This little-known beer style emanates from the depths of the Wallonian (French speaking) part of Belgium. Once a purely summer drink, the beer is now available all year round. Originally, saison brewers found fermentation a tricky business during the heat of the summer, so, to combat this, brewed beers between 5 and 7% in the spring, then chocked them full of hops to survive the storage in the heat. During this maturation process, most of the sugar in the beer had turned to alcohol, boosting its strength (Holsten Pi-s eat your heart out!).
The result is that you have a very hoppy beer that has so many different subtle tones and flavours, and it is a beer to savour. Today, many of the old-style saisons have been so changed to compete with mainstream beers that they are not really saisons, but fear not, there are still excellent examples to delight you.
Saison Silly (Temporarily Out Of Stock)
ABV 5.0% | Volume 25cl | Price N/A
A good example of an honest fruity saison beer - perhaps too fruity for some. First brewed around the start of the century it is a blend of a number of different saison brews, some of which may be well over a year old.