Saison is one of my favorite styles. I'd like to post my top ten favorites to hear feedback and suggestions on what I should try in the future. My following favorites, in order: 1. The Bruery Saison Rue 2. Weyerbacher Seventeen 3. Saint Somewhere Saison Athene 4. Brasserie Thiriez Blonde d'Esquelbecq 5. Smuttynose Farmhouse Ale 6. Brasserie Dupont Avec Les Bons Voeux 7. Great Divide Colette Farmhouse Ale 8. Cigar City Guava Groove 9. Avery Anniversary Ale - Sixteen Tie for tenth place: Terrapin Tomfoolery and Evil Twin/Stillwater/Stone The Perfect Crime (both are black saisons) Honorable Mention: Coronado Saison by the Sea (I'm a sucker for spearmint) and, of course, Saison Dupont. The underlying sentiment here is, how do you feel about black saisons? Other than that, any must-have versions of the style I'm missing?
Can't stand the hype or a lot of Shaun's views about the beer industry but his Saisons can't be beat from what I've tasted. Saison Rue is an excellent beer but when you compare to HF it's garbage. Not exaggerating.
I'm doing this only because I hate people who do this and I don't want to be mad at the asshole who will inevitably do it. http://beeradvocate.com/beer/style/129
I'm thrilled to see you have listed a french beer in your top 10 list, but Blonde d'Esquelbecq is not a saison, none of his beers are saisons (despite what it says on here).
Boulevard Saison-Brett is magnificent. (http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/423/36333) Their Tank 7 Saison is also quite good. (http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/423/50570) And since you have The Bruery's Saison Rue in the top spot, you ought to try their spring seasonal, Saison de Lente. (http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/16866/46983) Upright Brewing in Portland makes some fine saisons too. I really like Flora Rustica. (http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/19866/51593) Speaking of Oregon, I also think the Seizoen (http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/25710/70103) and Seizoen Bretta (http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/25710/69702) from Logsdon are delicious. As someone has no doubt already mentioned, Hill Farmstead makes some incredible saisons.
^Second the Logsdon. Recently had the opportunity to try their Bretta; Oak Bretta; Fresh Hop (along with most of their other releases). Bretta was my favorite, but have a bottle of Fresh Hop ready for a second go.
Saison is arguably my favorite style. A few that have been overlooked so far: Saison du Pelican Fantôme Saison Ommegang Hennepin Anchorage Love Buzz Lost Abbey Red Barn Dupont Bière De Miel Biologique I'd reinforce what vurt said. Saison-Brett is outstanding (especially w/ a couple years), and Upright and Logsdon are doing some world-class saisons. Seizoen Bretta in particular is wonderful.
Logsdon and Fantome pretty much have me covered. I would love to try the Hill Farmstead saisons (and any hoppy beers they have). Upright is really good. There is a friend of mine (not a professional, yet) who makes saisons that will be mentioned in a thread like this in the future.
Fantome Saison is a must. Plus, check this http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/10557/21113 And it's even better special version if you can find it http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/10557/48220
There's a small brewery in Ohio called Rockmill and they focus on those styles and do them very well. Their saison is amazing but kinda pricey. Brooklyn Sorachi Ace is awesome too, I love that stuff..
Grassroots' Seasoned Veteran is not only the best saison I've ever had, but the best beer I've ever had http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/23205/68100/?ba=tbeckett
No Hill Farmstead, Upright, Logsdon, or Fantome? I think you left the four best saison centric craft breweries off your list! Upright is just crushing it right now. Especially with their sole comp series.
Logsdon Seizoen Bretta is probably my fav at the moment. Boulevard Brett pretty damn good. Anything by Upright is damn good. Defining moment for me in craft beer was having a Dupont Foret at NOPA in San Fran a few yrs ago with a pork chop the size of my head. Meat and beer combo was mind blowing. End of story... Craft Beer For life! (and I love Saisons)
McKenzie Saison Vautour (du Bois) is a favorite. Too bad the brewery doesn't seem interested in making it lately. http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1872/73271 http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1872/39269
Also the quality and variety (usually at least 4 different saisons on draft every visit) of Tired Hands makes them a must try if you like the style.
