Having established their core range of three beers, a programme of interesting one off beers under the banner of ‘Intrepid Journeys’ has commenced. Beers in this range will be interpretations of various beer styles from around the world often brewed in small batches, starting off with a Belgian Saison.
So Journey number 1 is a short hop over the channel into Belgium which is home to some fantastic beer, typically associated with high gravity beers that you might sip or have just one of. The Saison is a departure from the Belgian norm in that it is the easy drinking sibling of the Tripel.
A concern given the time of year is being able to maintain the temperature in the fermentation vessel. Belgian yeast ferments fairly warm and the brewery is about 5 degrees at this time of year which means the beer may stall. A difference from a true Saison this beer will be casked rather than bottled and served through a pump meaning we can’t carbonate the beer as highly as a Saison would normally be.
Saison is a style of beer that is reputed to originate from Wallona which is in the south of Belgium. It’s also known as Farmhouse beer, brewed in fairly variable conditions to quench thirst, not knock you out after two pints.
As with other Belgian beers, the defining characteristic is the flavours from the specific yeast rather than the trend these days towards hoppy pale beers. The Belgian yeasts tend to generate spicy / peppery flavours, described as earthy. So this will be an interesting journey for us as too as our standard beers are defined by the hops, the oak or the malt, the