 

[wuntrikpony]

Don't get me wrong Flora was absolutely fantastic! For lack of a better descriptor CD19 was a little more rounded. Flora had definite white wine grape characteristics/acid while CD had "newer" oak flavors and sweetness that brought a bit more balance. Oak character honestly reminded me of red wine rather than white. Gave a perception of sweetness that rounded out the acidity. Could be the fact that there's a bit more age/oxidation on the bottle as well but **** was gud!

Great description of the CD19. Personally I enjoy Flora over CD19 because the oxidated sweetness was distracting...still a great beer tho.

 

[More Betterness]

Great description of the CD19. Personally I enjoy Flora over CD19 because the oxidated sweetness was distracting...still a great beer tho.

Definitely outside of the typical HF mold, and maybe the fact that it stood out as atypical amongst a bunch of HF beers is what made me enjoy it more situationally!

 

[Beerontwowheels]

Great description of the CD19. Personally I enjoy Flora over CD19 because the oxidated sweetness was distracting...still a great beer tho.

Strange - I split a CD19 with markasparov, anonymoose and bum732 back in April of this year during a HF event at The Sovereign (DC). Definitely had a good bit of nail polish remover going on and between the four of us, we didn't finish the bottle.

 

[wuntrikpony]

Strange - I split a CD19 with markasparov, anonymoose and bum732 back in April of this year during a HF event at The Sovereign (DC). Definitely had a good bit of nail polish remover going on and between the four of us, we didn't finish the bottle.

That is odd...didn't pick up any solvent on either of my bottles.

 

[More Betterness]

That is odd...didn't pick up any solvent on either of my bottles.

Me either! Did have a really farty bottle of Florence in that tasting however!

 

[NeedsMoreDog]

this was the first bottle I opened from the Tombstone barrel society, Brett Saison in toasted oak

...and it was totally flat. really disappointed, as the flavor was amazing. it was just too much like wine; I need some fizz to carry it. chalked it up to growing pains, whatever. then I notice this comment

I have a Saison in charred oak chilling that supposedly has more carbonation

 

[drgarage1]

this was the first bottle I opened from the Tombstone barrel society, Brett Saison in toasted oak

...and it was totally flat. really disappointed, as the flavor was amazing. it was just too much like wine; I need some fizz to carry it. chalked it up to growing pains, whatever. then I notice this comment

I have a Saison in charred oak chilling that supposedly has more carbonation

Ah, yes, flat saison. The style beloved by all.

 

[NeedsMoreDog]

Ah, yes, flat saison. The style beloved by all.

not just the saisons either. stouts, barleywine...half the bottles were under-carbed

 

[reverseapachemaster1]

not just the saisons either. stouts, barleywine...half the bottles were under-carbed

Is this a new trend designed to help fit more beer in the stomach?

 

[NeedsMoreDog]

Is this a new trend designed to help fit more beer in the stomach?

In my case, it helped to fit less beer in the stomach

actually, I did finish the stout in woodford bourbon. it wasn't entirely flat, but mouthfeel suffers greatly

 

[Thorpe]

Suarez Backroads. Described as a country beer with sumac and tangerine marigold flowers, ripened in oak.

Lightly tart, fragrant with plenty of orange pith and floral notes. A bit of an earthy bite through the finish. Lovely carbonation. Another huge winner from one of the country's finest saison producers!

 

[regularjohn]

Another huge winner from one of the country's finest saison producers!

 

[Phin1]

This was really good. Hopefully, I can make it up when the new batch of Vera comes out.

 

[Gonzoillini1]

https://www.rtbf.be/info/regions/ha...ographique-protegee-pour-la-saison?id=9687967

Now my French is pretty much non-existent (SeaWatchman), but the headline and basic interpretation from one of the Admins of the Saison, Biere de Garde & Farmhouse Ale Appreciation Society was as follows,

"Headline: "Brewers want a protected geographic appellation for Saison."

It appears that Saison brewers are pushing for legislation to make the word "Saison" a controlled appellation. Essentially, they only want beers brewed in Belgium to be allowed to be called "Saison," as to conserve its original identity".

Good conversation on this topic over there on FB, but curious what folks here think as well. My $.02 is that while I agree with this sort of appellation for lambic, for Saison it's laughable considering the variance in style, production, ingredients, etc...

 

[SeaWatchman]

https://www.rtbf.be/info/regions/ha...ographique-protegee-pour-la-saison?id=9687967

Now my French is pretty much non-existent (SeaWatchman), but the headline and basic interpretation from one of the Admins of the Saison, Biere de Garde & Farmhouse Ale Appreciation Society was as follows,

"Headline: "Brewers want a protected geographic appellation for Saison."

It appears that Saison brewers are pushing for legislation to make the word "Saison" a controlled appellation. Essentially, they only want beers brewed in Belgium to be allowed to be called "Saison," as to conserve its original identity".

Good conversation on this topic over there on FB, but curious what folks here think as well. My $.02 is that while I agree with this sort of appellation for lambic, for Saison it's laughable considering the variance in style, production, ingredients, etc...

Read that article when it popped up in the Saison group on Facebook. All I can say there is.... good luck. But again it does speak to the brewing world's absolute appropriation of geographically historic styles of beer and how it can have detrimental effects on those who have been producing it traditionally for generations. There's really not much they're going to be able to do IMO, but I can't wait to see someone push méthode saisonnière. They'd be better off pushing a hyper-localized sub-category of saison and seeking that out for protection. How's saison.info coming along?

 

[JCastle1]

https://www.rtbf.be/info/regions/ha...ographique-protegee-pour-la-saison?id=9687967

Now my French is pretty much non-existent (SeaWatchman), but the headline and basic interpretation from one of the Admins of the Saison, Biere de Garde & Farmhouse Ale Appreciation Society was as follows,

"Headline: "Brewers want a protected geographic appellation for Saison."

