Sunday Suds: Dogfish Head Saison du Buff

Image courtesy of Dogfish Head.

BUFF (Brewers United for Freedom of Flavor) was first conceptualized way back in 2003.  It took only seven years for the triumvirate—Sam Calagione at Dogfish Head, Bill Covaleski of Victory Brewing Company, and Greg Koch at Stone Brewing Company—responsible for BUFF's genesis to put plans into action for their first collaborative brew.

Calagione and Covaleski got together with Greg Koch at Stone's San Diego headquarters early in 2010 to brew together.  What they came up with was "Saison du Buff," a Saison-style ale kicked up the "freedom of flavor" scale via the addition of parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme in the brewing process.  The plan, as eventually executed, was for each brewery to make its own version using the same recipe and ingredients but of course utilizing its own equipment and brewers.

Stone was the first to release their version, in March 2010, with both Dogfish Head and Victory following suit late in the summer of 2010.  All were relatively limited-edition releases and, so far as I know, are not intended for repeat brewing and release in the future, although one never can tell.  Such brews sometime take on lives of their own.

Were I a more thorough beer geek (and a much more advance planning shopper), I'd have gone out of my way to procure all three versions in order to do a side-by-side tasting and comparison.  For now, though, I hope you can make do with my thoughts on just one of my local versions.

Image courtesy of yours truly.

"Saison du Buff," Dogfish Head Craft Brewery
6.8% abv.  12 oz. bottles.
The Dogfish Head iteration of Saison du Buff pours to a slightly hazy, burnished lemon yellow color in the glass.  Highly charged, it yields a more than generous, slightly chunky head, kept alive by quite active, steady carbonation.  Its lemony, intensely herbal aromas are dominated by the pininess of rosemary, then backed up by the faintly musky scent of sage. Rosemary and sage's other herbal brewing companions are less apparent on the nose but do come through on the palate, where the faint bitterness of parsley and subtly sweet woodsiness of thyme make themselves known.  Would I be saying all this if I didn't know the four herbs used in the brew?  Perhaps not, but knowing, it certainly makes sense in the tasting.  All of the above is wrapped up with a reasonably fruity mid-palate of grapefruit and pineapple, and a very crisp, refreshing drive.

Not surprisingly, given the fairly full throttle style of the overall beer programs at Victory and, especially, Stone and Dogfish Head, Saison du Buff is considerably hoppier than the a traditional European Saison.  To me, it actually drinks more like a Saison crossed with a fresh style of IPA.  While its alcohol level (6.8% abv) isn't much if at all higher than the classic Saison, it seems to pack more of a wallop than I usually associate with, say, Dupont Saison (at a quite similar 6.5%), pushing it out of session beer territory and toward the table.  Grilled, white fleshed fish or roast chicken would be nice pairings, methinks.

As appealing as all of the above may sound, it doesn't come without a caveat.  So highly perfumed as to border on scented soap territory, Dogfish Head's version of Saison du Buff beckons to my mind more than my gut—more intellectually compelling than downright delicious.  That said, you won't find me trying to pawn off what remains of my half-case.

I wonder if the Victory version is still kicking around somewhere nearby....

Intro only...

Sunday Suds: Dogfish Head "Namaste"

There's a whole lotta mashing up going on around the craft beer globe these days. Brewers are teaming up in twos, threes and tens to ply their trade, flex their creative muscle, share techniques and no doubt learn a few things along the way. Sometimes its happening right around the corner, sometimes its bringing together brewers from oceans away.

One of the most active progenitors of this collaborative craze has to be Sam Calagione, founder, owner and head brew cheese at Delaware's Dogfish Head.

Now in its second year as a summer seasonal, Dogfish Head's "Namaste" was originally conceived in 2009 via a four-way, intercontinental team-up between Sam and his wife Mariah, Dogfish Head lead brewer Bryan Selders, and Leonardo DiVincenzo, owner of the central Italian craft brewery Birra del Borgo. There was an aspect of charitable giving in the mix, too. Part of the proceeds for the first-year sales of "Namaste" were donated to Armand Debelder of Drie Fonteinen, who lost about a third of a year's production of his lambics and gueuzes due to a thermostat malfunction in the storage area at 3 Fonteinen. In that first year, "Namaste" was available only on draft and only at the Dogfish Head brewpub in Rehoboth Beach, DE. This year, Sam, Mariah and Bryan brewed a bit more, enough to to pour on draft as well as to allow for a limited bottling in crown-sealed 750s.

