In Issue 2 (Summer 2014) of Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine™, I attempted to define saison as a beer style. After a lot of chats with a lot of saison brewers, I came to the conclusion that saison is more of a philosophy than it is a categorical style of beer. Saisons abide by no particular flavor or aroma profiles and instead are characterized by qualities such as light body and effervescence. Although most saisons are brewed with light grains and wild yeast strains, in general they are made with whatever is locally available at the time.
As they always do, the craft brewers I interviewed had a lot more to say than could be condensed into one magazine article. Here are a few more of their sentiments about saison.
“Broadly speaking, everything that we brew falls into that [saison] category. For us it’s all about embracing nature, working with local terroir, working with yeast, letting the product drive the process instead of the other way around.” Ron Extract, Co-Owner and Brewer, Jester King Brewery (Austin, Texas)
“Saison is, at least from a traditional level, a hoppy beer. That was the idea of a saison being brewed in the winter; putting a lot of hops in it to keep it somewhat stable until [brewers] could put it in the field.” Bryan Greenhagen, Founder, Mystic Brewery (Chelsea, Massachusetts)
“I really believe that brewing farmhouse-style beers is a lot more than ordering a yeast strain and pitching it. For us, it has more to do with the process with which we brew than the recipe.” Chase Healey, Brewmaster, Prairie Artisan Ales (Tulsa, Oklahoma)
“Our Field Mouse’s Farewell beer is what we call a harvest saison. It’s mostly rye, aside from barley, about 20 percent rye. Rye is one of those things that really works with saison yeast.” Dann Paquette, Co-Owner, Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project (Boston, Massachusetts)
“A lot of beer styles are pretty well defined with narrow guidelines, but with saison you’re really wide open to do a lot of different things. It could be hoppy, it could be spicy, dark, light, you name it—everything is game, so I think it really inspires people to take the ball and run with it.” Gordon Schuck, Co-Owner and Brewmaster, Funkwerks, Inc. (Fort Collins, Colorado)
“We’re usually very transparent when it comes to the ingredients of our beers. But Belgian brewers tend to be a bit cagey with the details, and that’s what gives a lot of farmhouse ales their mystique. So if there’s a secret spice in Opal Saison, I’m not telling.” Matt Brynildson, Brewmaster, Firestone Walker Brewing Company (Paso Robles, California)