OnTap Magazine

I t was a relaxed Saturday night of wood-fired pizza and bottle shares. We started with a growler of my brewing buddy Clint’s Belgian blond and our respective spouses shaking their heads at our wild hand gestures, as we excitedly discussed the nuance of the yeast character on the delicate Pilsner malt pillow. I cracked open a fresh bottle of Orval, a Belgian Pale Ale. Only a few weeks earlier, I had heard that they were in stock over in Pretoria. I trekked out the very next day to secure a few bottles for myself: a ritual often replayed if a new batch of Belgian ales has hit the local shelves. That night–after carefully pouring the orange-copper liquid into two clean glasses–I put it aside, realising that my fridge, which was set to lager, had done this beer no favours. Our excited conversation veered off beers for a few minutes as we discussed pizza dough. Finally, as a reflex, I grabbed my glass and took a sip, as one does after an extended monologue about fermentation. Even now, months later, I can still recall that moment when time came to a crashing halt. Stripped of all hype and pretense in this absent-minded sip, I finally understood why this beer is so highly sought after. Upon recommendation from Rob Cass, a fellow Orval lover, we drank this beer quite young. The brett character was still restrained, with the soft primary fermentation character shining against the firm noble hop bitterness. I blinked and my glass was empty. BREWING ON THE FARM It is frequently said how difficult it is to talk about Belgian ales in general, given their historic rejection of the more traditional beer styles. A Belgian beer that exemplifies this–and has significantly grown in popularity over the last several years– is the saison. It is one of two styles also known as a “farmhouse ale,” the other being the French biere de garde . This categorization reflects a shared history: these beers were brewed on farms during the winter and then stored away to be consumed over the summer months. Originally, these farmhouse beers were quite varied in taste and quality, and by no means did they strictly adhere to English and German brewing dictates. Today, when you drink a saison, the first thing you might notice is its’ high attenuation, which means the yeast has done a good job of converting sugar to alcohol, resulting typically in a dry finish. While present-day saisons can vary from ‘table’ (as low as 3.5%) to ‘super’ (as high as 10%) in alcohol content (ABV), the original farmhouse beers had to have a low enough ABV for those Wallonian farm hands to keep working, but high enough to assist with its preservation. Typical of Belgian ales, saisons have a workhorse yeast that has no problem fermenting the beer all the way down to a 1.002 gravity, while imparting that lovely and well-known fruity-spice yeast character. The high attenuation capacity of these yeast strains also means that a high ABV beer in excess of 9% can be produced with a modest malt bill. Again, standard style guidelines are a very loose framework when it comes to Belgian ales. To paraphrase the words of Stan Hieronymus from “Brew Like a Monk,” style provides historical perspective and communicates something broadly about the beer, to both consumers and beer judges. And as Phil Markowski notes in his book on farmhouse ales: “To accurately reproduce farmhouse styles requires an expanded view of beer-making, or ‘brewing- outside-the-box.’...French and Belgian farmhouse brewing developed as a ‘thirdway’ apart from German and English brewing…” DRINKING EXPECTATIONS So, what can you expect from Belgian ales when they make an appearance on your local tap list or home brew festival menu? I would start with anticipating a unique yeast character that can offer tastes ranging from citrusy marmalade to a crisp, cracked black pepper and crushed coriander. In many cases, these fruity and spicy notes come exclusively from the yeast, however they should be fairly subtle. Beware: if you pick up the taste of band-aid or burnt rubber, something is likely off! Witbier–which in English simply means “white beer”–is a must-drink Belgian ale that often comes with orange peel or zest used in combination with coriander to accentuate that fruity-spicy yeast character. Hoegaarden is a popular example of a Witbier, and typically comes served in a hefty, hexagonally-shaped glass. The first time I ordered this lovely summer ale, I spent about five minutes taking selfies with the beer, before I took even a single sip. A tip for when you order this beer: do so without garnish. It does not need its pillowy head destroyed by a slice of limp orange! Another characteristic that I find common across Belgian ales is their digestibility. In other words, these beers are frequently easy drinking and light bodied, not destined to sit heavily in the stomach, despite an at-times higher ABV. To this day, my favourite style descriptor is that of the alcohol in a Belgian Dark Strong: “It should be sneaky.” ontapmag.co.za | Winter 2023 | 37