OnTap Magazine

Biere de Garde (“Beer for keeping”) style, whereas the Belgians tended towards the drier, hoppier Saison style. It's quite difficult to define the authentically brewed Saisons – “refreshing, low alcohol, made for the season” are responses you might get from the traditional Saison producing brewers. The classic producers are small breweries located on the original farm land. These are simple rustic farmhouse ales using mixed wild yeast, malted barley, and other grains with generous amounts of bittering hops. The yeasts are responsible for the dry character, and spicy, estery (fruity) Saisons, mainly light in colour. There are also some variations that are darker and sweeter, and more full-bodied. The BJCP (Beer Judge Certification Program) 2021 style guide helps us out somewhat with a modern international definition – “A family of refreshing, highly attenuated (fermented), hoppy, and fairly bitter Belgian ales with a very dry finish and high carbonation. Characterized by a fruity, spicy, sometimes phenolic fermentation profile, and the use of cereal grains and sometimes spices for complexity.” So, there we have it: refreshing, over-fermented using diastatic yeasts, sometimes with muted spicy phenolic producing yeast strains, generously hopped, and occasionally flavoured with spices and botanicals, resulting in a dry, fruity and somewhat bitter pale beer that can vary in strength. The BJCP dictates classification of beer alcohol levels entered into competitions as “table” at 3.5-5.0%, “standard” at 5-7% and “super” at 7-9% ABV. Most commonly spices and botanicals are not used and these flavours are derived from sometimes mixed strain yeasts, which are classified as diastatic. Brettanomyces yeast-derived farmyard flavours are generally considered off flavours. ADEEPDIVE INTODUPONT REGARDED AS THE CLASSIC SAISON PRODUCER Brewing began in 1844 on the farm in Tourpes, Hainout, and later the brewery was purchased by Louis Dupont in 1920, who resurrected the Saison style. Now run by the 4th generation of the family, 2019’s figures suggested they produced 3 million litres per year. (That’s not as much as it sounds – the larger craft breweries in South Africa can also manage that volume). The plant and process combine traditional with modern. Water high in carbonate hardness is abstracted from a 68m deep well, and pale Belgian malts are used alongside European hops as raw materials. Two copper kettle vessels dating from the 1920s are still in use and heated by gas flame. These are supplemented by a modern brewhouse. The direct gas firing is considered important as it produces local hotspots in the bottom of the kettle and contributes to sugar caramelisation and flavour development. The “needy” yeast strain (probably a mixed culture with some wine yeast origin) is managed in-house and kept a guarded secret. Traditional fermentation at high temperatures is undertaken at 35°C for 1 week, following yeast being pitched at 28°C. Modern stainless rectangular fermenters with a wort depth of 1.2m help the expression of esters. Maturation is 1-2 weeks where dry hopping takes place for hop aroma expression, followed by centrifugation and the addition of sugar and yeast for bottle fermentation. The unpasteurised beer is packed into 330 ml crown capped bottles and 750ml Champagne-corked bottles and laid down for 6-8 weeks for secondary bottle fermentation at 23°C, allowing natural carbonation to build up as the yeast consumes residual sugars. The bottles are packed in crates, horizontally, allowing a larger surface area contact with the gas headspace, which contains small amounts of oxygen to facilitate the yeast metabolism, also facilitating a large surface area for the yeast to separate. Curiously, brown bottles are used for the US market, as perception exists that green bottles are inferior. The exact opposite is true in South Africa! Dupont themselves describe the Saison, albeit fairly vaguely, as follows: Coppery blond, the finest aromas and a strong bitterness transform this beer into a thirst-quencher with no equal, just the way it was created. Our selection of yeasts is the perfect base for these typical aromas and ditto taste. A real refermentation inthebottle,which will continue for a long time in your cellar, result into this complex and particular aromatic beer. Dupont Saison has certainly influenced most modern Saison producers globally and is used as a reference. We need to mention Michael Jackson (The Beer Hunter) here, for almost single- handedly resurrecting many almost lost European beer styles in the 1970’s and 1980’s, Saison included. WHAT IS A DIASTATICYEAST? To explain this, we need to understand how brewer’s yeast feeds on carbohydrates from the starchy raw materials. During the mashing process, barley malt starch is naturally broken down by enzymes into simpler sugar units of glucose. Depending on the time and temperature of the mash more starch is converted to smaller sugars that yeast can use as food to produce energy, grow and divide, in a process known as fermentation. This produces alcohol, CO2 and a host of yeast-derived flavours. Normally around 70% of the starch is converted into fermentable sugars, and the balance remains as unfermentable dextrins in the finished beer as body and mouthfeel. Ok so far? Now, to return to the question. A diastatic yeast is able to produce enzymes during fermentation and maturation that can break down residual starch to sugars, producing more alcohol, and with it a dry mouthfeel. Diastatic brewing yeast is usually used in modern Saison production and is readily available from yeast suppliers in South Africa. It will produce a real degree of fermentation of over 90%, in contrast to a regular beer of 80-85%. ontapmag.co.za | Spring 2025 | 31