by Mark Meli

Saisons are farmhouse ales from Wallonia, the French-speaking area of Belgium. ‘Saison’ is French for ‘season,’ and summer was the season they were made for. Traditionally brewed in winter, they would be stored for several months and consumed by farm laborers during long, hot days in the fields.

Saisons are typically golden or amber colored, and pour with a high head and lots of visible carbonation. A saison should be a crisp, light beer with a fruity malt character. Most today use pilsner malt and sometimes wheat, though addition of grains such as spelt, buckwheat, and oats was common in the past and is still found today. A typical saison contains 5-7% alcohol, although they were lighter in the past. The are normally well hopped and very dry. There should be clear hop flavors and a noticeable bitterness in the finish. A saison should never be sweet or sugary—it is a style meant to be thirst-quenching and refreshing. Many also have a distinct earthy and rustic “barnyard” aspect to them, the result of wild yeasts also taking part in fermentation. This character is more restrained than in a lambic.

The archetypical example of this style is Saison Dupont, which is widely available in Japan. Through the writings of Michael Jackson, this became known throughout the world as the one saison by which to judge all others. It is spicy and very hoppy, perfectly balanced and refreshing, and goes as well with Japanese cuisine as Belgian. If you have yet to try it, you really must.

There are only a few saisons made in Japan, though the number seems to be growing. Baird’s Saison Sayuri was one of the earliest and is quite authentic. Shiga Kogen’s Yamabushi Saison One uses sake rice, which though never found in Belgium recreates the farmhouse spirit by using local grains.

There is a move among craft brewers, particularly in the US, to brew saisons that are more sour and funky than typical Belgian versions. Some of these use only wild yeasts, an approach closer to traditional methods. A fine example is Hill Farmstead in Vermont. Their saisons, hard to find outside their area, are some of the most highly regarded farmhouse ales in the world, and are very funky and often sour. The barrel-aged version of Yamabushi is probably the closest thing in Japan.

As the weather warms and flowers bloom around us, there’s no better beer than a saison to wind down the day with.

All Beer Styles articles are written by Mark Meli, author of Craft Beer in Japan.

This article was published in Japan Beer Times # () and is among the limited content available online. Order your copy through our online shop or download the digital version from the iTunes store to access the full contents of this issue.