Saison Take 4 - Tasting Notes

 I brewed up this Saison (my 4th attempt at the style) back in Early October.  I used what is supposed to be the Saison Dupont strain of yeast:  Wyeast 3724 Belgian Saison.  This is a notorious yeast for stalling at a high gravity without help.  I was able to get it to ferment all the way to 1.002 by keeping the beer at 80 F for a 6 weeks.  It has produced some lovely esters which make the extra effort well worth it.

I moved the beer to a keg a bit over a month ago and it has carb'd up nicely in this time.  Time to do an official tasting before it's gone.

This is a style of beer all about the yeast really and is meant to be dry and refreshing.  I think I met the mark on all of those fronts.  Given that I'm using the Dupont strain I decided to also do a side by side comparison with the real deal.  My beer was brewed with Wheat and American hops so it was not intended to be a clone but I still think it will be interesting to compare (plus it's an excuse to buy a big bottle of Saison Dupont for myself on New Years Eve)

Excited to be doing a deep dive on the beer.

Tasting Notes:

• Aroma:
• Belgian yeast ester (fruity and spicy) most prominent.  Get a bit of bready malt in the background.  Maybe some grassy hop aroma in there as well
• Appearance:
• Golden and very clear.  Pours with 2 fingers of head that lingers for 5 min or so - leaves lacing on the glass
• Flavor:
• Strong fruit ester character up front - this lingers into the finish.  Pretty good kick of bitterness in the finish as well  This is balanced by a bit of malty sweetness.  Slight malt flavor in the mix as well - maybe a bit of hop flavor in there too.
• Mouthfeel:
• Medium-light bodied and pretty dry.  Fairly crisp and easy drinking.  Smooth.
• Overall:
• This is boldly flavored beer and is quite refreshing with the dry and bitter finish.  I really enjoy the ester profile.  From memory, I think this is very much like how Saison Dupont tastes (will test that next).  It hides it's almost 7% ABV very well - would not guess it is that high from drinking it (but you do feel it the next morning which is my only qualm with this beer)

Side by Side Comparison:

• Aroma:
• Dupont has a strong noble hop aroma out front and the yeast ester is in the background.  Tough to compare the beers but I think the yeast ester character could very well be of a similar level between the beers
• Appearance:
• The Dupont is carbonated higher than mine and is equally clear.  Color is very close with mine being just slightly darker
• Flavor:
• The Dupont also has a fairly strong noble hop flavor (grassy, floral, and spicy) which plays nicely with the fruity ester character.  The malt in mine is much more of a presence in the balance of flavors while Dupont is all about the hops and yeast playing against each other.  I would say bitterness between the two is very close
• Mouthfeel:
• Mine has a bit more body but I would say they're equally dry and crisp.  Very similar in terms of drinkability and smoothness.
• Overall:
• I believe the Wyeast 3724 could really be the Dupont strain comparing these two although I wouldn't bet the farm on it.  The hop presence in Dupont is a bit of a surprise.  Without this side by side comparison I think I would have credited a lot of the hop flavor to the yeast since the hops compliment the yeast so nicely.  These hops have turned out to be a major difference between the two beers.  In the end, I like them both no less than I had before the head to head comparison.
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