Hops in spontaneous fermentation

Unlike the other historical topics I've posted about so far, hops in spontaneous fermentation is something that I sort of fell into. I noticed a common theme while researching other aspects of historical lambic brewing - the mention of fresh hops. If someone would have asked me what I thought about hops in lambic two years ago, I probably would have only had a couple sentences on it. Something to the effect of: use aged hops (obviously) and at some specific rate which I would have calculated based on interviews (probably from Cantillon since Jean is the brewer who speaks most freely about these sorts of things). And this is exactly why the re-occurring mention of fresh hops struck me.

So then I began to look into it specifically. And this all led to this post here. I'll focus mainly on traditional lambic - what is done now (hop types and hop amounts) as well as the same for what was done historically (mid 1800s to now). I'll close with a bit of hop use in non-lambic spontaneous fermentation, though there is way more out there in this regard than I could cover here.

Hops aging in Cantillon's attic.

Traditional lambic

As I mentioned above, I think that almost without fail, if you ask about hops in lambic people will tell you that you need to use aged hops. This is certainly the modern standard, and until recently I believed it had been the historic standard as well. Of course there are modern beers of more classic spontaneous fermentation with non-aged hops such as Cantillon's Cuvee St. Gilloise (fresh hops in dry hopping). And rumor has it that Oud Beersel is using some younger hops, but I haven't received a clear answer on this (it seems at least that it was an attribute of their lambic in fairly recent history). And I've noted before that Cantillon is working toward some trials with younger hops in their normal lambic (I've been updated recently that this batch is still in planning and the hops are being saved for a trial at an early 20th century lambic). But these are exceptions to the rule of modern lambic being a beer with aged hops.

Modern aged hops for lambic – As mentioned a couple times so far, modern lambics almost always use aged hops. These are noble or noble-type hops on the order of 3-5 years old. The notes I have from Cantillon during the 2013-2014 brew season list Tettnang 2010 and Saaz 2009 for one brew and Target and Hallertau (ages not noted) for another. Cantillon stores these hops (whole hops) in bales in their attic, which can get reasonably warm in the summer. Especially when they are brewing. So noble or noble-type hops at roughly 3-4 years old.

No surprises there if you've read about hopping in homebrewing books such as Wild Brews. In interviews Jean has listed hopping rates of 250-300 g/Hl of wort (Cantillon on the Sour Hour, 49 min in) and ~450 g/Hl finished beer (Cantillon on Basic Brewing Radio, ~43 min in). Jean has also told me in discussions that they use this latter number for their hopping rates so I suspect the previous refers to a different volume point (maybe start of boil or something like that).

Adding hops at Cantillon

Other lambics can be more hoppy. I have had blenders tell me that they feel that Girardin is too hoppy for their tastes to use exclusively for geuze but that they like how it works as a blending component. Drinking Girardin lambic you can taste the elevated bitterness. And I know there can be some variability batch to batch - I’ve had some Girardin lambic that was really hoppy (even though it was a few years old) and tasted surprisingly like Iris. 3F isn’t necessarily more hoppy, but back in 2011 Armand mentioned to me that he felt the hops he uses were important for the character of his lambic. He specifically noted the green apple character as something he felt the hops contributed to. The specific hop he mentioned slips my mind now and I’ll have to check back in old notebooks to see if it is there. I am hopeful it will be because (as evidenced by the notes post) I tend to err on the side of writing too many notes.

Historic hopping of traditional lambic is something I have discussed in pieces in other posts (Biere de Mars parts one and two as well as on the blog's facebook page in posts such as this one). It seems pretty standard that younger hops was used. This shows up in Lacambre (so 1851) as well as Le Petit Journal du Brasseur in the 1900s.

Lacambre recommends Belgian hops from Aalst or Poperinge at a rate of 780-860 g/Hl (1.04-1.15 oz/gal) for lambic and 400-500 g/Hl (0.53-0.67 oz/gal) for bière de Mars. For those unfamiliar with Belgian hops, these are the two main Belgian hop growing regions (in the modern day Poperinge is probably the one bigger region). Specific recipes are given later in this article with amounts in this general range: 58 pounds of young Aalst hops for 34.5 Hl of lambic (762 g/Hl or 1.0 oz/gal). It is interesting to note that young hops are mentioned specifically and that there is not mention of old hops in the recipe or the text describing lambic. For bière de Mars, a bit less than half of this is recommended: 25 lbs for 34.5 Hl (328 g/Hl or 0.44 oz/gal) with no specific mention of aged or fresh hops.

Hopping in lambic shows up repeatedly in Le Petit Journal du Brasseur. A 1909 response (citing a presentation from 1896) advises that the ratio of young to old hops was preferably around 2/3 young and 1/3 aged, but in a bad year for hops it could be 50-50. So this means it was preferable to use more younger hops. I'm not sure if it was thought that some aged hops were necessary or if was simply based on practicality that some aged hops were always suggested. But whatever the case young hops were a prominent component of lambic. This is certainly not commonplace now.

