Someone else writes about SaisonFest

here.

A great professional Saison Drink a' Thon we had one Saturday in September. A bit blustery as I remember. It worked fine inside our cozy shack. While men and woman drank and nodded their heads at one another, the merriment and radiant laughter of children was heard.

Did you ever notice that any informal beer tasting seems to gravitate toward a certain space or area or object? It's probably that way with any gathering. But, I notice that the kitchen is a popular spot. We have some good kitchens in our circle! There's even one with an island and it's own separate sink! We don't have a good kitchen at my house. Our gatherings are best had out on the back patio, but the weather dictated an indoor festivus. Apparently this event married itself to our dining table. It was a great time, with a healthy turnout of over a dozen-ish folks plus some offspring. We had just enough drinkers for the 750s so everybody got a little taste.

Now, the list:

1. Dickey - YCB
2. Bobbie - YCB
3. Ne Goeien - Lost Abbey, San Marcos, CA
4. Saison du Pelican - Pelican Pub & Brewery, Pacific City, OR
5. Li'l Jib - YCB
6. Thiriez Blonde - Brasserie Thiriez, FR
7. Tannum - YCB
8. Saison Lo Terminal - YCB
9. Hunca Munca - YCB
10. L' Amalthee aka "Goat Biere" - Brasserie Lebbe, FR
11. NeDe Gard - Brewery 'Smoga', East B-town
12. NeDe Gard Dry Hopped - Brewery 'Smoga', East B-town
13. Le Bon Temps, draft - YCB
14. Brise Bon Bons, Fantome, Soy, BE
15. Saison de Janice - Altman Brasserie, Indianola, WA
16. Hennepin - Brewery Ommegang, Cooperstown, NY
17. 8% - YCB

We also opened a bottle of YCB Super I somewhere along the way, but it was an oxidized messy drainpour.

My favorites include: The Thiriez Blonde up against the Li'l Jib. It was great to be able to see that the Wyeast 3711 French Saison strain is the Thiriez strain. I was surprised to see that Li'l Jib tasted as good as it did next the the Thiriez Biere. I really enjoyed Smoga's homebrewed Biere de Garde. It was awesome. Balanced, flavorful, malty. Smoga's beer and the Le Bon Temps that was on draft were an interesting comparison. Same strain, two very different beers. I was sad that the Brise Bon Bons hadn't sealed properly and was more lactic than it would've been normally. It was all good. I don't know if we can top it next year. I'll have at least four Yard City beers that were not available this year, probably more.