Coming Soon: Two European Classics, Saison Dupont & Weihenstephan Hefeweisse

BRASSERIE DUPONT, SAISON

Style: Farmhouse/Saison

ABV: 6.5%

Size, Price: 16oz, $9

The Saison Dupont is a top fermentation beer with refermentation in the bottle.  First brewed in Brasserie Dupont’s farm-brewery during the winter of 1844.  After the initial brew, the beer underwent a second refermentation in the barrel.  During the next summer, this very thirst-quenching beer was served to the “saisoniers” who worked the fields on the farm, from which the style’s name (saison) derives.  For much of the saison’s history it was a seasonal summer offering but has been produced year round for many years.  Secondary fermentation now occurs in individual bottles (also known as “bottle conditioning”) rather than in barrels, allowing the beer to be drank right away or cellared for an extended time.

Nose: Orange citrus up front, over florals, fruity-estery-funk and some peppery notes.

Taste: Medium body with high carbonation reminiscent of champagne.  Banana bread funkiness, some citrus, and a long dry finish.

WEIHENSTEPHAN, HEFEWEISSE

Style: Wheat beer

ABV: 5.4%

Size, Price: 16oz, $8.00

Weihenstephan traces their history back to almost a thousand years ago (1080 AD), when the Benedictine monks founded their monastic brewery on the site that they currently occupy. The brewery was eventually taken over by the Royal Bavarian State Brewery, and to this day is operating as a state directed enterprise under the control of the Bavarian Government. It is the oldest continuously-existing brewery in the world, standing upon the Weihenstephan hill, surrounded by the comparatively very young Weihenstephan Science Center of the Technical University of Munich, allowing a unique brewing tradition and culture to develop over the centuries. Weihenstephan prides themselves on using the most modern technology without forgetting their own history and high standards.

The Hefeweisse is the flagship brew of Weihenstephan.  The brewers describe it as: “Our golden-yellow wheat beer, with its fine-poured white foam, smells of cloves and impresses consumers with its refreshing banana flavour. It is full bodied and with a smooth yeast taste. To be enjoyed at any time,goes excellently with fish and seafood, with spicy cheese and especially with the traditional Bavarian veal sausage.”