Beer Review With Food: Great Divide Saison and Flattened Chicken

Tis The Season For Saison

Summer is definitely upon us and with it comes the warm/hot weather and the desire to use my Big Green Egg even more (if that’s possible)   Summer is also often associated with a style of beer called Saison, or Farmhouse ale.  I haven’t had a Saison in a long time, so when I saw Great Divide’s Saison in the beer store I just had to buy it.  I have not been disappointed with any of the other Great Divide beers so my expectations were fairly high.  Now that I had the beer, I needed to fix something to go with it.  I had read that Saison goes well with poultry as well as curried food.  So, I decided to marinate a chicken in an olive oil and curry mixture and then grill it off on The Big Green Egg:

Appearance: A light straw/hay colored and slightly cloudy beer with bright white head greeted my tulip glass when I poured the beer.  Lacing was decent.

Smell: I got sour cherry and lemon, along with a little malt sweetness and very little hops.  There was a bit of spice as well.

Taste: The taste is a little tart/sour with sour cherry and lemon.  It is  a lighter bodied beer with good carbonation.  There is that little bit of malt sweetness along with crisp finish.  I also got some of that breadiness that seems to be in many Belgian beers. The beer was actually a bit like the Girardin Gueuze I had a while back.

Drinkability: This beer drinks well, even with the 7.3% ABV.  It goes down with a slightly tart and crisp finish and is a great thirst-quencher if enjoyed rather than guzzled.

I really enjoyed this beer.  The flavor was very good with a touch of tartness and spice.  It was fairly crisp and refreshing.  The beer paired excellent with the “Flattened Curried Chicken” I fixed.  I could easily see farm workers drinking this beer in a field with their lunch on a warm Belgian Summer day.  Once again Great Divide has produced a good beer that delivers as promised.

Here’s the score:

1.  Appearance- 7 points (out of 10)
2. Smell- 7 points (out of 10)
3. Taste- 17 points (out of 20)
4. Drinkability- 7 points (out of 10)

Total 38 (out of 50) Points-4 Mugs

Flattened Curry Grilled Chicken

• one “flattened” chicken (whole chicken that has been split allowing it to lay flat)
• 2-3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1/2-1 Tablespoon Curry Powder
• A couple of shakes of garlic powder
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• Mix everything together then rub onto the chicken and let sit in the refrigerator for 2-6 hours (1 hour minimum)
• Cook chicken on hot grill (475 degrees) until done.  Sprinkle a bit of Paprika on the chicken before grilling.