I've said it before, and I'll say it again - saison is the riesling of the beer world. It's a delicious, complex and under-appreciated style that can hit the mark like nothing else. It's also tricky to get right - I'm not sure that I've ever had a cask saison that's been worthy of the name, and even keg saisons seem to lack a certain something. But taking the cap or cork from a bottle of saison, and the eruption of escaping gas, with it's faint aroma of hay, spice and sweet silage on the breeze, seems to bring the beer to life in a way that draught dispense just doesn't. Garrett Oliver talks about the eruption of life force you get when opening a saison, and he's right, not just in the force of the escaping gas, but also the pungent aromas too. It needs all that busy carbonation to lighten the palate and make it taste just so.
I didn't get to try this beer on draught, but I doubt that it could better the bottles. All the classic saison hallmarks are there - brisk carbonation, complex yeasty spiciness, dry finish - and each one of these is accentuated very subtly by the ingredients. The vanilla slightly fills out yeasty palate, the spices lift the aromatics a touch, and the rhubarb adds a slight tartness to the finish. Much as I love hops, it's nice to try a beer that has been made subtly modern without the addition of armfuls of the damn things. Hazy, lovely and moreish. Nice work all concerned.
NOTE: I'll be buying and selling this beer through the business I own, although I don't think this has influenced my opinion of it
will be looking out for a bottle!
ReplyDeleteI loved it on draught so I'm very much looking forward to getting hold of a few bottles of it. Saison is fast becoming one of my favourite beer styles.
ReplyDeleteGrand review
thanks!
DeleteI loved this on cask, it was subtley sour with every one of the complex flavours blending together really well. Can't wait to see if it's even better in bottles!
ReplyDeleteGreat, I'll take 6.
ReplyDeletediscount for a dozen, if you collect!
DeleteI want Pete Brown's version... ;)
ReplyDeleteSaison is not under-appreciated in my house.
ReplyDeleteAgree with your point on the bottles – I've had Saison Dupont, one of my Top 3 Beers Ever ©, as fresh as you like out of a keg and although it was stunning, I've definitely had better bottles.
I'm intrigued to see what rhubarb adds this style; I imagine the dry tartness works really well.
Saison is also much misinterpreted, the modern benchmark is Dupont with its highly attenuated hops and blessed yeastiness, but some of the American interpretations I've sampled bare little resemblance to Saison. Probably the best I've had would be the one Yvan brewed at De la Senne a couple of years back, dry and lip smackingly thirst quenching, just as it should be.
ReplyDeleteHaven't had Melissa's Rhubarb Saison yet so can't comment on it, but Grains of Paradise? Shades of Sam Adams Summer Ale?
Not had SA Summer Ale, but I believe that Grains of Paradise (a sort of peer, as I recall) were a "traditional" brewing ingredients in "times past".
DeleteThat sentence has so much conjecture and "bunny ears" as to be totally meaningless, sorry
Of course the convenient thing about "saison" is that the "style" is such a broad church really. You can't quite shoehorn everything into it but it seems to be pretty accommodating - dark, light, hoppy, not-so-hoppy, you name it really. Is saison the true beer geeks' IPA these days?
ReplyDeleteI think so. And saison is definitely one style totally defined more by the yeast used than anything else
DeleteDefinition or I'm digging another bottle of auslese out of the inspection pit.
ReplyDeleteWarren, try this
DeleteI found the beer too sweet for a saison, more like a Belgian ale instead. Wasn't impressed.
ReplyDeleteRegards,
TavastlandBrewing
It is certainly a little sweet, but I'm not sure what "too sweet for a saison" really means. Is it a beer-without-style because of its sweetness, a rogue beer with no category home, destined to be drunk, uncategorised and forever unknown?
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI thought the beer was great and will be reviewing it myself shortly, but honestly I have no idea what English speaking brewers mean these days when they say 'saison' -- other than to conjure up a generally rustic, late summery Belgian image with a whiff of funky yeast. Loved the idea of including rhubarb in a beer brewed not that far from the rhubarb triangle.
ReplyDeleteOne bottle please Mr Avery, as I live right on the border of Rhubarb Triangle it's only right!
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Look forward to trying this. I am a fan of saison/farmhouse ales. But I'm a bit sceptical...
ReplyDeleteUnless they are using a Belgian yeast, I don't see how it can taste like a "proper" saison.
Yeast makes beer. Especially Belgian beer.
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ReplyDelete