2011 Saison Fest and Beer List

Trinity makes over thirty Saison style beers each year so it's really no wonder that they also organize the Saison Festival just as spring kicks into gear. Saisons are some of my favorite beer styles because they lend themselves to experimentation, wild ingredients, and playfulness. The style came from Belgian, the beers were low in alcohol and made in farmhouses for workers, stored throughout the year and served as refreshing late summer drinks. Typically nowadays the yeasts used for Saisons are yeasts that use a higher temperature for fermentation, ranging from 85-95 F instead of the standard 65 F. Many Saison's made today sit between 6-8% abv, which is at least twice as high as it was traditionally. Some, like the Trinity/Black Fox Double Rainbow, are upwards to 14%, which I guess technically wouldn't fit the exact style guidelines, but who's looking anyway?

So, needless to say, Focus on the Beer will attend the festival and we'll report back with our thoughts and some nice photos. You can follow me on twitter at @cspringsbeer as well, and I'll be posting live updates. Here's the beer list:

Saison Festival
Saturday April 16th, 12-5pm at Trinity Brewing in Colorado Springs - $35
For tickets call Trinity at 719-634-0029

Saison Fest Beer List:
Tommyknocker - Golden Saison
AC Golden - Belgian Style Saison
Super Saison League of Friends - Baby Buddh
Phantom Canyon - Citroenboom
Great Divide Brewing - Colette
Black Fox - Faust Part 2
Black Fox - Somnombulance
Kona Brewing - Oceanic Organic Saison
Ska Brewing - Pineapple Saison
Pagosa Brewing - Ranch House Ale
Funkwerks - Saison
Funkwerks - White
Three Barrel Brewing- Saison
Boulevard Brewing - Saison Brett
Boulevard Brewing - Tank 7 Farmhouse
Crooked Stave - Saison Brett
Crooked Stave - The Slayer
Rockyard Brewing - Saison du Rouge
Rock Bottom - Saison Jonquille
Ouray Brewing - Vern
Trinity Brewing - Rebel Son
Trinity Brewing - 3 Flower Farmhouse Saison

So, this is a fantastic looking list, let me tell you which beers have caught my eye. Probably the first beer I'll be tasting, and the one I'm most excited about, is the Baby Buddha, an early look at the super collaborative Buddha's Nuvo beer that's being aged over at Rockyard Brewing. This version is a pre-Bretta and pre-barrel version of the beer we will get later. I'm also excited about the Kona Brewing beer, which happens to be the first certified organic beer in Hawaii. Let's see...Phantom Canyon, of course, because anything that Alan Stiles touches turns to gold, plus who doesn't want a beer with rye, oats, unmalted wheat, lemongrass, and lemon peel? I was in Kansas City the other day and I got to try the Boulevard Saison Brett straight from the fermentation tank, it was really great, so I'm definitely looking forward to tasting it again. Funkwerks has really impressed me, their regular Saison is fantastic and I always go back to that beer. I've talked about Crooked Stave a couple times on this blog, and they only last month released their first beer to the public. Their Slayer Saison is looking good, it's aged in oak and has lavender added. Lastly but certainly not leastly, because ultimately these all look great, the Ska Brewing beer has coconut, candied pineapple in addition to more familiar Saison trimmings.


- -
To stay up to date with Focus on the Beer you can get our email updates and/or join us on our Facebook page.