"Namaste" is brewed in the tradition of Belgian white ales. Given the wheat, coriander and citrus elements in the mix, Hoegaarden would seem the most obvious point of comparison; "Namaste," however, is a touch rounder and broader in texture and also a tad darker in both its color and flavor profiles. Whether that's the result of the use of entire slices (dried) of orange rather than just the zest or whether it's just the Dogfish Head signature showing through I can't say. What I can say is that the brew is refreshing and very easy going down, a bit short on the finish but very tasty up front. At only 5% ABV, it's also quite light by the standards at Dogfish Head, a brewery best known for its over-the-top, hop monster and ancient recipe inspired creations. You can read more about it at the Dogfish website as well as on Sam's blog.

If the info on the DFH site is correct, "Namaste" may not be available outside of the state of Delaware. I enjoyed this bottle, shared over dinner with friends, at Wilmington's Domaine Hudson. Whether there's any still available there I don't know but, if not, there's plenty of other great stuff to choose from on the restaurant and wine bar's recently expanded and quite adventurous list of 120+ bottled beers.

Oh yeah, as for the title of today's post, I know it's not Sunday but, in homage to the crazy cats at Dogfish Head, so what? I drank this on Saturday and wrote about it on Monday, so Sunday it is. After all, it's my blog and I'll do what I want.

Intro only...

A Burger and a Beer: Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats

Even though I live closer to the Jersey shore than to Delaware’s beaches, over the last few years I’ve taken a keener liking to the first state’s shore points. Maybe it’s a throwback to childhood summer vacations, when my folks packed up the family car and took us to varying beaches on the DelMar peninsula for a week. Or maybe it’s the fact that dogs are welcome on some of Delaware’s beaches starting not long after the season finale of Labor Day. In any event, when it comes to Delaware's fairly short stretch of shoreline, there’s little doubt that Rehoboth Beach is the area’s economic epicenter as well as its focal point when it comes to options for good grub.

Since opening in 1995, Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats has been one of the anchors of Rehoboth’s casual dining scene. Maybe “dining” is not the right word, as DFHB&E is first and foremost a brewpub. The food is hearty, straightforward and honest, served in more than ample quantities in an environment that more or less matches the tone of the food. Given the relatively low bar set by the food at all too many brewpubs, I almost always choose a burger when eating at any brewpub for the first time, figuring that if they can’t get it right with a burger (and a beer, of course) then there’s little reason to explore further.

Even though I’d visited Dogfish’s brewpub a couple of times in the past, I could hardly pass up starting over as if from a blank slate. Their headliner, the “Indulgence Burger,” a hefty patty of locally bred beef topped with an onion ring, cheddar and bacon sounded hard to beat. Though there are other burger options available at Dogfish Head, I figured “why bother?” A choice well made, as it turned out. The “Indulgence” is not without room for improvement – the Kaiser roll was a touch meager for the scale of the sandwich and full strips of bacon would have delivered greater depth of flavor than the dried bacon crumbles. Those are minor quibbles, however, as the sandwich was more than satisfying – beefy without being greasy and cooked to a dead-on medium rare, just as ordered. It’s the onion ring, though, that really provides the burger’s signature. Sliced thick (it’s as large as the burger itself) and fried in beer batter made with Dogfish Head’s Shelter Pale Ale, the ring adds a sweet, earthy richness to the meatiness of the burger, pushing the whole combo right over the top.

What to drink with an over-the-top burger? How about an over-the-top beer? Dogfish Head has made a name for themselves producing some of the biggest, boldest and hoppiest beers on the craft brewing market. Their 90-Minute IPA – intensely hopped, rich with malty goodness and exhaling aromas of apricot and caramelized grapefruit – may just be the finest all-around beer in the Dogfish Head lineup. Tipping the scales at 9% ABV, it’s hardly a session beer but it’s well balanced and made a very fine match to the burger.

They got it right – the rudiments, that is – enough so that I was compelled to return again later in the week to explore the beers on tap menu a little further. But that’s another story for another day. This is just about a burger and a beer.

Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats
320 Rehoboth Avenue
Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971
(302) 226-2739

Exterior photo of restaurant courtesy of Dogfish.com

* * *
Related reading:

Intro only...