Today we unleash upon an unsuspecting world the latest installment in our collaboration series: Dogfish Head / Victory / Stone Saison du BUFF. Three great breweries, three old friends, one hellaciously herbaceous beer.

Before divulging any more details, let’s fire up the flux capacitor and set the Delorean to 2003. That’s the year Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head, Bill Covaleski of Victory, and our own Greg Koch formed the ill-fated Brewers United for Freedom of Flavor (BUFF), a three person organization with the mission of “flex[ing] their verbal muscles in a no-holds barred attack on mindless video-drone beer attitudes,” in the words of the original press release.

BUFF held a single press conference in an aisle of a Boston liquor store. Despite sending invitations to a slew of mainstream media contacts, a single member of the beer press deemed the event worthy of attendance. Seven years later, Greg, Sam, and Bill felt that the time was right to commemorate that abortive shot across the bow of brewing mediocrity, and a collaboration beer seemed the perfect forum for their unique brand of sudsy activism.

Amazingly, despite having brewed well over a hundred different beers between the three of them, none had made a beer like Saison du BUFF, which takes the earthy quaffability of a Belgian farmhouse ale and adds the kind of twist you’d expect from these three brewing miscreants: sage, thyme, parsley, and Stone Estate (i.e. our parking lot) grown rosemary. As you can imagine given the personalities involved, the Saison du BUFF brew day was like watching a gaggle of crazed lemurs operate heavy machinery. Fortunately, someone was there to film it:

https://vimeo.com/11419846

So what does Saison du BUFF taste like, you ask? How about we have Sam explain: “Minty, piney, estery nose to it…Ohhh, that’s a good beer, starts out kind of marmaladey and sweet, and then it gets kind of clovey and dry…rustic, earthy, and hay[-like], wheaty. Beautiful, complex, very drinkable saison. First one came out awesome!”

Not to be left out, Bill sent us these tasting notes: “Fluffy white head is taut over golden incense burner of inviting aromas. Bright hops evident on the nose but deeper notes of oily sage also very apparent. Or was that the rosemary…? A sip and I am no closer to the truth but totally enthralled with this brew. It makes me hungry as the herbal flavors are both bright and savory with the lemony hops lifting all impressions. Body is firm and food friendly. Bon appétit!”

If that sounds up your alley, you should be able to find Saison du BUFF wherever you can find Stone. If you don’t get Stone, but you do get Dogfish Head or Victory, you’re in luck because Greg, Sam, and Bill will be brewing two more batches of Saison du BUFF, once at Dogfish Head on June 6th and again at Victory on June 10th. So keep your eyes peeled and your noses primed for this pungent, uniformity-smashing collaboration beer.