The Saison Thread

[drgarage1]

They are finally starting to do this. Century was between $10 and $12 in most distro locations in Boston/Southern Maine. the recent batch of Midnight Brett was $13 most places. I've heard from employees that Allagash will likely keep them $15 in house but continue giving an MSRP for some of the foudre/stainless beers at below $15. I assume that means they've dropped the price to the distributors as well.

I expect the barrel aged beers, and probably the fruited foudre/stainless beers to stay at $15, though.

Thanks for the update! That is encouraging. I have no issues with charging $15 for Mattina or Farm to Face, let alone any coolship beers. It's the fairly standard Brett beers that get to me.

 

[tehzachatak]

Thanks for the update! That is encouraging. I have no issues with charging $15 for Mattina or Farm to Face, let alone any coolship beers. It's the fairly standard Brett beers that get to me.

Yeah, I'm with ya.

 

[ExPimp]

That's the one we were talking about a few pages back. Definitely a sleeper. I need to try more of their brews.

This is the only one bottled and available right now.

 

[JRBecks]

this one is impressive, nice brett and plum notes

 

[wyatt1]

Has anyone had anything from Blackberry farm? Their summer saison and classic saison just popped up in our market.

 

[Farnsworth]

Has anyone had anything from Blackberry farm? Their summer saison and classic saison just popped up in our market.

Classic Saison is scrumptious.

 

[Der Fuchs]

Has anyone had anything from Blackberry farm? Their summer saison and classic saison just popped up in our market.

Picked up the summer. Nice clean and crisp finish, med body. Mild funk. Mild spiciness. No real tartness. Easy drinking. I thought it quite good.

 

[Snarf1]

Has anyone had anything from Blackberry farm? Their summer saison and classic saison just popped up in our market.

Yup, about 30 cases of empties.

 

[Thorpe]

A few recent saisons:

Jester King La Petit Prince. Batch 15, bottled 03.12.2015. Absolutely stunning beer. Light hay and grain alongside a pinch of lemon. Delicate backing floral and earth notes. Heavy carbonation with a super-dry, lightly-tart finish.

Jester King Biere de Miel. Batch #3 (05.13.2015). Incredible, especially at this young age. Honey and light vanilla alongside a noticeable tartness. Smooth and creamy, but finished incredibly dry. Just a faint hint of peppery spice as it warms. More oak as it warms as well. Really enjoying this one. Glad it seems to have become a regular in the rotation.

Dunham Saison Réserve. Light tartness and nice citrus and tropical notes. Dry, lingering bitterness after a light, airy body. A bit of minerality through the finish. Really well done. I love a good saison blend.

Jester King Hibernal Dichotomous. Batch 02. Nose has an earthy edge with a touch of beer coming through alongside a bit of orange and faint herbal spice. Light bitterness and mellow beet character through the finish. Faint backing tartness. Dry.

Jester King Ambrée. Batch 03. Lightly earthy and floral, with a touch of backing tartness. Dry biscuit through the finish. Absolutely love the new recipe.

Homebrew pumpkin Brett saison bottle conditioned with Montmorency tart cherry juice. Preseason football has started and it's cold in Chicago, so this felt appropriate. Tastes like fall. A bit leafy and earthy with a mild tartness and some backing cherry. Looking forward to brewing this again this year.

 

[cultclassic89]

Some recent bottles from this past month:



Best saison I've had, but honestly not by a whole lot. Perfectly balanced, the mouthfeel is what does it though. Lively carb and so creamy.

Provenance Lemon/Lime b2. Really enjoyed this bottle. Yeasty, citrus, light to moderate funk. Very dry with a light tartness and lingering bitterness.

Small sample, but wasn't really a fan. On the sweeter side and the herbs didn't come out much, though didn't sound terribly appealing to me in the first place.

I love this beer so much. 3/31 bottle if I remember correctly. Great balance between funk and fruity yeast, nice light to moderate tartness. I wish the carb was livelier though.

Good stuff, but I enjoy the regular saison more. Have had two Fruit Stands so far (this and Shiro Plum) and both seemed to cover up some of the qualities that make the saison so great in the first place. This was better than the plum though. Nice blackberry presence though not too jammy, some funk, a bit more tart than the saison.

Initial tastings of this had me at "this is good," but towards the end I was really digging it. Very floral and earthy, super dry. Not much head retention there in the photo, but I remember the carb was nice. Very light tartness initially, but as it warmed it came out much more and was well balanced. I'll be sitting on another bottle for a bit to see how this one develops.

 

[iong516]

isaac11 got me this growler, so he's gonna drink that tome w me when I give him his pre-exploding TH growler back, and Arbitrator is the man for this glass!

The Oat Potion has the same tartness as new Saison Hands. They're doing good things.

 

[The Red Viper]

Does anyone know if BA Veldrijden from Other Half has any brett or bacteria in it? Reviews seem to say it's under attenuated and sweet. I haven't had it but I have a bottle and trying to decide if there's a chance it'll get better if I hold onto it another year or so...

 

[abawol01]

Does anyone know if BA Veldrijden from Other Half has any brett or bacteria in it? Reviews seem to say it's under attenuated and sweet. I haven't had it but I have a bottle and trying to decide if there's a chance it'll get better if I hold onto it another year or so...

