Trying to quantify something as "best" in beer is often a laborious task, if not a disastrous one.
Beer is subjective, offering an array of tastes and experiences, and even when writing my own analysis of best beer lists compiled by websites like RateBeer or Beer Advocate, I try to write "best" in quotation marks because I realize the results of each poll or survey aren't necessarily indicative of what that word means to everyone. What is a top beer for me isn't the same for you.
Except, perhaps, when it comes to one particular beer.
Never have I seen and heard such consensus to elect a single beer as best as I have with Brasserie Dupont's Saison Dupont Vieille Provision. Or, as you probably know it, simply Saison Dupont.
This Belgian saison, which almost disappeared several decades ago, is truly the benchmark for the style. That certainly made it deserving to be the focus of a recent feature for All About Beer, highlighting Saison Dupont in the magazine's regular Classic Beer column.
"It's always a good idea, when you're learning about beer, to have benchmarks," said Wendy Littlefield, who, along with husband Don Feinberg, were responsible for first bringing Saison Dupont to the U.S. through their Vanberg & DeWulf import company.
In my conversation with Wendy, time and time again she noted the wide recognition of Saison Dupont as a pivotal beer. Not just for the style, but for the industry as a whole. It's a beer that has launched hundreds, if not thousands, of imitators. And, as I note in the story, there was a time when it was set to be erased from history.
"There was every intention to discontinue it," noted Mike Battaglia, brand manager with Total Beverage Solution, which now imports the beer. "Saison Dupont represents heritage, quality and history and it nearly went extinct."
On March 12, people celebrated Saison Day, another one of those made up beer holidays meant to excite drinkers about a particular style or brand, but when it comes to this beer in particular, it seems an appropriate reason to celebrate. How often can you actually pick up a best beer at your leisure? You can walk into a higher-end grocery store like Whole Foods or your local bottle shop and find Saison Dupont, considered by many to be perfect.
"It's hard to make a beer with that simple a recipe that also has as much flavor and character," said Gordon Schuck, co-owner and brewmaster at Colorado's Funkwerks. "It's masterful."
Learn more about Saison Dupont and how this best beer almost went away for good in my All About Beer story.
"Don't drink to get drunk. Drink to enjoy life." - Jack Kerouac
