Patriot’s Day. Celebrating the start of the American Revolution, the running of the Boston Marathon, a day off from work, and the start of spring. Well not the “official” start of spring (which is astronomically March 21st and meteorologically March 1st) but up here in the Northeast, the weather, in my mind, seems to get consistently better (warmer, sunnier) after Patriot’s Day. So how did I celebrate the “start” of spring? With a beer of course. A Saison styled beer to be more specific.

Saison’s are an interesting style, with the Brewers Association 2008 Beer Style Guidelines stating “there may be quite a variety of characters within this style”. I cut through this variety with a simple question I ask myself every time I sip a new Saison. “Could I find myself drinking this after a hard day ‘working the fields’?” When done right I answer “yes” because the beer is crisp, refreshing and mildly complex. When done “wrong” (in my personal opinion of course) one of these attributes is missing.

Why such a question? Saison’s were originally brewed for consumption while working the fields during the late Summer harvest. With scarce sources of potable water, Saisons acted as a good form of hydration without the fear of illness and could be quite refreshing. Though Saisons are now brewed year round and with higher abv (before the style barely broke 3% abv because farm owners did not want the farm workers getting intoxicated while working), I still feel a good Saison should fulfill its original purpose. This brings us to the beer I had this past Patriot’s Day. The Nøgne Ø Saison.

Poured with a nice frothy white head into my Saison glass, it gave off a lemon-citrus aroma even without my nose directly over the beer. There was a nice, heavy stickage to the head, which coated the glass as it receded. The body of the beer was a hazy, though I could still see the lettering on the glass’s far side (the letters however were not legible), golden straw color.

After the pour I stuck my nose right up to the beer and inhaled its intoxicating aroma of lemon-citrus. Though lemon-citrus was definitely the dominate aroma, with some concentration I noticed slight yeast and spice notes. This lemon domination gave me some worry before tasting the beer. Though I do not enjoy my Saison’s being overly complex, I do not want a lemon drop either.

I had nothing to fear however because the beer’s taste was very enjoyable. The taste actually took on a more orange- citrus side, which I found rather surprising. The wheat used to brew the beer, which I do not believe is a typical Saison ingredient, made its presence known. This gave the beer a whit beer type presence and upped the mouth feel into the light-medium realm of things. There were also some black pepper after notes but these were quite light. I wish the beer was a little crisper, for a more refreshing bite, but I found the beer as a whole clean, smooth (almost silky), refreshing and very good.

Could I find myself drinking this after a hard day ‘working the fields’? Possibly. I prefer my Saisons a bit lighter and crisper after a hard day ‘working the fields’. I could definitely see myself drinking this after ’tilling the garden’ however, because this beer still hit the “crisp, refreshing and mildly complex” notes I look for in a Saison.

This is a great interpretation of the Saison style by Nøgne Ø and I would suggest this beer to someone trying out the Saison style for the first time, though Saison “connoisseurs” should pick it up too. Nøgne Ø has been increasing their distribution lately (before I could only find it in one beer bar, but now I am able to find their stuff in some of the better beer stores around me) so definitely look out for this one.