Saison
Each month I pick a beer style and try to focus on drinking examples of that style throughout the month. This gives some structure to my beer drinking choices and also helps me taste a wide variety of interpretations of any given style. In addition to drinking the style of the month, I also try to brew an example (or two) of it during the preceding month so that I have a homebrewed example to taste (and share with friends). August was Saison month. (I know I should have warned you so you could have been tasting along with me.)
Saison is a pretty broad style (see the Beer Judge Certification Program Style Guidelines for Saison). Historically these beers were brewed by farmers in northern France and southern Belgium as a thirst quencher for the summer planting months. They would brew the beers with whatever grains they had left in their barns. Some examples are even spiced (the Avery Twelfth Anniversary Saison has a potpourri of spices including lemon peal and lavender). The French/Belgian farmer-brewers would be sure not to make this beer too strong, so that they could drink it while working out in the fields. Modern examples though tend toward “export” strength at 6.5% and higher.
The classic example is Saison Dupont. This beer is a bubbly hoppy golden beer with a hint of tartness. It’s excellent when it is fresh, but unfortunately many examples on shelves here in the US tend to be a couple of years old and as a result are “skunked.” Saison Dupont comes in green bottles and if left to sit exposed to UV (for example the fluorescent lights in beer shops) the beer will develop an off flavor that smells distinctly of skunk. (Skunking is a chemical reaction where UV alters the acids from the hops.)
My personal favorite is Saison d’Epeautre from Brasserie de Blaugies. This example is brewed with spelt and thus has a slightly cloud wheat-beer appearance. The bitterness in this Saison is not a aggressive as the Saison Dupont.
If you are looking for American examples, you’ll probably notice that American brewers are heavy on the spices. I don’t really approve of overly spiced beers as they remind me more of perfume than beer. I’ve tried Rogue’s Saison and the aforementioned Avery Saison last month and while they were good beers, I’m not excited about either. A good American Saison is Ommegang’s Hennepin.
The style for the month of September is not so much a particular beer style, but a method of serving: cask conditioned ales will be my focus this month. More about them next time.
