Dogfish Head Saison du Buff

Brewery: Dogfish Head Brewery
Style: Saison
ABV: 6.8%
Country: USA, Delaware

Saison du Buff is a collaborative brew among three brewers that have all been featured on this blog: Dogfish Head, Stone, and Victory. Each brewery has their own version of this beer that has their own unique twist to the concept. Saison is also known as a farmhouse ale which was originally brewed by farmers in Belgium to help them through the harvest season. This particular version, according to the bottle, is brewed with parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme.

The pour on this was fantastic. Huge amount of bright white bubbles came billowing out and hung around as a fluffy head the entire time. The color was a bright, pale gold that was hazy. Quite inviting. I had to do a lot of waiting for the head to settle before I could dive into this one. Smell was sweet and earthy, I managed to pick out the thyme and rosemary that the bottle proclaimed. Taste was quite sweet up front that quickly transitioned into an herbal and earthy flavor. This transitioned into a finish that was quite dry. No bitterness was really found, but the earthiness continued into the finish. I couldn't distinctly pick out the herbs mentioned on the bottle in the taste as I could in the aroma. Plenty of carbonation was present which isn't surprising given the massive head that was present. Overall, while I thought this was a good beer, I didn't think there was anything too special that would make me want to have this again. My guess is that this has to do more with the style of beer than the beer itself. C+

Photos courtesy of ShutterMug