Saison

Saisons are a style I struggled with for the longest time. The paleness reminded me too much of a Pilsner and the all too common dry finish left me with a bad taste in my mouth... literally. Through what I like to call perseverance, I've come to terms with this style of beer and I've found aspects of Saisons which I enjoy. It's still a love-hate relationship at time, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy a great Saison every now and then.

I first heard of Avery's Anniversary Saisons from a flyer hanging up in the bathroom of the Avery tasting room next door to the brewery in Boulder, Colorado. This was just last summer so the poster was advertising the Sixteenth Anniversary Saison. A couple months later I was about to get my hands on a bottle of the Sixteen and thought pretty highly of it. It wasn't my favorite beer by any means, but I enjoyed it. As time passed, my memories of the Sixteen grew fonder. About a month ago I was smaller liquor store looking for a new release when I came across a bottle of Avery's Fifteen and couldn't resist taking it home.

Boulevard's Tank 7 has had an interesting release... This beer was first made available at the brewery tasting room last summer. I happened to go on a tour just after the first batch hit the taps and had a few samples. At the time, I didn't care for this beer at all. I took a couple more tours between summer and Christmas and drank a collective pint or more of the Tank 7 in the tasting room. Each time I had this beer it tasted a little spicier and hoppier than I remember. I'd heard Boulevard was planning on phasing out their Saison Smokestack Series and replacing it with this beer, so I kept going back to try this beer and see if maybe I just got a bad glass... but no, I just didn't like the Tank 7.

First impressions of this beer were, "OK, it definitely tastes like a Saison..." When I took a drink of Avery's Anniversary Sixteen Saison I got a mouthful of yeasty, floral, spicy clove that just screams Saison. This is why Saisons aren't my favorite style of beer, it just isn't a flavor combination that I'm terribly fond of. I still like Saisons, I just hope I'm not stranded on an island with one any time soon. Back to this particular Saison... Avery released this as an anniversary beer so, of course, they took the style a little further than you might appreciate when you first hear the ingredients. For their 16th anniversary Avery brewed this beer with jasmine, honey and peaches. It may not sound too exciting, I mean honey and peaches aren't the most adventurous fermentable out there... but when you finish that first sip you really get an appreciation for what Avery has done here.

I really tried to like Boulevard's Saison-Brett. I did. This beer just doesn't do it for me though... Despite it's relation (no matter how specious) to George Brett and it's closeness in style to the Belgian beers I love so much, the Saison-Brett just isn't a beer I enjoy as much as I want to. My main complaint with this beer is that it is too spicy, it's borderline bitter which is something I don't like in my Saisons. I prefer the more sour, citrusy and creamy beers in this style. In my opinion, the Saison-Brett is too strongly hopped and too carbonated. The beer loses a bit of it's smoothness because the hops are so up front and the bubbles distract from those sour and citrus flavors that are hidden behind all that bitterness. As I said before, for a Saison, this beer isn't bad. It's still a little sour and a little sweet, not as much as I'd like but it's still there... If I were looking for a Saison to take to dinner, the Boulevard Saison-Brett wouldn't be my first choice.

Southern Tier's Cherry Saison sounded good at first. I mean, who doesn't like a Saison? On top of that, who doesn't like Cherries? Then again, cherries in a beer... maybe that doesn't sound so good after all. If there is one style of beer that could pull it off though, it'd probably be the Saison (or a wheat). After few small pieces of homemade Pizza Margherita I decide to pour a glass of the Cherry Saison. I was pleasantly surprised. This beer ended up being far more well balanced than I'd thought. Not only is this a Saison brewed with cherries but it's been aged with French oak. And that oakiness is pretty apparent when you take your first sip...