It appears that Saison brewers are pushing for legislation to make the word "Saison" a controlled appellation. Essentially, they only want beers brewed in Belgium to be allowed to be called "Saison," as to conserve its original identity".

Good conversation on this topic over there on FB, but curious what folks here think as well. My $.02 is that while I agree with this sort of appellation for lambic, for Saison it's laughable considering the variance in style, production, ingredients, etc...

I just want brewers to stop releasing super sour American wild ales labeled as saisons. After that I agree with your last sentence.

 

[Gonzoillini1]

How's saison.info coming along?

About as well as GRRM's writing for Winds of Winter.

 

[Thorpe]

Here's my take (also lifted directly from Facebook for those who aren't following there):

"Aside from the issue of "saison" being extremely commonplace in the U.S. and elsewhere, there's also the issue that it's literally just "season" in English, so you'd have to be saying that you can say "season" in English but not in French on your label? Can you say Seizoen? Also, I would think that a place like Dupont would (or at least should) be against this given the role that international sales have played in completely reviving the style from near extinction."

There's also the issue as to how you define saison. So many different recipes, production methods, ingredients, etc. Defining it just to describe it to non-geeks is difficult enough. Creating a separate legal protection would be something else entirely.

 

[ccbstl]

Lots of orange peel and dusty funk, dry finish. Perennial seems to put out a new brett saison or pale every few weeks now

 

[Thorpe]

I had Bam Biere and Bamarillo side by side last night, one from April 2017 and the other from May. It's always amazing to have super-fresh Bam and get the dry hops before they fade and the JP house character develops a bit more. I actually had my wife give them to me blind just to make sure I could tell the difference. It was pretty apparent after having both, but the Bam Biere was way more fruity and hop-forward than I'm used to since most bottles on the shelves are a year or more old. Both beers are absolutely fantastic. I hope that Bamarillo is made again in the nearish future.

 

[Gonzoillini1]

Side by side last week of the Transient and Hailstorm Agnitio that came with the last Transient membership, shared them with imperialking.

Don't have my full tasting notes any more, but we both preferred the Transient version by a slim margin. Seemed a bit dryer, a little funkier and more complex which is surprising considering that the Hailstorm version had a larger variety of Brett strains. The dry hopping didn't seem to impart that much difference (Hull Melon for Hailstorm and Mandarina Bavaria for Transient), but did add a nice earthy / grassy / herbal character that was appropriate for the beers. I wish both versions had a bit more carbonation to them, but looking forward to re-visiting these in about a year.

 

[Gus13]

Ah, yes, flat saison. The style beloved by all.

I've seen this from some other breweries before. Tired Hands has definitely put out some lower carbed beers. I'm assuming it has to do with how they fill growlers with their taps but I don't know. The only thing I like lower carbonated really is my British beers. I love a good 1.8 vol Bitter but that's pretty much to style. I think proper carb levels for all beer styles is best.

 

[Gonzoillini1]

I've seen this from some other breweries before. Tired Hands has definitely put out some lower carbed beers. I'm assuming it has to do with how they fill growlers with their taps but I don't know. The only thing I like lower carbonated really is my British beers. I love a good 1.8 vol Bitter but that's pretty much to style. I think proper carb levels for all beer styles is best.

Tired Hands used to have all sorts of issues filling growlers (can't confirm, but heard that they didn't like using bottom fillers so they were just filling them off the tap like you'd pour a beer for a patron sitting at your bar...), but I haven't tried anything from them in quite a while so I can't comment on it currently.

The bottled stuff has always been on point with regards to carbonation.

 

[JCastle1]

I've seen this from some other breweries before. Tired Hands has definitely put out some lower carbed beers. I'm assuming it has to do with how they fill growlers with their taps but I don't know. The only thing I like lower carbonated really is my British beers. I love a good 1.8 vol Bitter but that's pretty much to style. I think proper carb levels for all beer styles is best.

I've only had one Tired Hands saison in bottles but it was insanely undercarbed.

 

[Gus13]

Tired Hands used to have all sorts of issues filling growlers (can't confirm, but heard that they didn't like using bottom fillers so they were just filling them off the tap like you'd pour a beer for a patron sitting at your bar...), but I haven't tried anything from them in quite a while so I can't comment on it currently.

The bottled stuff has always been on point with regards to carbonation.

When I was there last year they were still filling growlers the same way. I do it from time to time at my house and it's tough but can be done. HF does the same I believe. We are all using same roto taps. The best way is to carb it properly and then I remove the gas from my taps and let the carbonation in the keg push the beer into the growler. But I don't think they are able to cut the gas on theirs.

I've only had one Tired Hands saison in bottles but it was insanely undercarbed.

I've had both from them. Mostly their older stuff was under carbonated for me. The last few bottles of Ourison and others I've had were pretty spot on though.

 

[JCastle1]

I've had both from them. Mostly their older stuff was under carbonated for me. The last few bottles of Ourison and others I've had were pretty spot on though.

Yeah the one I had was one of the early batches of HandFarm. Hope to try some of their recent stuff eventually, heard great things.

 

[Shakedwnst]

When I was there last year they were still filling growlers the same way. I do it from time to time at my house and it's tough but can be done. HF does the same I believe. We are all using same roto taps. The best way is to carb it properly and then I remove the gas from my taps and let the carbonation in the keg push the beer into the growler. But I don't think they are able to cut the gas on theirs.



I've had both from them. Mostly their older stuff was under carbonated for me. The last few bottles of Ourison and others I've had were pretty spot on though.

Tired hands definitely turns something (at least I'm pretty sure at the brew cafe) before filling growlers. That would explain it.....

I haven't filled any glass in a while with the cans though