A trip to Scarborough Fair

Brewery: Dogfish Head Craft Brewery
Location: Milton, DE
Name:Saison du Buff
Type: Saison, clearly
This beer was created by DFH as part of a three brewery collaboration with Stone and Victory. Tessa picked it out while treating me to a stirring rendition to the song "Scarborough Fair," which was about the ingredients in this beer, apparently. According to some investigatory journalism, BUFF stands for Brewers United for Freedom of Flavor as this pact was created in 2003 by the three breweries finally coming to fruition in beer form in 2010. Buff pours a hazy, straw color...like the sun setting in San Francisco on a Tuesday afternoon. Much to my shock this beer foamed up MASSIVELY. The 2 inch thick foam peaked stark white and eventually dissipated back down. The label wasn't kidding. First whiff of the bouquet and you get sage and rosemary. For those not in the know, this beer was brewed with sage, rosemary, parsley, and thyme. Yep. All of these herbs make for an incredibly complex flavor. You get the rosemary full force and a ton of thyme in the aftertastes. Mild citrus hops come up in the back end. To be honest, I was intimidated by this beer. I knew it wasn't going to be traditional, not that that is what scared me. What scared me was that I had no idea how these herbs would play out in any liquid form other than a soup base. Roast turkey would make a great accessory for this beer. However, this was not for me. The more I drank of Buff the less I liked it. The herbs weren't sitting well with me as it had a strong resemblance to gin. Gin and I never got a long. It is pretty interesting and is definitely worth picking up if you're feeling adventurous. I did not get the Stone or Victory versions of this beer, and for me, that's not what I'm calling a loss.