This same response of PJB advises 3 pounds per 250 L (540 g/Hl or 0.72 oz/gal) for lambic, with the aged hops (Belgian) being added when wort hits the kettle. So sort of like first wort hopping. The fresh hops (sometimes from Bavaria) are sometimes added 15 minutes after boiling starts, which still means they are boiled for some time. For bière de Mars (more about about lambic bière de Mars here: part 1 and part 2) half of this hopping rate is advised (1.5 lb per 250 L; 270 g/Hl or 0.36 oz/gal) with 4/5 aged and 1/5 fresh. These hops are added shortly before the boil starts. Finally the response states that most brewers prefer the hops of Aalst over Poperinge, but that this is not universally felt and some prefer Poperinge.

Le Petit Journal du Brasseur in 1937

Another article from 1928 gives a bit more info on hop variety and usage. They suggest 1.5 kg per 250 l (600g/Hl or 0.8 oz/gal), which they note is also roughly 2.5 kg per 100 kg grain. This article shows that lambic is starting to change in terms of hop age by recommending that it is best to use the inverse of recommendations from 1896 - 2/3 aged hops and 1/3 fresh. They do note that some brewers go too far with the old hops, suggesting that some fresh hops are still deemed necessary. They note that Belgian hops (from Aalst or Poperinge) are best and they specifically recommend the variety Coigneau. This is the same variety recently used fresh by Cantillon in the trials noted above. The recommended hops are from Aalst or Poperinge and they specifically mention that other hops (from Bavaria, Alsace, America) are no good as they give an unpleasant bitterness. This matches other recommendations I’ve seen from PJB in the early 1900s.

In 1937 an article in the journal recommends the same hopping rates 2.5 kg per 100 kg grain. However we see a major change here as the article says that aged hops are used exclusively for lambic. The journal is quite clear here by saying that it is necessary that hops lose their bitterness (by being aged) in order to work well in lambic. The recommended hops are Poperinge or Aalst (other continental European hops are again advised against due to their high bitterness). The journal does note that some had used aged Kent hops in trials and the results are great. Le Petite Journal du Brasseur has recommended English hops in a couple other articles, so it seems they were thought of favorably by Belgian brewers at the time.

Le Petit Journal du Brasseur in 1946

An article from 1946 sums up the changes quite well. It notes that in 1890, Henri Van Laer (one of the leading Belgian beer scientists of the time) reports that hops usage in lambic was 700-800g/Hl (0.9-1.1oz/gal). The journal notes that lambic of this time was much more bitter than the present (1946) lambic. And that it would have similarity to some saisons (this is likely the article referenced by Farmhouse Ales p. 136). It is probably important to note here that the hops of the early 1900s would have been different from today's hops, and also that both modern and early 1900s hops would be different from hops used in the mid 1900s.

The journal notes that lambic of the 1940s is much softer, using only 400-500g/Hl (0.53-0.67 oz/gal). The hops are again Aalst or Poperinge and only rarely are hops of the same year used. These recently harvested hops are too fresh to use during the winter brewing season. However poorly preserved hops that have been aged several years are not recommended over well preserved hops from the previous year (thanks to FX for catching an error here in an earlier version). So while aged hops were preferred, brewers were wary of using hops aged poorly for many years and it may have been more common (or at least advised) to use hops that were only one year old over some hops aged longer. The journal also mentions that hops are boiled for 4-5 hours, generally in line with modern production.

Other spontaneous fermentation:

There is much more going on in non-lambic spontaneous fermentation and I won’t get into too much here, but here are some examples.

Cantillon's hop filter

The prime example of non-lambic spontaneous beer with fresh hops is probably Cantillon's Iris, which sees fresh hops in dry hopping as well as a mixture of fresh and aged hops on the hot side. At first I wasn't going to include this beer in this section, but I think that would downplay its novelty. This is something I’ve been coming to realize recently. I’ve always given Cantillon credit for taking traditional lambic integrity to new products (generally new fruits/herbs/etc.) but Iris is another good example of this. With how many brewers there are all over the world following lambic ingredients and process (and this is cool too), a Brussels-made 100% pale malt spontaneous beer is pretty cool.

De Garde – Trevor says that they have been upping the hopping in their beers to decrease the acidity (the discussion starts ~29:30 in to his appearance on the Sour Hour). Mostly they use aged hops but they use some fresh hops, specifically in their saison-oriented beers. Fresh hops, when they use them, are added later on the hot side and come either at the end of the boil (5-15 min left) or in the whirlpool. Otherwise they favor aged hops, usually 3-4 years old Cascade or Willamette hops. After ~2 years Trevor notes that the bitter acid levels are around what he is looking for (0.5% alpha acid, 0.4% beta acid) but that there is still some isovaleric acid. At a minimum they use 1.5 lbs per barrel (577 g/Hl or 0.77 oz/gal), but they use around 3 lb per barrel (1160 g/Hl or 1.55 oz/gal) for lambic-inspired beers. Trevor feels that aged hops are necessary for the rustic/musty/wild/earthy character they are looking for in these beers.

