Two Out of Three Ain't Bad: Saison Du BUFF

There can come a time on a quest when you realize that things aren't going to work out as you'd hoped. When that happens, you need to just take your chips and go home, throw in the towel, or quit trying to come up with a funny metaphor. For me, that time has come; I will not be acquiring a matched set of Saison du BUFF(unopened in their original packaging.) "What's Saison du BUFF?" you may ask. Good question.

I was mentioning Saison du BUFFoff and on in the blog until this past May, hinting that it is one of my favorite beers in the novelty category. Simply put, three of my favorite breweries (Stone, Victory, and Dogfish Head) decided to release a limited edition beer containing parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme. If Simon and Garfunkel's version of "Scarborough Fair" just popped into your head, you've got the right idea; also, good luck getting that earworm out of there.

The three breweries decided to brew three beers using identical ingredients, one beer per brewery. It's the only fair way I can think of for a brewer to really compare their skills and equipment but it wasn't that kind of contest. It was a celebration of what craft brewing has achieved and a means of artistic expression. Every famous painter has painted a bowl of fruit at some point in their career but there's no way to pick the best. These are works of art.

Unfortunately, I took the art part a bit too much to heart: instead of reviewing them right away as the artists intended I stuck them in my wine fridge (while searching in vain for the Stone variant.) Moldering in a dark ~70 degree refrigerator is slightly better than leaving them out in the open (just ask Lenin,) but these beers weren't high enough ABV to really age properly (and they have metal caps.) Since I waited so long to open and review these beers they have probably changed dramatically from what was intended.

Out of respect for the breweries and my neglect at not doing this sooner, we're going to do something a little different with this beereview: not open any beers!

This looks eerily familiar. 

Beereview: Saison du BUFF - Victory

The bottle looks pretty nice.

Beereview: Saison du BUFF - Dogfish Head

I remember these being really good. The herbs made it taste a little like a beer you drink when you still have pizza in your mouth (you know what I'm talking about too ladies.)

Beereview: Saison du BUFF - Stone

I wish I found this beer while it was still in stores. I think I might have seen the bottle before I started collecting them, but I never got all the Pokemon either.

What really drives me crazy in not acquiring this trio of brews isn't that I'm some kind of maniacal collector with a lawn full of broken bicycles; it's the not knowing. The third beer was possibly the best or possibly the worst. Let's just assume it's Garfunkel and not Simon (aww, poor Garfunkel.)

Were you lucky enough to try any of these? Do you still have one treasured beer you'll never open?  Drop me a line and leave a comment below!