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The Saison Thread

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DDT crosspost... Opened this from Burning Sky today, Blackberry Saison. Their house Saison aged in Barrique for 12 months on whole blackberries. What’s interesting is how little fruit was used - around 5oz per gallon - especially ompared with some of the fruited Saisons I’ve had lately with a pound or more per gallon. The fruit doesn’t overwhelm the big oaky funk, and it’s drinkable as hell. It smells like fresh picked blackberries, and there’s some blackberry seed/blackberry yoghurt thing going on.

Unfortunately I think this was a 600 bottle one-off but **** it’s good

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Dealing with a flooded basement saisons,
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Not unlike a refreshing herbal soda. Lavender and aloe vera. Clean yeast profile. Enjoyable spices but missing the secrets.

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Funky lemonade saison. Delicious leathery/cheesy funk. Mild refreshing acidity. Absolutely jealous of all Santa Cruz locals.
 
Proper Glassware cross post...

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My parents brought this back from Australia for me. Wildflower in Sydney is doing some amazing work, they said everything they tried at the brewery was killer. Got one more beer from them to open in the future.

Fantastic brewery. One of my absolute favorites from Shelton Fest and there were plenty of standouts.
 
Had the pleasure of tasting Saison de Pipaix from Vapeur over the weekend. Heavy handed Wallonian spices, cast iron like minerality, and a very refreshing lactic acidity. I can't help but wonder if more Belgian saisons a few years ago had this "complimentary infection" of acidity? I own a book called The Beers of Wallonia that claims the Blaugies saisons get sour with time. For you serious knowers, is this something that the old Fantome bottles used to have versus the recent ones?
 
I drank some Floodland, and given the difficulty I experienced trying to get good information about them when I first looked into reviews and trying to trade for some, here are some reviews as a person far from a homer or any skin in the Floodland trading game (aside from hoping I can get a few more at some point). I had heard they were too sour by a reviewer or two and wasn't ISO as a result, but I kept hearing about them and saw reviews I was more captivated by, so I went hunting.

Disclaimer, I didn't take pictures of back labels to provide super accurate information about them.

In order of those that I have tried in the past couple of months...



Altar - oak fermented dry hopped ale

First impression is this is similar to Sue or BA Dorothy, but the mouthfeel achieves something really uniquely soft and velvety, almost a bit more viscous like they added cream or something ( ewwiccc )
Low on the sourness, high on the drinkability. Stunning, in a word.


Field Blend citrus/gold - oak fermented ?citrus and yellow raspberry ale (may not actually contain citrus)

First impression that this was much lighter in body and general character than Altar at the expense of missing the stunning mouthfeel I was hoping to experience again, but with the benefit of this being even more drinkable. Again not too sour, gentle fruiting, and something I could drink a 750 of by a pool and potentially want another. I wouldn't say I was stunned or this was quite as unique. Very good though!


Nothing / All - oak fermented beer w plums

Back to the ridiculous creamy satin mouthfeel, still gentle but this had more robust fruit element, low acidity, and a cool cinnamon hint you can find in Krieks sometimes. Another stunning bottle I'd really love to have again. It was opaque with quite a bit of head.


Field Blend Raspberry

I was the least impressed with this bottle from those I tried, again kinda light but more fruity than the citrus/gold, just not really up my alley. Those that love fruit beers should review this one. Not too sour, easy to drink. Beautiful color, more clarity than Nothing / All.


Three Thousand Realms - spelt saison 'well hopped' in a Pinot Noir barrel with foraged elderflowers, 375

Another really impressive, flowery, medium bodied saison leaning toward elements of viscosity or creaminess. A great BA saison I was sad to have in a small format bottle and would love to enjoy many more times if I had the means.


Dwellers by the Waysides - spelt saison with yarrow leaves, wine BA

This came off as a lighter bodied version of Three Thousand Realms more like the Field Blends without the fruit. I loved the yarrow flower although it came off a bit strange. Very drinkable with a little funk, no acidity interrupting the grains, yeast, barrel... I'd probably prefer Three Thousand Realms, but I'd gladly enjoy it again.




Overall, Floodland is making some really exciting stuff, and makes fruit beer that doesn't come off too acidic, which is rare to my taste, with a unique and frankly infectious mouthfeel. The softness is definitely a completely different character than HF, Suarez, etc. I wish these were as accessible as Hill/SARA shelfies, and I wonder if he's in the process of scaling up, or if these will continue to be a hunt.
 
Unfortunately and fortunately, it seems to remain a small operation, at least for now.

Definitely allows for attention to detail on other aspects than scaling up logistics... I support keeping it small and slowly scaling up when it makes sense.
 
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I had this 4/22/15 Dorothy earlier this week as a birthday beer. Even considering the source, at 4 years, I was curious whether the brett might've started to do some damage to the body and depth. Foolish thought given "Shaun Hill is easily the best...etc." The complexity of fruity and earthy flavors this thing had make it easy to relate to the romance with which someone like Chad Yakobson talks about brett.
 
So looking forward to this! I'm going to have to seek his beers out again. I have one Beer Brut left but I'm sure it's past it's prime now.
Things Are Beautiful is my last bottle. In the fridge and at the ready. Waiting to open with folks that will appreciate it. Much like my last bottle of Deciduous before Dave left. Still have a Predestination.
 
Things Are Beautiful is my last bottle. In the fridge and at the ready. Waiting to open with folks that will appreciate it. Much like my last bottle of Deciduous before Dave left. Still have a Predestination.

Things Are Beautiful is one I never got to try. Verdance was one of my top beers of all time. That beer was just amazing.
 
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