Saison of the which

Today's beer picks afforded me a rare opportunity to try different types of saison from the same brewery. I have a prejudice in favour of the lighter sort, though I know I've enjoyed plenty of the stronger ones. While this post isn't intended to settle the matter, it does give me something to drink. Rather than Belgium, the game is being played on neutral ground: the Bådin brewery in Norway.

First up is Saltstraumen, at 4.7% ABV: the standard, reasonable, sober sort of saison strength. There's no farmy murk here, it's a crystal-clear deep gold colour, with just the right amount of head. The aroma is subtle but definite, delivering gently sweet peach and apricot, with maybe a slightly sharper citrus note bringing up the rear. It really leans into that fruit in the flavour, the intensity rising to tinned lychee levels. It's nicely crisp too, with an assertive sparkle which doesn't get overly fizzy. It is a bit plain, however. I would have liked some spice or funk; a bit of the rustic wildness that the best saisons are generously endowed with. There's maybe a little dry woodiness in the finish which veers towards the peppery but doesn't quite qualify. Overall, there's a lovely refreshing quality, somewhere between a crisp pilsner and a refined pale ale. But while it's definitely a saison, and far from bland, it doesn't quite supply what I'm looking for in these. Perhaps more alcohol is required.

Saison Larsen is 6.5% ABV, which I would generally regard as a bit on the high side, though I'll also note it's identical in strength to Saison Dupont, with which there is not a thing wrong, saison-wise. We get a bit more haze here, so it's orange rather than golden, and the head retention is a bit off, the bubbles fading quickly to a patchy skim. The aroma is less distinct here: still fruity, but in a more generic estery way with a backing of alcohol, a bit like you'd find with a strong Belgian golden ale or tripel. The flavour is also that of an unmistakably strong Belgian-style ale. It tastes immediately hot, and when the fruit nudges past the alcohol it's syrupy. We're still in tropical or stonefruit territory, but the canned sort, not fresh. It's dry enough that it doesn't cloy the palate, but it's not dry by any means. As for spice and funk, I allowed it to warm up as much as I dared but very little was forthcoming. I'm not at all sure I would have pegged this as a saison at all were I not, y'know, conducting this stupid experiment. It's fine, but since it's both less complex and less refreshing than the previous beer, the winner is, literally, clear.

Neither of these delivered exactly what I want in a saison, but they're decent beers. More importantly, I think I'm right to consider big strength to be more of a flaw than a plus with this admittedly broad style. You heard it from me first.