Jester King brews spontaneous beers following the lambic tradition as well as starting to add their own small twist. They buy old hops and store them in burlap sacks in their barn without temperature control. Initially they were using  1.5-2 lbs per barrel (577-770 g/Hl or 0.77-1.03 oz/gal) (see Jester King on the Sour Hour, this discussion starts at about 54 minutes in). This yielded a beer that measured 75-80 IBUs even though they were using aged hops. Note that this hopping range is on the low side of what De Garde uses, though the initial hops likely have some differences. There is also clearly a difference between modern hops and those from ~1900, but these hopping rates are in the ballpark of some of the higher hopping rates quoted in Van Laer and Lacambre.

In trials Jester King then dropped their hopping rates to ~0.5 lb/barrel  (187g/Hl or 0.25 oz/gal), which Garrett feels might be a bit too low of a hopping rate. So far Jester King reports brewing spontaneously closer to the lambic tradition but they are doing a bit of alternative experimentation with hops, such as adding 30 lbs of Sorachi Ace to a batch in their hop filter before the wort hits the coolship (so effectively like a hop back). They report 30 barrel batches, so assuming a full batch this is  lbs per batch 390 g/Hl or 0.5 oz/gal.


Ok, so there's a quick rundown of some modern producers as well as what was going on historically. With all the new brewers doing spontaneous fermentation I could research and write without end. Perhaps this could be the topic of a future post. But the point here was to write about hops in lambic and the idea that aged hops are a requirement of lambic. Hopefully you found it interesting (as I did) that fresh hops were a standard part of lambic for quite some time (roughly half of the time between my earliest source, 1851, and now). Look for more research on historic lambic in the future.

Homebrewing Notes

I've been debating about whether or not to post this for some time as I think it could be in the running for the most boring beer blog post in the all time history of beer blog posts. Reading about taking notes probably doesn't rank that high up there in the list of things you could read. But a recent MTF question about log books got me thinking about this again. Plus it has been some time since this blog, which started as a homebrewing blog, had a real homebrewing-specific post. If reading about note taking isn't your thing then the images present almost all the details for an English Mild I made that took 1st place at 2015 NHC 1st round in Seattle. The beer scored in the mid 30s in the final round of NHC at 8 months old (way too old for a mild, but I didn't get a chance to rebrew it). And if that still isn't good enough, no worries. There are brewery/beer history/beer travel posts in the works.

I think good note taking is really important for making the best beer you can. When you have a beer that turned out really well, or even one that didn't, knowing what you did, why you did it, and what the result was, not to mention remembering this 6+ months or more after you did it, will help you progress and learn from your brews.

I’m perhaps over-neurotic with my notes, as some friends can attest, but I suppose that comes from being a lab scientist as my day job. Keeping thorough and well organized notes helps me stay organized and know what I did/my thoughts so that I can continue working to make better beer with some direction rather than random attempts. I do use software (Beersmith) for building recipes and calculations; however I choose not to keep all of the rest of this in beersmith because I don’t do a good job of recording smaller stuff (and/or brewday changes) there and I find it easier to do this on paper. And I like having the paper copy.

3 notebook classes: recipes, travel (Belgium 13-14 and 15-16) and reading.

I keep 4 distinct classes of notebooks for beer. First is tasting notes from commercial beers. Second is a smaller set of notebooks for notes from focused beer travel (tasting, discussions with brewers, notes from brewery visits, day overviews to cover where I went, who I met, etc.). Then I have a set of notebooks for reading/meetings/non-travel experience (so things like homebrew books, scientific papers, podcasts, homebrew club meetings or meetings with other homebrewers to discuss specific plans, take away messages from commercial beer/wine/etc experiences, beer conferences, etc.). And finally there are the notes on my homebrew, the topic of this post. I’ve briefly included the other three categories as I think they have helped my beer greatly in addition to the specific notes about my homebrews and splitting them in this way helps me find what I am looking for faster.

I think every brewer should do whatever is best for her/him to get what they want out of their brewing and I’m not putting these up because I think everyone should do this. Rather I'm posting this as there might be some elements in here that are useful to your brewing. I put a lot of thought into the organization of these notes and what goes into them and the notes are constantly evolving. I can’t count how many times I’ve been at homebrew meetings and had someone’s beer and asked about their recipe/process, for reasons such as really liking it and wanting to do something similar as well as trying to work out problems/undesirable characteristics, and had them respond that they don't really know any details on their beer/process. I know some of this is because they are on the spot but they also brought there beer to a homebrew meeting, sometimes with specific questions about how to change it. So if that's you I'm not trying to call you out, but if you are interested in making better beer then maybe knowing what you did to make the beer you have now is a good start.

