If you're anything like us here at Drink Craft Beer, you're always looking to try new brews when you go to the store. While we always have our old favorites, there's something fun about finding something we haven't tasted before and possibly discovering a previously unknown delicious beer. Especially as it seems that new breweries are entering our state at an unprecedented rate.

While a lot of these beers we try are good, and some are great, a few are just plain bad! We've all had it happen, you open a beer, pour it in the glass, take that first sip and..."ugh!" I'm not talking about when there's just no flavor, I mean when there's a lot of flavor and it's not good. Maybe it's medicinal or chemical-tasting. Or it's just super sweet and cloying, totally inappropriate for the style. Or it could even be infected. But you know from the first sip that you won't enjoy this beer at all!

In that case, what do you do? Do you subscribe to the "wasting beer is a sin," mentality and suffer through it no matter what? Or do you dump the beer down the drain and open a new one, hoping for better results? I know what we do, but we want to know what YOU do!

As usual, vote below, then let us know why you made that choice on Twitter, on Facebook or in the comments below the poll. Cheers!

There are certain beers that stand out for me; despite having them time and time again I never tire of them and they hold a special place in my heart...or stomach if you were. Saison Dupont is one of those beers. It was the first Saison I ever tried and it opened my eyes to a style I didn’t even know existed. Light, fresh, effervescent and fantastically satisfying Saison quickly became one of my favorite beer styles. But alas, there weren’t many Saisons being made by American craft brewers...until recently.

Saison has been experiencing a bit of a growth period over the last couple years, and that’s a great thing for all of us. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s the next big thing, though I’d like it to be, but it is gaining some traction. I recently sat down with a group of friends to try out six different Saisons, some old favorites, some I’d never had. The good news is that there’s a few American breweries that are creating some amazing beers that you’ve got to try.

The Good

Saison Dupont

I used Saison Dupont as my benchmark here. I love this beer, and likely always will. This beer pours a cloudy golden straw color and just looks fantastic. If you haven’t had a Saison before the smell might throw you off, it’s a little funky but don’t be scared. There’s a freshness to it that few other beers are able to capture. It’s earthy but light and has a nice fruitiness with an incredibly dry finish. The dry finish on this beer stood out more and more as I tried some other offerings. This isn’t a low alcohol beer at 6.5% but it tastes like one. There’s little if any lingering sweetness for the malt and it drinks very clean and crisp.

Notch Session Saison

Some of you have joked with us about being paid by Notch since we talk about their beer so much. I promise we’re not, we just think they make great beer. At 3.8% it’s the lowest abv of anything I tried by far. While this is an American offering it’s actually far closer to the original beers that were created to quench the thirst of Belgian farm workers. The workers were allowed 5 liters/day and, as such, low abv was a crucial component. This beer is very new and has quickly become a staple in my fridge. It’s light with subtle floral hop notes and then an amazing spiciness from the yeast. I served this up to 3 people that had never had a Saison before and everyone was blown away. At $4.25/22oz bomber its a bargain as well.

Pretty Things Jack D’Or

This was the beer that turned us on to Pretty Things and I still think it’s the best beer they make. This is by far the hoppiest of all the Saisons I tried, but it works. It’s a bit spicy, a bit peppery and a bit bitter. They key thing there is “a bit”; each component stands out but doesn’t overwhelm or dominate the flavor of the beer. At 6.5% abv it’s right in line with Saison Dupont, and like that beer there’s no indication that the abv is above that of a standard ale. I always forget how good this beer is. Every time I order it it somehow exceeds my expectations which is a peculiar but great thing.

Great Divide Collette

Of all the Saisons I tried this stood out as having a unique lemony flavor. It’s bright and fresh with nice notes of pepper and grass. I love that it comes in a 12oz bottle as well. While bombers and 750s are great sometimes you just want a single beer and this fits that bill. At 7.3% it’s a little higher on the abv side of things and if I’m honest as the beer warmed even slightly some malt sweetness started creeping through. I feel like if Great Divide pulled back just a tad on the alcohol this beer would be even better. That said this is still an amazing beer and you should go out and buy some. I had this with some grilled chicken, eggplant and summer squash and it was downright amazing.

The Not So Good

I’m rarely a stickler for style, I couldn’t care less about the distinction between Pale Ale or IPA as defined by IBUs, you can make up beer styles ‘til the cows come home, however, big boozy sweet Saisons just don’t do it for me. The thing I love about Saisons is their lightness, they cool you off on a hot Summer day. But both Avery and Sierra Nevada seem to have gone a different direction with their takes on the style.

Avery Eighteen Dry Hopped Rye Saison

I love rye beers, I love dry hopping and I love Saisons, so this should be perfect right? Sadly no. This beer smells sweet right away, which isn’t too surprising for a beer that’s 8.12%. For me the beer was just far too sweet; in comparison to everything else I was drinking it just feel thick and heavy. I was missing the subtle yeast flavors which seemed to get lost in the rye. It also lacked the carbonation that you’d expect from this style. On a different day perhaps I’d have a different opinion, perhaps a colder day with a heavier meal, but that’s not really what Saisons are about.

