For me, the Saison beer is the black sheep among the Belgian herd, but for that reason I seem to want to come back to it. I've such a high regard for all brews Belgisch that I seem to think that perhaps it's just me who's missing its charm.
Traditionally brewed in the winter, it's a crisp summer refresher (so I've already picked the wrong time to drink it) that was supposedly served to summer workers in the fields. Perhaps surrounded by the heady barley fields from whence it came gives it a certain something that my dining room doesn't quite offer. Having the provenance of your beverage in your very eyes, nose and throat has got to help. If you've never drank beer in the brewery where it's currently being made you must. I'm not really one for romanticising about these things but the best glass of Brugse Zot blonde I've ever tasted was in De Halve Maan brewery.
So in my current crate of beer for this month I popped in a couple of bottles of Saison Dupont, a very well-known example of said beer type. Although the last time I drank one was probably well over a year ago, I think my reaction was pretty much the same. I enjoyed it, it was a fine beer but I didn't jump for joy.
It's got a soft nose with a yeasty smell and mild honey undertones. There's a mildly bitter and quite a grassy taste (I guess there's that barley!) It's not overly fizzy, more creamy and with a dry and short finish. Of all drinks from our Franco-Flemish cousins it's probably one that I can relate most to British beer. The Kernel Brewery (definitely worth checking out) produce a variety of different hopped IPAs that have a similar yeasty, rough and readiness about them. They're not necessarily my favourite type of beer, but as I write I'm starting to think: if I'd just toiled for a full morning of manual work in the sun, a bottle of this would go down pretty nicely!
Saison Dupont - 7
http://www.brasserie-dupont.com/dupont/Default.aspx?Page=saison
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