To some extent this is an idealized version of my notes. Not every set of notes has each of these parameters in full. It depends a bit on how much planning time I have for a brew and how different it is from the standard things I do. And how the brewday/fermentaiton goes. I've pulled elements from a couple different beers to give a more complete overview. Hopefully there is some useful info in here for you, and if you have a great idea that you’re using that you think I or others could benefit from please feel free to put in the comments. Thanks!

Table of contents and tape labels

Overview
To start, I take my notes in notebooks such as these (WPH-190), which have graph paper on the back side of every other page. I mention this because I find this graph paper especially useful and because it is the sole reason I use these books. I use at least 4 pages per beer, which gives me 2 pages of graph paper per brew. Leaving yourself plenty of extra space is good, especially for beers you plan to age for a while. I also make little tape tabs at the top of the book so I can easily flip to the page of a given recipe. If a beer is much more complicated then I may give 6 pages instead of four, and sometimes there will be a page or two that is simply to plan something (like blending) and isn’t an actual brewday.

So this is how the book is generally set up. Now on to specifics.

Page 1, right side - The Recipe:

There is the obvious first step of the recipe. This is a good minimum, though not always the most important part, and I think most folks do this. For many of the beers I make the recipe might not matter as much as the fermentation temp/how the yeast was treated/aging. I organize my recipe portion by:

English mild recipe with table for targets, various 'if' scenarios & actual, and brew plans

Malts – amount, type, supplier, percentage (makes communicating with others with different batch sizes/efficiencies/units easier)

Hops – amount (g), type, aa%, harvest year, were I bought them, sometimes date when I first opened the package (I ought to do this all the time)

Yeast (and bacteria) – types, (sometimes) estimated cell counts and generation, and them also any yeast nutrients added

Salts, etc. – amount (g) and resulting ppm added to both mash and sparge water, whirlfloc, other additions (spices, fruit, wood, etc)

This is followed by a table with the target for the brew and other scenarios as well as what I actually got on the brewday. I'm starting to split this up by carboy as I'm frequently splitting batches into multiple carboys with different treatments. This splitting isn't fully reflected in the pictured page, though I did split the batch 3 ways so the actual line is a bit cramped. I find this table super useful during the brew day to check in with where I am and where I am likely to end up. And if I am off by a bit where that would put me.

Then I put calibration dates for my equipment so that if I find something like my refractometer is off, I know which batches this affected. This also keeps fresh in my mind that I should calibrate my equipment. I also put in things like my equipment parameters - which pot I’m boiling in, which I’m mashing in, how much trub loss I expect for this batch, what total efficiency I expect, etc.

Yeast record from a saison - 4 yeasts into 3 blends

Finally, this first page includes plans for mashing (times, temps, liquor to grist ratios), boiling (time, if I anticipate needing to top up with water, hop additions with times/amount/IBUs expected from each addition), and fermentation. Usually the fermentation part doesn’t get filled out very well as I often brew similar beers and this is in my head. But taking the time to write it down would also make me take the time to think it out a bit more so I ought to write it.

This planning maybe cuts down on spontaneous brewing a bit, but it really helps me get organized for brew day, and it is the sort of thing that can be done in small chunks of time leading up to the brewday and it saves me a lot of time on the brewday itself.

Page 1 left side (Back of page 0) - Yeast:

This page is focuses on my yeast. I put calculations/records here for how many cells of each type (I'm often blending yeast, here's a basic rundown of my simple method for that), and often the tape labels transferred from the jars of yeast I used with date, generation, and cell count. I used to do a more thorough culturing history for the yeast and probably ought to continue this but I don’t anymore.

Page 2 - Brewday Notes:

Now that the plans and recipe are all laid out, this is where I start my notes from the brewday. These are generally notes with the time of day that I did them and include:

Brewday notes, including what went wrong (cold steeping)

-mash stuff: mashing in times and strike temps, vorlauf start time, start of collection of mash runnings (I should do sparging start time but I generally don't), time of final runnigs collection.

 -boil stuff: preboil gravity and volume, boil start time, any additions during the boil (hops at given times, and ideally write the amount again as a fail-safe to make sure that this gets recorded), whirlfloc, yeast nutrient, boiling water to top up if my gravity is high, any wort pulled for starters, mid-boil volumes to see if my boil off rate is on track, boil end time, chilling start time, chilling done time and temp.

-fermentation stuff: carboy volume, yeast calculations, yeast addition time, temp for start of fermentation, amount added, aeration, fermentation and any notes during fermentation.

