Style Breakdown - Saison/Belgian Farmhouse

The Saison/Belgian Farmhouse style is probably my favorite style of beer. That's of course only if I was forced into a corner with a gun up to my head and told I absolutely, positively could only choose 1 favorite style of beer. Otherwise, I'd take too much time deciding which 5 styles were my favorite. Anyway, the complexity and multiple drinking applications of saisons are what make them such good all-around beers. Here is the style breakdown of saisons.

Saisons were originally brewed by farmhouses in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium. (Hence the alias, Belgian Farmhouse ale.) Saison is the French word for "season" and, no, it's not just a clever name; these ales were actually brewed seasonally. They were typically brewed towards the end of the cool season to last through the warmer months until late summer harvest. The farm workers were allowed to have up to 5 liters of saison during each workday. You might think the workers would be useless after 5 liters of beer, but these brews were typically low in alcohol at the time and were drank over the course of the whole day. It was meant to serve as a refreshing beverage that would rehydrate the hard working harvesters. (Water at the time was not pure and could cause illness.)

It's funny that I'm doing a style breakdown of saisons, because historically there was not a saison "style." Every farmhouse made a different version of this seasonal beer with whatever ingredients they had available. Many modern examples are modeled after Saison Dupont, one of the most internationally popular versions made in Belgium. Most are higher in alcohol than the originals, at 6 - 8% ABV. There are enough similarities between these current versions that the BJCP recognizes saison as an independent Belgian style.

Not too many years ago, saison was considered a "dying style." However, there recently has been a huge resurgence due in large part to Americans discovering this beer. In 2006 at the Great American Beer Festival, they showed a 76% increase in Saison entrants over the past 2 years. That's good for us, because this style can be very delicious and can appeal to many people.

Saisons are typically fermented at relatively high temperatures, even for ales. Those fermentation temps and the type of yeast used add some unique tasty qualities to the style. Most have some nice malt sweetness, orange or apricot citrus fruitiness, herbal spiciness or peppery qualities, a slight tartness, mellow earthy hop character, and a dry crisp refreshing finish. As you can tell by the flavor description, these beers can be very complex! The amazing part is that most pure saisons due not add spices or fruit to the beer; those flavors are created by the yeast.

Due to the number of distinctive flavors in saisons, they can be drank with many different foods and during all seasons. If you've never tried one, you really should. Here in Minnesota we are lucky enough to have 2 local craft breweries that make tasty saisons: Surly Cynicale and Lift Bridge Farm Girl Saison. There is also Saison Dupont, the one that helped introduce the style to so many. The first saison I ever had was Ommegang Hennepin, which blew my mind and is still one of my favorite beers to this day.