What is Saison beer?

What exactly is a Saison? Ask ten brewers and you may get ten different answers. While Saison is widely recognised as one of Belgium's classic beer styles, its farmhouse origins and long history of interpretation make it surprisingly difficult to define. In this article, award-winning beer writer Stephen Beaumont explores the origins of Saison, the role of yeast in shaping its character, and why this refreshing Belgian style remains one of the brewing world's most fascinating categories. Of all the beer styles that are misconstrued by even many of those who brew them, Saison must surely rank among the most misunderstood. Although owing to the single style success of one particular brewery, Brasserie Dupont, it was not always thus. In the 1980s and early ‘90s, Belgium was experiencing its transformation from a little-known beer-drinking nation to the global centre of brewing ingenuity,. Much of that newfound attention was driven by the work of beer writer Michael Jackson, whose influent

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