Just had this last week. I'd like to hope it gets better but as it stands is pretty not good. Under-attenuated and sweet are very good descriptors.

 

[iong516]

Would yeast in the bottle continue to consume sugars? I don't know about beer science I just drink the stuff..

 

[Gus13]

Would yeast in the bottle continue to consume sugars? I don't know about beer science I just drink the stuff..

Yes it definitely can. That's how beer is refermented in the bottle to create carbonation. The problem is that if it has too much sugar left it will be over carbonated. What's worse is that if there is brett or bacteria in it, you will get a gusher.

 

[iong516]

Yeah I figured, thanks for the confirmation.

 

[archagon]

My local beer store in CA got a bunch of bottles from Jester King. I haven't seen them around here before and I don't know much about the actual beers. Which out of these is worth a buy? Commercial Suicide, Le Petit Prince, Mad Meg, Biere de Miel, El Cedro, Das Wunderkind.

Also, thoughts on Apex Predator by Off Color Brewing as an everyday beer? I saw an x-pack (don't remember if 4 or 6) of the stuff for $11 and it seemed like a good price.

 

[drgarage1]

My local beer store in CA got a bunch of bottles from Jester King. I haven't seen them around here before and I don't know much about the actual beers. Which out of these is worth a buy? Commercial Suicide, Le Petit Prince, Mad Meg, Biere de Miel, El Cedro, Das Wunderkind.

Also, thoughts on Apex Predator by Off Color Brewing as an everyday beer? I saw an x-pack (don't remember if 4 or 6) of the stuff for $11 and it seemed like a good price.

Of the JK stuff above, Prince, Miel and Wunderkind are the best. They're all brett saisons of various kinds and quite good.

I love Apex Predator. Fixture in the fridge.

 

[archagon]

Thanks! I wonder if the bottles were a one-off or if JK has distribution in CA after all. I only learned about them fairly recently so I haven't been keeping an eye out until now.

 

[tosh1]

Thanks! I wonder if the bottles were a one-off or if JK has distribution in CA after all. I only learned about them fairly recently so I haven't been keeping an eye out until now.

What drgarage said. Not sure what store, but Snorkel is also around, and you need to buy that.

We seem to get these JK dumps pereodically. I stock up and wait for next one.

Leave all the Off Color beer on the shelf. I'll buy it all eventually.

 

[drgarage1]

What drgarage said. Not sure what store, but Snorkel is also around, and you need to buy that.

We seem to get these JK dumps pereodically. I stock up and wait for next one.

Leave all the Off Color beer on the shelf. I'll buy it all eventually.

There's also Lemonlime and Orange grapefruit Provenance around.

 

[tosh1]

There's also Lemonlime and Orange grapefruit Provenance around.

I'll trade bottles of Black Metal and Boxers Revenge for more of either.

 

[drgarage1]

I'll trade bottles of Black Metal and Boxers Revenge for more of either.

Pretty sure they still have them at City Beer Store. They did as of Monday. Could be gone by now.

I only bought an Orange Grapefruit, and IT IS MINE. Back off.

 

[tosh1]

Pretty sure they still have them at City Beer Store. They did as of Monday. Could be gone by now.

I only bought an Orange Grapefruit, and IT IS MINE. Back off.

Got one of both, but will happily take more.

 

[PHBoiler]

Uncovered a gem solostyle tonight via abecall98 from Mraz, Wild Meadow. Nice and dry. The Amber was light and didn't add the sweetness you might expect. Very Brett forward. Limited barrel character but some tannins. Carb was spot on. Tarted up ever so slightly as it warmed. Quite enjoyable. Looked pretty but no clue how to link an untappd pic on my phone.

 

[sacrelicio]

TalkBeer: fetishizing authenticity since 2013!

Gotta reproduce that "no one really knows what saisons are so they sit on a well lit shelf for years" effect from last decade.

 

[archagon]

City Beer Store guy said that they never get Jester King, so I guess this was a one off.

There was still some Mad Meg, Commercial Suicide, and Das Wunderkind left when I visited today. Got the Wunderkind. Looking forward to trying it.

(Also randomly found an Abyss 2014 in a Whole Foods on the way there. Good day today!)

 

[RyanG1]

City Beer Store guy said that they never get Jester King, so I guess this was a one off.

There was still some Mad Meg, Commercial Suicide, and Das Wunderkind left when I visited today. Got the Wunderkind. Looking forward to trying it.

(Also randomly found an Abyss 2014 in a Whole Foods on the way there. Good day today!)

Steve and AU use to get JK fairly regular but stopped going there

 

[stakem1]

Pretty big fan of Phil's work. I really enjoyed this.
Its been a long time since ive had a saison that bone dry yet vibrant with wine from the barrel aging.

Kinda reminded me of peconic but not sour.

 

[nophunk]

Pretty big fan of Phil's work. I really enjoyed this.
Its been a long time since ive had a saison that bone dry yet vibrant with wine from the barrel aging.

Kinda reminded me of peconic but not sour.

Interesting. I've seen Two Roads stuff, but I didn't realize they made farmhouse jams.