On the Edge

Saison 6.35%
Bottle conditioned, in 750 ml and 357 ml champagne bottles.
Release date 13 October 2012.

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This is the final brew at Elveden before my brew kit is ready at the Poppyland Brewery. Once more exploring the delights of that Belgian farmhouse style ale - saison, with its distinctive yeast and heavenly balance. When people first taste my saisons I see their eyes light up. They probably haven't tried such a flavoursome beer, whose flavours are derived from the yeast. It is the perfect beer for summer or any time really. So I have brewed it again and split it into four casks for secondary fermentation and have experimented with an addition of crab apple to a small quanity and dry-hopping (two casks with American Cascade and German Hersbrucker Hallertau and one cask with the Polish Bobek hop).

The straight saison is available from Saturday 13th October and the dry hopped beers will follow. The crab apple will be allowed to develop until it is judges ready for release.

NB ignore the best before date: it is excellent drinking even in 2014 and will be for a very long time.

This has been brewed again and should be released at Easter 2014. Check out here in the Brews of 2014

Saison

Saison (pronounced say'zon) is a West Belgian farmhouse style ale traditionally brewed in the winter months and destined for storage, to be consumed by farm workers in the summer.

Production was localized and recipes varied. Most was consumed in the locality. They used to be quite sour but are not so much nowadays. However the distinctive Belgian saison yeast does give a great deal of character and the beer is slightly tart, bordering on the lactic and very refreshing.

Reviews

Possibly the best beer i've ever tasted! Mark Long's comment on Facebook

"TBH I can't really be arsed heading down to London and then paying to get into a beer festival when I can get loads of beers locally that I haven't tried or even heard of before. Speaking of which, I've just had a bottle of Poppyland's On The Edge Saison (the Hallertau Hersbrucker / Cascade version rather than the Bobek version, FWIW) from our Local Specialist Beer Shop That's Round The Corner From Our House. It's fairly great - sort of halfway between a lambic and a hoppy pale ale, with wild yeast graunchyness balanced by bitter-fruity hops. Straight outta Cromer." Slothrop on Dissensus

Hersbrucker Hallertau/Cascade version: "Pours a light amber colour, with an excellent head and great lacing. Smells very fresh and grassy, with maybe a hint of sweetness, possibly honey. Tastes quite light, fresh and flowery at first, with the hops building up in bitterness and coming through quite intensely at the end, along with a hit of booze, also increasing the texture of the beer, making it feel a bit fuller. Fairly dry though not unpleasantly. Lovely stuff." Hale the Ale

Bobek version: "The pour is pretty much the same as before in colour, with a significantly reduced head, though still retaining good lacing. Smells quite sweet and fresh, with a hint of nuttiness. The sweetness is almost fruity. The taste is more subtle and subdued than before, with much less bitterness on the finish, as well as lacking the thicker mouthfeel and some of the dryness. There is still a lingering, pleasant bittersweet taste on the palette after the swallow. This beer also has a bit more of a malt presence, with a subtle caramel sweetness coming through. Finally, worth a mention is how this beer has an insane level of drinkability. It's thirst quenching yet flavourful and balanced. I hope it’s still for sale when it gets warmer!" Hale the Ale

"Poppyland On The Edge Saison, dry hopped with Hallertau Hersbrucker & Cascade. Floral, caramel sweet, tart, lovely " Pints and Pubs on Twitter

Cheers

Martin Warren, The Poppyland Brewer
10.10.2012