Joe Stange

Even in 20th century Belgium, “saison” was interpreted in different ways. Those interpretations continue to branch off into myriad ways today.

• Saison
• Belgium

Yvan De Baets, cofounder and head brewer at the Brasserie de la Senne in Brussels, has been researching (and brewing) saison for more than two decades. He has argued that “yeast is the biggest myth about saison.” We asked him to elaborate.

• Saison
• Yeast
• Belgian Beer

In Munich in 1872, the famous Schottenhamel tent needed more beer. Josef Sedlmayer had beer to sell ... but it was a stronger lager brewed in the Viennese style. Thanks to beer historian Andreas Krennmair, we have an educated guess about the recipe.

• Beer Recipe
• Festbier
• Oktoberfest

Based on some details shared by Pierre-Alex Carlier, here is a homebrew recipe inspired by the world-classic Saison d’Epeautre.

• Saison
• Beer Recipe

Saison is a dynamic creature—ever-evolving, open to interpretation, and grounded in a myth that is basically true. It chafes at hermetically sealed definitions and style guidelines. Plot twist: You get to write its next chapter.

• Saison
• Farmhouse Ales
• Yeast

This “bread IPA,” with a profile like a big, bitter British ESB, gets extra character and body from the addition of crusty, unsold loaves from Brussels supermarkets—promoting a less wasteful economy while suggesting new avenues for flavor experimentation.

• Beer Recipe
• ESB
• IPA

Don’t let that extra loaf go to waste—try throwing it into your mash tun. Here, Sam Fleet of Brussels Beer Project breaks down the unexpected benefits of brewing with bread.

• Bread
• Special Ingredient
• Brussels Beer Project

From our Love Handles series on beer bars we love, this session-focused, lager-loving pub inside a modern food hall features highly trained beer service and a range of culinary options.

• Love Handles
• Shelter
• Washington

Tulsa’s American Solera began with a serious devotion to coolships and mixed fermentation. It has since leaned with abandon into hazy IPAs, big adjunct stouts, fruited foeder lagers, and ... pumpkin seltzer?

• Breakout Brewer
• American Solera
• Hard Seltzer

This fairly straightforward home cider recipe makes use of saison yeast to ensure a complete fermentation, with many other variations possible.

• Beer Recipe
• Cider

We missed traveling, we missed going to bars, and we missed going to the movies. We even missed traveling to bars to watch screenings of geeky beer-documentary movies that really don’t speak to anyone else except those of us who already love those things.

• Movie

This tropical-flavored fruit from un-tropical places has a funny name and great potential for brewing some unusual fruited beers.

• Pawpaw
• Special Ingredient
• Fruit Beer