Saison Dupont

I just hosted a beer sampling party for friends, and resoundingly Saison Dupont was the favorite beer. It can be purchased at BevMo and possibly Whole Foods for about $9-$10 for a 750ml "champagne" bottle.

The Experience: It's like a midsummer night's barn party in the Belgian countryside. The kind where everyone, of every age, is dancing with their sweetheart and telling jokes to their friends. Big and loud, while also simple and intimate.

The more technical description: If you have never had a Saison, you need to try one. It is my personal favorite variety of beer. It has simple malt flavors, moderate hops (more than most Belgian beers, but less than a lot of others), and more yeast character than any other beer. The yeast creates a rainbow of wild spicy and fruity flavors. The color is straw gold with a vanilla head. (This is an unfiltered beer.) It bubbles and sparkles going down. Almost like a glorious fusion of champagne, cider, hefeweizen, and golden ale.

For more details check out: http://www.belgianexperts.com/Dupont.php

DuPont? I guess beer is a chemical. Close enough at any rate.

Hope the don't use the plant where they make the other chemicals. That would be nastier than usual.

Edited because I suck at typing...

sounds nice, I just finished a bottle of omagang choclate stout

Toyman01 wrote: Hope the don't use the plant where they make the other chemicals. That would be nastier than usual.

Interesting thing, this particular Dupont is actually a working farm that happens to also be a brewery. So this beer still is genuinely a farmhouse ale.

Oh, best quote of the night. A friend of mine had it sink in just what yeast does to beer:

Him: "Wait... so all the things the least is leaving in the beer is that like..."

Me: "Excrement? Yep. It's not like excrement. It is excrement. The yeast eats the sugar and leaves behind ethyl alcohol and carbon dioxide as waste products; all of the things that make beer good!"

Yessir, bacteria pee and farts in suspension. Nothing finer! In fact, I think I'll have another.

I'll have to try this one. I love Saisons, Ommegang Hennepin is one of my favorite go-to beers than can be found almost anywhere in this area (in 12s or 750s). Ever tried Hennepin or are they an east coast thing? I just recently killed a growler of Portsmouth Brewery Saison, and I stopped by there on the way home from an autocross today. They had a Biere de Miele on tap, which is brewed with honey and their Saison yeast, so it was like a stronger, sweeter Saison. It was delicious, I really wish I hadn't forgot my growler at home today :(.

Yeast is not bacteria. Bacteria pee and farts in suspension actually don't taste that great (my last batch of beer got a post-fermentation contamination).

Isn't yeast a bizarre single-celled organism that is sort of half-way between animal and plant?

Josh wrote: I'll have to try this one. I love Saisons, Ommegang Hennepin is one of my favorite go-to beers than can be found almost anywhere in this area (in 12s or 750s). Ever tried Hennepin or are they an east coast thing? I just recently killed a growler of Portsmouth Brewery Saison, and I stopped by there on the way home from an autocross today. They had a Biere de Miele on tap, which is brewed with honey and their Saison yeast, so it was like a stronger, sweeter Saison. It was delicious, I really wish I hadn't forgot my growler at home today :(.

I have tried Hennepin. There are a couple of places that sell it. It is quite good but I prefer either Saison Dupont or La Merle (which is produced by North Coast Brewery). If you can find La Merle, give that a try. It might be a west coast thing, though. It's possible that La Merle is only better here because it's less expensive and fresher from being close by.

For good East Coast breweries, I really love most of Allagash's offerings.

That Biere de Miele sounds awesome. I'd love to try something like that. I really love the Saison yeast.

Having brewed a couple of Saisons, I learned what it is about the yeast that makes them so badass. They're not as refined as a lot of other yeasts. They act fairly bizarre compared to other strains. One of the main things they do is that they don't eat a constant rate. Most ales are hungry and eat all the sugars fast. Most lagers are a bit lazy and eat all the sugars slowly. A Saison starts out ravenous -eating faster than a normal ale- but proceeds to slow down until it is eventually lazier than a lager. As it slows down, the flavors it produces change, and that's what gives a Saison that really wide pallet of flavors.

Salanis wrote: Yeast is not bacteria. Bacteria pee and farts in suspension actually don't taste that great (my last batch of beer got a post-fermentation contamination). Isn't yeast a bizarre single-celled organism that is sort of half-way between animal and plant?

Yeast are fungi.