Just so you know- the Weyerbacher is more of a spiced Belgian Strong Ale than a saison- with more sweetness, body and alcohol presense. Drink it on its own terms, don't expect something dry and a bit funky, and you should enjoy it (I've had quite a few myself over the past few months), but I don't think it belongs on any list of top saisons.
I have to admit, a few of those I haven't had, a few of those I have and do enjoy, and a few of those would be nowhere near my top 10 saisons list. Echoing TongoRad, Weyerbacher 17 just isn't a saison. It's a slightly farmhousey BSPA with weird adjuncts, and it was okay but not great in any way (my opinion). Athene had some really good moments but was way too heavy on the chamomile for me; Smuttynose is tasty, but a heavy bastard (admittedly, it's been a while and I need to revisit it); Great Divide Colette, to be honest, I found to be thoroughly mediocre in most respects. My favorite saisons (that I've had, in no particular order): Ommegang Hennepin, Pretty Things Jack D'Or, Stillwater Stateside, Stillwater Cellar Door, Epic Utah Sage, Brooklyn Sorachi Ace, Cigar City Guava Grove, Boulevard Tank 7, and Goose Island Sofie.
Though I do have bottles of HF Anna and Arthur waiting in the wings, and am continually tempted to pull the trigger on Saison du Swamp, so my list my expand sometime soon.
In no particular order: Brooklyn Sorachi Ace Swamphead Saison du Swamp del Borgo Duchessic St. Somewhere Athene CCB Cucumber Saison CCB Table Saison Logsdon Seizoen Bretta Oxbow BA Farmhouse Pale Saison D'Erpe Mer St. Somewhere Rose I've had the normal Logsdon Seizoen, but it was not a great experience, there was some weird stratification going on in the bottle. The top of the glass was super-dry, and then the bottom was straight pear juice.
Yah. I'm fuckin' poor, man. (Relatively speaking, anyway.) Hard to spring for that when you've got a teaching assistant's salary.
Tired Hands, Hill Farmstead, Logsdon, and Upright win the American battle, hands down. There are plenty of other American breweries making good saisons, but none are at the level of these four. (Jolly Pumpkin gets added to this list if you want to include their beers under the Saison/Farmhouse umbrella.) Boulevard Tank 7 is really nice as well, but I wouldn't put them in the elite level, particularly since Logsdon has come on the scene and blown Saison - Brett out of the water. Outside of the "top" ones, McKenzie is way up there, though demoted slightly due to a lack of selection. There are plenty of other good to very good producers, but these are the best, IMO. Outside of the U.S., Fantome and Dupont win for me. The two main saisons from each are amazing, though in very different ways.
I feel like I must reinforce The Bruery's Saison de Lente and Anchorage Love Buzz, and not just Fantôme Saison but anything by Fantôme.
There are very few good American Saisons out there. A bunch of Shaun Hill's saisons are awesome. I had an amazing Rye Saison from Oxbow in ME. It was 4% and quite the quaff. I did like the Love Buzz too. And Saison w/Brett. Overall though I think most American Saisons are crap. Nothing is better than Saison Dupont and in particular Avec Les Bons Voeux. Thireze makes some great stuff too. I would say Fantome but I have had too many DISGUSTING bottles over the years to real get behind them. Fantome is basically a 60% 40% crapshoot. 60% chance of being awesome and 40% chance of being garbage. I am all for bottle variation but at 15-20$ for a 750 ML I am not playing that game anymore.
Remember that strange Ghost that wasn't green? That's what I am talking about with Fantome! The Grassroots stuff I tried in London was damn good BTW.
Some highlights for me: 1. Any HF saison, they are that good. Had Civil Disobedience 4 last night and it blew me away for a black saison. 2. Only had the Fresh Hop Seizoen, but I echo bstyle that Logsdon seems to be making some really clean and delicious saisons right now. I'm definitely looking forward to Seizoen Bretta and Oak aged Bretta. 3. Boulevard Saison-Brett. A classic. 4. Not really a fan of the other things they do, but Jolly Pumpkin De Viento was a beautiful black saison. 5. Sofie. Don't care about the In-Bev crap that people will spew at me for it, this is a great beer.
I dunno. I just wish Pretty Things would put Jack D'Or into a smaller, cheaper format, like in a six-pack. Or better yet, in 500ml four-packs like Jack's Abby. Come to think of it, I wish a LOT of beers came in 500ml four-packs, and especially saisons would be great this way.