Also, if applicable, I include how full certain vessels like my mash tun or boil kettle were so I know the limits very well when I try to push them next. I probably also ought to include a bit about the day's weather as things like wind will strongly affect my boil.

An example saison mash.

Back of page 1 - Mashing Plot:

This is the first graph paper page (sometimes back of page 1 and 0 get switched if the graph paper lines up this way). On this page I put a temperature-time plot of the mash. This is more valuable if I am not doing a single infusion mash. I use 2 thermometers – one in the side of the pot and one floating thermometer, and these are color coded in this temperature time plot. I may also include small notes about addition times of hot water, recirculation with heat, etc. on the plot as well. I draw a vertical dashed line when I begin vorlaufing as at this point the temp of the mash may not be as evenly mixed.

Page 3 - fermentation notes

Page 3 - Fermentation notes:

Here I continue notes of the brew, and by this point this is generally fermentation and bottling notes. Sometimes on complicated brewdays there might be some spill-over of brewday stuff onto this page as well. Any sort mid-fermentation tasting and gravity notes would also make it here. Bottling notes include priming sugar needed to get my approximated volume at a given temperature (initial CO2) to get the target carbonation, and then the number of each bottle volume filled, the total volume and the amount of carbonation I should expect from how much sugar I used and my real (not estimated) total volume.

If there is enough space here I’ll also add full tasting notes of the finished beer (but usually this ends up on Page 4). This might be a simple tasting of one beer or a comparative tasting of different variations of the brew (such as previous batches, different fermentation treatments/spicings/fruitings/etc. of the same batch). And although I don’t really shoot out to clone beers, it might also include a head to head tasting with a commercial beer or two that inspired my beer or are highly regarded examples of a similar type of beer.

Example fermentation from a grisette.

Back of Page 3 - Fermentation Plot:

The back of page three (the second page of graph paper) gets a temperature-time plot of the fermentation. This may also include notes like when I specifically did things to adjust the temp (like warming a water bath with an aquarium heater or cooling one with ice blocks) so I can differentiate what the beer is doing on its own from my control on the beer, but I don't always note this. Again this is color coded to differentiate each carboy if the batch has been split into different treatments. Perhaps adding gravity readings to something like this would be good but for now I don’t take them frequently enough to be of much use. Usually the temp-time plots aren't as detailed as they ought to be after the first couple days, but generally I have the beers in a reasonably stable, temperature-controlled environment at this point.

Tasting notes of the three different treatments

Hopefully some of this helped you organize your own notes and let me know if you do something that you think would add to my notes (or the notes of others).

Visiting Belgian and French Saison Producers

In continuation of my Belgian travel series (see this first post with general advice and this second one focusing on visiting lambic brewers and blenders) I've put together this post on visiting Belgian and French producers of saisons. Not all producers name their beers with these terms, but to me they are all excellent examples of beers that fit within the saison family. There are other brewers that one could say should be on this list, some justifiably so and some that I would say aren't my favorite. So I'll update this with more breweries as I visit more breweries if I feel they should be included. But whatever the case, this is not an exhaustive list of all the Belgian producers calling their beers saisons nor is it an exhaustive list of Belgian brewers whose beers I feel could accurately be termed saisons (even if the brewers don't use this term).

As I mentioned in the first introductory travel post, I tend to get around Belgium by public transport and foot. So directions presented here reflect that. I might be one of few remaining analog travelers of my generation (I print or hand-draw maps, no data/gps on my phone). So many of you will probably get around differently. But this serves to show that it can be done without much knowledge of French or Flemish and by public transport, walking, and hand-drawn maps. So if you want to do it this way here's how I did it. Generally, getting to these breweries by public transport will make reaching lambic brewers/blenders seem easy. If you want to reach the following brewers without a car you'll often be walking 4+ km and/or using a combination of bus and walking from the nearest train station. But don't let that deter you. Taking some time in the Belgian and French countryside, or at least smaller villages, adds to the experience of visiting these breweries.

The Brasserie a Vapeur mash tun, with steam engine at back right.

Visits through saison country will show you that there is quite the range in terms of brewing systems being employed and the beers being made, and visits will give a good juxtaposition of the current state of saison. While maybe at one point saison was a beer for local consumption only and brewed by farmers, that is far from the case now. Of course that doesn't take anything away from how excellent the beers are and how great the brewers are, both in creating their beers and as genuinely nice and welcoming people. Just that the romanticized/nostalgic notion of saison combined with the modern flavor profiles we associate with these beers form an identity that might be more historical fiction than anything else. Again, that is not to place value judgments on which identity of saison is better. I'm just trying to more accurately identify what modern saison is. Some of these producers do make beers that could fall closer to the realm of historic saison as well.