Yeast is something your wife doesn't want, but Budweiser does. Y'all almost make me wish I drank the stuff, but I have enough bad habits already. Farm beer has got to taste better than industrial beer.

Salanis wrote: I have tried Hennepin. There are a couple of places that sell it. It is quite good but I prefer either Saison Dupont or La Merle (which is produced by North Coast Brewery). If you can find La Merle, give that a try. It might be a west coast thing, though. It's possible that La Merle is only better here because it's less expensive and fresher from being close by. For good East Coast breweries, I really love most of Allagash's offerings. That Biere de Miele sounds awesome. I'd love to try something like that. I really love the Saison yeast. Having brewed a couple of Saisons, I learned what it is about the yeast that makes them so badass. They're not as refined as a lot of other yeasts. They act fairly bizarre compared to other strains. One of the main things they do is that they don't eat a constant rate. Most ales are hungry and eat all the sugars fast. Most lagers are a bit lazy and eat all the sugars slowly. A Saison starts out ravenous -eating faster than a normal ale- but proceeds to slow down until it is eventually lazier than a lager. As it slows down, the flavors it produces change, and that's what gives a Saison that really wide pallet of flavors.

I wish we could get more North Coast offerings out here! I love Old Rasputin and Old Stock Ale (both of those probably benefit from the longer supply chain), and I tried Red Seal last week and it's probably the best "normal" red I've had (Stone's 13th Anniversary Imperial Red sorta thing is pretty awesome). If I ever see La Merle I will pick one up. Dupont is pretty easy to find here though.

Allagash is hands down my favorite brewery, and being 15 miles from the source doesn't hurt. Never had anything from them I didn't like, but Black (stout) and Four (quad) are my 2 favorites. I have kept a bottle of their 2009 Interlude chilling out in the basement since January or so (this one is first fermented with a Farmhouse yeast, then local wild Brettanomyces, and aged in wine barrels). It is probably about time I finally give it a try. Your description of the fermentation kinda makes me eager to open that one up.

Also, that does it, I am going to brew something tomorrow. :D

Dang. You are lucky to be so close to Allagash. Around here it's pretty specialty and on the more expensive end. Currieux is hands down my favorite of their's.

North Coast is my favorite brewery. I have never had anything from them I haven't liked. I really like what they do with pretty normal styles of beer. Red Seal and Blue Star (hefeweizen) especially. They are amazing in being textbook examples of what those styles of beer should taste like.

I once managed to get my hands on a special limited release of aged Old Ras. It tasted like bitter chocolate. It was fantastic.

Salanis wrote: Dang. You are lucky to be so close to Allagash. Around here it's pretty specialty and on the more expensive end. Currieux is hands down my favorite of their's.

Oh, it's pretty specialty and expensive out here too ;). I think I paid $19 for that bottle of Interlude at the brewery. At least I can get 4-packs of Tripel or Grand Cru for $7. I honestly drink their beers on tap more often than bottle because there are several local bars that get in most of the special stuff, and I can try it for $6 a glass instead of $20 a bottle. Of course I can always go do the tour and get to try 7 or 8 different brews for free. I think maybe I need to go see what they've been up to lately :).

Salanis wrote: I once managed to get my hands on a special limited release of aged Old Ras. It tasted like bitter chocolate. It was fantastic.

I heard about that. I almost ordered one off a website that ships beers around the country from CA, until I learned that the shipping was going to be more than the beer. I bet it's great, but $30 buys me about 10 times as much of the regular OR.

I tried La Merle last week. It was pretty good, but have heard that Saison is quite a bit better. Old Rasputin is great, but it just doesn't feel right drinking beer like that this time of the the year. I'll probably down my fair share as soon as cooler weather hits.

Anyone who enjoys Imperial stouts should definitely give Ten Fidy from Oskar Blues Brewery a try. I think it's a seasonal winter beer, but keep an eye out for it and pick it up if you see it.

Josh wrote: I'll have to try this one. I love Saisons, Ommegang Hennepin is one of my favorite go-to beers than can be found almost anywhere in this area (in 12s or 750s). Ever tried Hennepin or are they an east coast thing? I just recently killed a growler of Portsmouth Brewery Saison, and I stopped by there on the way home from an autocross today. They had a Biere de Miele on tap, which is brewed with honey and their Saison yeast, so it was like a stronger, sweeter Saison. It was delicious, I really wish I hadn't forgot my growler at home today :(.

I did the Ommegang tour on the way home from vacation today and the Hennepin was very tasty!