This mixed-culture saison with oranges, Earl Grey tea, and saffron scored a 99/100 with our blind panel and delighted our editorial team, who named it one of their Best 20 Beers in 2023.
One of the world’s most respected brewers of dry, rustic farmhouse ales, Daniel Thiriez of Brasserie Thiriez, shares the story of his brewery, his yeast, and their place in the small northern French town of Esquelbecq. As told to Ryan Pachmayer.
Fermented with Thiriez’s house saison yeast, this ambrée has a complex, malt-forward flavor with aromas of citrus peel, hazelnut, caramel, and gingerbread.
This fresh and peachy poke bowl gets a quick splash of classic saison or mixed-culture farmhouse ale—and it’ll taste great alongside the rest of it, too.
The beers of Wunderkammer get their own rustic character via locally foraged ingredients, mixed cultures that include Brett, and a stripped-down, old-fashioned process featuring direct-fired kettles and fermentation without strict temperature control.
Whether they’re working in farmhouses or warehouses, today’s saison brewers are united in their pursuit of rustic character. While that goal is abstract, they achieve it via concrete choices about ingredients and process—and the ways to get there are as varied as the brewers and beers themselves.
It may be more story than style, but these five examples inspire the five brewers who recommend them.
Crooked Stave’s saisons get a mix of grains meant to contribute to the texture and feed the yeast and bacteria during extended secondary fermentations. Founder and brewmaster Chad Yakobson explains the reasoning.
Crooked Stave founder and brewmaster Chad Yakobson explains how you can adjust grist, pH, and hopping levels for various mouthfeel and flavor outcomes in farmhouse-inspired beers with Brettanomyces.
Brewing saisons with Brettanomyces offers an enticing opportunity to fully embrace Noble and Noble-esque hops, including newer varieties such as Adeena and Loral and later kettle additions to encourage biotransformation. Crooked Stave founder and brewmaster Chad Yakobson breaks down some possibilities.