The belfry and cathedral in Tournai

As a contrast to lambic producers, these breweries are mostly comparatively young and many were founded in the 1980s and 1990s. This wasn't an easy time for small brewers in Belgium and France and we can be thankful that the brewers fought through those difficulties and made it to today. You'll find that as with lambic, there are some unique and passionate people running some of these breweries. I'd recommend if you're making visits that you spend some time talking with brewers about more than just how they make beer. There are interesting stories from how they got started, how people reacted (and at times still react) to their beers, and what motivates them/inspires them as brewers. I guess the sort of passion that would drive one to open a small brewery as such breweries were dying out makes the brewers people who are worth talking to outside of their role as the producer of a beer you like.

So in no particular order, here are some excellent Belgian and French producers of saisons. Some of the breweries are in farmhouses, some are in residential houses, and some are in warehouses. Some are new and some have been around for decades. Some make 'clean' beer (Saccharomyces only), some make mixed fermentation beer, and some do a bit of both (though not always intentionally). But whatever the case, and while some may not always make consistent beer, they all make beer that can be excellent. I talk a bit more about some of these breweries in brewery-specific blog posts(linked below) and a few years ago I put together a post with some general thoughts from visiting saison breweries in 2013-2014.

Brasserie Thiriez
Brasserie a Vapeur
Seizoensbrouwerij Vandewalle
General thoughts from saison brewery visits

At the brewery in 2011.

Brasserie Dupont - Brasserie Dupont is responsible for introducing most of us to saison (if not directly then likely indirectly). While in farmland and in a farm building, they have certainly modernized from the farmhouse brewery days. But that shouldn't deter you from a visit and there is still some great stuff to see at the brewery.

Visits in English at this point are not given by a brewer so if you are looking for some production secrets, you probably won't get any. Fortunately the production methods are well documented in books like Farmhouse Ales. But seeing the brewhouse, as well as a glimpse at some of the older equipment still in use or (relatively) recently retired is great. Their fermenter geometry is something very unique that you are unlikely to see almost anywhere else. And the fermenters have analog temperature probes on them so you can watch a tank bubble away at 36 C (96.8)!

Overall a visit to Dupont falls more on the inspiration/seeing one of the icons side rather than lots of practical brewing info, but with a sharp eye/ear both can be found. So I would definitely recommend a trip there, but if you are looking for something more along the lines of discovery of new beers/info or talking with a brewer then this might not land at the top of your list.

Short fermenters (in the wall, left) and more standard taller conditioning tanks (right).

They also make cheese which is nice and can be found at some restaurants around Brussels (and presumably elsewhere). And they produce cheese with Cantillon lambic which is also very good and can be bought (when available) at Cantillon. If you want more info on the history of Dupont, here is a nice article by Chuck Cook.

When to visit: The brewery gives tours on the first Saturday of the month, English tour at 11:30 (book in advance, though it sounds like drop-ins at this time are ok as long as space is permitting). While you can go there and have a beer at the cafe across the street (Les Caves Dupont) unless you are really prioritizing seeing the building and/or spending time in the Hainaut countryside I would wait to visit Dupont to coincide with a tour (note - it seems that since my visit to Les Caves in 2011 that they may not normally be open, so this might not be a safe bet).

Getting there: The brewery is walkable from the Leuze train station (the same station that gets you walkably close to Brasserie a Vapeur). It's about 4.5 km from the station and mostly on one road (route here). The walking route is fine, though you'll be walking on the shoulder of the road for a while.

Brasserie Thiriez - Brasserie Thiriez, run by Daniel Thiriez and founded in 1996, makes excellent beers fitting into both the Saison and Bière de Garde categories. The brewery is in the northwest corner of France, quite close to both the border with the West Flanders region of Belgium as well as the French city of Dunkirk. Located on the site of an old farm and a brewery (up until 1945), Thiriez does a good job of combining new and old. The bar is filled with breweriana in the old building side of the property while the brewing system and brewhouse building are relatively new.

The Thiriez bar.

Thiriez yeast is believed to be the origin of the well known Wyeast 3711 French Saison yeast, though as I've written about in a post focusing on the brewery there are some clear differences. I think this yeast really shines with pale hoppy beers, and a good amount of the Thiriez lineup fits this description. They also do some barrel aging with brett and bacteria, which isn't especially common among saison brewers. The barrel aged beers I've had have been excellent and distinct, so I look forward to coming releases from this program. In addition to brewing great beer, Daniel knows a good bit about regional beer history and has a great collection of breweriana. This is a great stop to make and personally I have found more inspiration here than at just about any other European brewery I've been to.

Fermenters at Thiriez.

When to Visit: The brewery is generally open for visitors as long as you contact ahead of time, so the best time to visit is basically whenever you can. There are some special events at times (coming up soon is their 20th anniversary/open house on 21-May-16).

Getting there: This might be the trickiest one of all by public transport from Brussels. From Brussels you can reach the Flemish town of De Panne/Adinkerke by train. This is not a fast trip, and it is only the beginning. There is also a De Lijn streetcar which connects the coastal towns of Belgium and ends on the south end at the De Panne station. So if you are along the coast already this shortens the trip.

