Dogfish Head Saison du Buff

This beer comes with quite a pedigree.  It is a collaboration between Dogfish Head, Victory and Stone Brewing Company.  I wasn’t aware of the history of BUFF until I did some research.  It turns out that this beer is named for a meeting held by the heads of the three breweries back in 2003.  9 years ago Sam Calagione of Dogfish, Bill Covaleski of Victory, and Greg Koch from Stone formed Brewers United For Freedom of Flavor and  called a press conference to bring attention to the lack of choice in the mainstream beer world.  At the time only one journalist felt the need to attend.  

Fast forward to 2012: the craft beer wave has made these brands household names and turned Sam into a rock star.  Funny how things can change. 

Unfortunately, mainstream beer hasn’t changed: it’s still watered down and, for the most part, tasteless.  To show the world just how interesting and flavorful a beer can be, these three brewers have concocted a brew containing parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme (yeah, just like the song).  And I’m here to tell you: It works!

Similar to how these 3 idiosyncratic brewers were able to meld their own personalities together for the collaboration, the four spices blend nicely into a refreshing saisson. Here’s my tasting notes:

Pour:  Uniform fluffy white head

Nose:  Citrus with a slight hop fragrance

Taste:  Strong spice up front though one spice does not dominate, nice hoppy finish, not overpowering.

Aftertaste:  Now I’m getting some of that rosemary on the back of my tongue.

Overall: Very refreshing and drinkable.  At 6.8% ABV, it truly can be a go to session beer for the summer.