Sierra Nevada Ovila Saison

I’d heard some good things about this beer so my expectations were set high to begin with. There are some nice light citrus notes and subtle grassiness but there’s a sweetness I didn’t expect that made it fall flat for me. This was still quite a bit better than the Avery Eighteen, but just didn’t feel on the same par as the Pretty Things or Notch Session. I love Sierra Nevada as a brewery but this one just missed the mark a tad for me.

For one week in July of 2011, I (Jeff from Drink Craft Beer) was in London. Before leaving, I was ecstatic! I couldn't help but think of all the cask ale I was going to drink, not to mention the session beer available at every proper pub! After a week of drinking nothing but English cask ale, most of it very well balanced and of session-strength, though, I have to tell you that I came to a very important conclusion: man cannot survive on English cask ale alone. This revelation plays directly into another topic: the case for American Craft Beer!

Back to the beginning. Before leaving for the UK, I connected with a co-worker (and fellow beer lover) of mine to set up a night out on the town where we'd drink numerous proper (read: 20 oz) pints of cask beer and I'd get to learn about British pub and beer culture. Our first stop was The Dove on the banks of the River Thames, a Fuller's tied house. While overlooking the river we downed more than a few pints of Fuller's London Pride (see picture at right) and discussed the oddities of English vs. American pub culture. Number 1, did you know that, at a British pub, you order all your food and drinks at the bar? There's almost no table service in the entire country, save for at restaurants (which are quite different from pubs, I'm told, although there's often a separate room with table service in the pub). Number 2, if you have a table, people are not hesitant to share it with you, despite the fact that you are complete strangers. I was fairly neutral on the first point but really loved the second. Pubs and beer are supposed to be social, after all, and this seems like a great way to get talking! After this, we moved on to several more pubs and bars where I found an alarming number had cask ale...while it varied in condition there were many that, were they in the United States, the bar owner wouldn't have ever heard of cask ale, let alone had numerous casks available.

This last point leads me to the next: not all cask ale is good ale. Landlords (as bar owners are known) can very greatly in how well they keep their casks. Wandering around on my trip, I noticed the sign at left, which I thought would be a great addition to the U.S., until I realized it really had no actual bearing on how good the beer inside was. So don't be fooled, find out from a trusted source where the good real ale is!

My travels took me through quite a few places full of great cask beer too, though. The Southampton Arms in Kentish Town, the White Horse Pub in Parsons Green (partial cask lineup picture at top), The Draft House Tower Bridge and The Swan in Hammersmith all had great selections of ale, both on tap and in cask. Unlike here in the U.S., I usually didn't know what I was getting, so I just tried as many as I could...and, since the cask beer in UK averages about 4% it seemed, I was able to try a lot! It was all delicious, wonderfully balanced, not too hop forward, lightly carbonated and perfect to drink with friends in a social environment (meaning you didn't have to think about it too hard).

Part way through my trip I realized I was missing something, though. Despite the fact that the beer was great, over time it all started to seem a bit...similar. It was all wonderfully balanced, not to hop forward, lightly carbonated and perfect for a social environment (meaning you didn't have to think about it too hard). Don't get me wrong, I loved the English beer I had in London! It just got a bit similar over the course of a week. And that's when it hit me, I needed something different! A bit guiltily, I ordered a Saison Dupont (see picture at right) and it was the best Saison Dupont I'd ever had.

Forget the boundary pushing. Forget the 100+ IBUs craft beer. Forget barrel aging just to barrel age something. American craft beer is great because of the variety! That's why I drink craft beer. England has great English ale. Germany has great German beer. Belgium has great Belgian ale. But the United States is the only place where, in the same bar, I can get a great English-style session beer on cask, followed by a great German-style lager, a Belgian style ale and then finish the night off with a big 100+ IBU Double IPA! Variety is what makes American Craft Beer so amazing. It's the fact that we have thousands of brewers perfecting their art, all doing something slightly different and bringing together the styles of so many great beer nations. And they're continuously pushing the boundaries of beer. While it may have worked in the past, modern man cannot survive on English cask ale (or any single style of beer) alone. So, tonight, drink a pint of American Craft Beer of any style and just think about how lucky we are as beer lovers. Cheers! (And check out our Facebook Page for all of my London pictures)

On Thursday, June 30 2011 Drink Craft Beer celebrated our 5th Anniversary in style at Stoddard's Fine Food & Ale in Boston, MA with a party to raise money for Pints for Prostates. The event was a huge success, over 200 people came out and we raised more than $1500 for Pints for Prostates! We want to thank everyone involved in this event for helping to make it such a huge success and everyone who came out for all the support over the years and for the support this specific night. We are so happy to be able to send this check and to be able to raise money for such a great cause! Specifically, we'd like to thank those who donated to our raffle and hosted the party, including: Stoddard's Fine Food & Ale, Long Trail Brewing, Shipyard Brewing, Samuel Adams, Widmer Brewing, The Boston Red Sox, Red Hook Brewing Co., The Rare Beer Club, Craft Beer Cellar, Urban Grape, Ithaca Brewing, Taza Chocolate, B. Good, Narragansett, Upper Crust, Kashmir/Mantra/Diva Restaurants, Entertainment Cruises and, finally, Chris from Notch Session for making the only cask of Notch Saison dryhopped with locally grown Drink Craft Beer hops! Thank you so much! For all the pictures of this event, check out our Facebook Page.