Adjacent to the De Panne train station is a DK bus stop (Adinquerque). DK bus is the bus service for Dunkirk and line 2 (you might see it labeled as 2a) connects the Flemish trains at De Panne/Adinkerke to the French trains at the Dunkirk station. From there you can catch a regional train to Esquelbecq, From the Esquelbecq station it is about a 2 km walk to the brewery. Some of these connections might be tight and while I've had it work out, I've also found myself waiting for the next 1/hour trip multiple times after missing a connection by minutes due to one leg running late.

If you do this as a day trip from Brussels, and it is definitely doable, book all day for it (and a long one at that). All in all it is about a 4 hour trip one way from Brussels by public transport and walking if you don't get delayed by missing a connection and connections time out well. The trip is shortened quite a bit if you stay in western Flanders or northern France for a night or two. Or you could go by car, but then you'd miss out on all the fun.

You can also get there by bike from Poperinge (which has a train station and bike rentals). The trip is about 20-25 km 1 way and mostly flat. Biking through farmland is a great way to get yourself ready for a refreshing saison! Poperinge is connected with major Flemish cities by 1 train/hour and it is both in the center of Belgian hop growing and the closest point to Westvleteren/St. Sixtus by train, so as a beer tourist you may find yourself in the area anyway.

The brewery (back left), new warehouse space (front left) and the cafe building (right) in May 2015.

Au Baron's cafe/restaurant/brewery with a riverside patio.

Brasserie au Baron - Brasserie au Baron is another excellent brewer of beers fitting into both the Saison and Bière de Garde realms in northern France (though they are only a couple hundred meters from the Belgian border). They make simple, excellent beers along with great food and in a beautiful setting. The brewery started in 1989 and current head brewer Xavier took over from his father.

Their Cuvée des Jonquilles fits into what many would consider a classic saison, but saison doesn't show up on the label. Their amber and brune both clearly say saison, and their elevated maltyness might remind some of nice top fermented bières de garde (they are still pleasantly dry and crisp). This all goes to show that while we like to apply these names as categories with specific meanings, the words have literal meanings in French that aren't restricted to one style of beer, and these sorts of breweries are not bound by strict style definitions. So not everyone follows these naming conventions, and with fair reason. One of my favorite moments in talking with Xavier was while discussing the modern identity of saison and application of style terms (especially outside of Belgium/France) when he said "Saison is a rubbish style!" and then mentioned all the things that some brewers call a saison (beers like saison-ipas or super brett-forward beers).

Whatever name/label you wish to use, Au Baron makes beers of delicacy, simplicity and grace.

A yeast propagation tank converted into a fermenter

When to Visit: The brewery is open for visits Monday through Thursday from 9:00-16:00 and Friday and Saturday from 10:00-15:00. Email ahead to schedule a visit. There is a restaurant there serving beers and good food and selling bottles to go. In warmer months the patio is open along the Honelle (called Hogneau in France). This would be a great place to enjoy Baron beers over lunch.

Getting there: This is also a more tricky one to get to without a car. By train from Brussels you can get to the Quievrain station. From there it is either a 10 km walk to the brewery, or you can catch TEC bus #29' to Roisin (~20 min, roughly one every 1.5 hours on weekdays, though the schedule is a bit erratic so check it). From Roisin it's a 4 km walk to the brewery. There is some signage as you make your way out of the center of Roisin. Following google maps led me into a nature preserve and the 'road' was actually a thin trail that was a touch on the muddy side. It still led straight to the brewery, but I was a bit apprehensive at first.

Brasserie a Vapeur - Founded/taken over from the closed Biset-Cuvelier brewery in 1984 by Jean-Louis Dits, Brasserie a Vapeur was at the leading edge of the wave of breweries making saisons which opened in the 1980s and 1990s. The 1980s and 1990s were a hard time to open smaller specialty breweries in Belgium and (especially) France. On the whole these sorts of breweries were a dying breed and the idea to found a new specialty brewery was a bit crazy. If you discuss the origins of these breweries with their owners you'll find a common thread of cooperation/sharing among them, both when they were opening up as well as now. To survive as a new small brewer in that time required sharing of resources and knowledge with fellow brewers. Some established larger breweries also helped out with supplies and ingredients in small quantities as some companies were not interested in selling in such small volumes. Multiple other brewers from this list point to Jean-Louis as someone who helped them out when they got started.

The Brasserie a Vapeur steam engine.

