Polling craft-beer artisans about what makes a saison a saison, I received diverse responses, to say the least. Dann Paquette of Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project talked about sessionable English ales; Ryan Greenhagen of Mystic Brewing discussed local ingredients; Jason Yester of Trinity Brewing showed me paintings by impressionist artists; Gordon Schuck of Funkwerks elaborated on the aromatic possibilities of Opal hops; Ron Extract of Jester King Brewery quoted Yvan De Baets; and Chase Healey of Prairie Artisan Ales talked about the weather. In their varied approaches to saison, these brewers demonstrate just how versatile the style is. They’ve led me to the conclusion that a saison is whatever you make it be. Here’s how each of them has made the style his own.
Rustic, Low Alcohol
For Boston’s Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project Co-owner Dann Paquette, saison is a rustic, low alcohol style of beer. “I have spent a lot of time brewing English beers, and I think there’s some sort of English equivalent for saison—from people working in fields, that sort of thing,” he says. “I guarantee there’s a lager version or German version of this sort of beer as well.”
Jack D’Or, Pretty Things’s baseline beer, is “a dry beer, a bitter beer, a beer that has yeast complexities, a beer that pairs with most foods, a beer that the most cynical expert beer drinker could drink as well as someone who just had Sam Adams for the first time last night,” says Paquette. “Our goal going in was to make a beer that would not only be a creative outlet for us, but also a beer that everyone could share and enjoy together.”