Visiting during a brewday is something truly amazing. I've written a good deal about that in the post about visiting them so I'll only write about that briefly here. Brewing at a Vapeur is not exact. They brew once per month using old iron equipment and a steam engine. The saison is brewed once per year so if you are visiting for a brewday chances are you'll be there for Vapeur en Folie or Cochonne. Their brewery is the sort of thing you rarely see at all, let alone in use. From the moment you walk in the door the sticky heat of the steam engine and the smell of grease hit you hard. This, combined with the rhythmic whistling of the steam engine are something I'll never forget. A trip across the uneven worn brick floor to the open topped iron mash tun to watch the water to grist ratio adjusted by feel (by using a hand to assess the consistency and temperature) should confirm if you didn't know it already that you are witnessing pieces of brewing from a different era.

Steam in the brewery.

When to visit: They are open for the public during their brew days on the last Saturday of the month. You'll need to book in advance, and something like EUR 35 covers your spot watching the brew as well as all you can drink Vapeur beer and all you can eat from an excellent lunch. When I was there, offerings included slow cooked pork, home made bread, ~25 different Belgian cheeses, salmon, soup, etc. It was certainly worth it. Information is given in French, though if you speak to one of the brewers/assistants they will likely be able to give you a rundown of what is going on in English. Brewers/assistants include Jean-Louis or his daughter as well as a main assistant Bernard, and then Jean-Louis's wife and possibly a young brewer or two living nearby who are planning their own brewery in the region (note that Bernard, while very welcoming, speaks only French).

Getting there: You can reach the brewery by taking a train to Leuze, one stop away from Tournai(FR)/Doornik(NL). There is regular train service from Brussels to Tournai (1/hour) and these trains stop in Leuze just before Tournai. From the Leuze station it is a pleasant 4 km walk through farmland to the the brewery in the town of Pipaix. There are a couple possible routes you can take. This route is the most direct but the roads aren't always marked excellently, so if you miss the right turn in the fields (it is pretty much the only road) then you can go the long way through town.

As I mentioned in the post on visiting a Vapeur, I recommend getting to the brewery early if you are there for a brew day. In order to easily do that and if you don't like waking up very early, it might be best to spend the night in Tournai before hand. It's a reasonably pretty city with a very old cathedral and an old belfry. There is a youth hostel there and there is also a bar with a well curated tap selection plus bottles along the river (Saison Dupont and De Ranke hop harvest on tap when I was last there, the bar is roughly here if my hazy memory is correct) as well as specialty beer shop which will certainly have enough to keep you entertained for a few nights in the way of saisons and lambics.

Brasserie Blaugies - I have not yet made a visit, so I can't offer much insight here. I'll update when/if I've made a visit (nothing is planned for the near future). I can say that a couple friends have reported (from multiple visits) that this is a great place to visit and that it ranks at/near the top of their brewery visits in Belgium/France. The brewery is not especially set up for tours, but the restaurant Le Fourquet is open Wednesday-Sunday for lunch and dinner. Word on the street is that Pierre-Alex, the original brewer and father of the current brewer (Kevin) and restaurant owner (Cedric) likes to hang around the restaurant and grill. So a visit to the restaurant, on top of being a good stop for lunch/dinner, may allow you to talk a bit of beer and/or peek into the brewery.

Fantome - Fantome was founded in 1988 by Dany Prignon to do something to bring more notoriety to his town. In the Ardennes and separated from classic saison country, the brewery stands out from other saison breweries in more than just its location. Foreign interest in Fantome beers is much higher than Belgian interest and most of Dany's production is exported. Furthermore much of it is spoken for before it is released. He receives a lot of visitors (especially in summer), sometimes too many. Visiting the brewery shows a contrast to other producers. Dany's system is older than most others (excepting a Vapeur) and a bit pieced together rather than the more complete and modern systems seen at many other breweries. The Fantome setup is perfectly in line with the spirit of Fantome.

The recognizable Brasserie Fantome ghost.

Fantome brews a wide variety of beers (some regular seasonals, some less seasonal but re-occurring releases, and a healthy number of one-offs) generally with unique and mysterious spicing and generally stronger than the typical saison (usually sitting at 8%). The beers often have the influence of brett and/or bacteria, and this can lead to some truly remarkable beers and sometimes some not as excellent beers. However one feels about this, I think it is safe to say that the best Fantome beers I've had have been some of my favorite saisons. And they provided early inspiration for me to move past thinking of saison only as something like Saison Dupont (which is an excellent beer, but is not the whole scope of saisons). Fantome is an important piece in the puzzle of saison beers and brewing. I discuss their beers a bit more in my post about general thoughts from saison brewery visits.

When to visit: Go when you can. They take visitors for tours on weekends/holidays when available and with a booking in advance. There are some special events (see the Confrérie page of their website) including Santé release weekend (August), an old car rally (May) and a carnival in February, It seems that some also meet on Sunday evenings at the brewery cafe. I don't have personal experience from any of these events.

Getting there: You can take a train to Melreux from Brussels (it will require at least one change). From there it is about 6 km of walking, making this a tricky destination. If you're lucky you might get a ride. This was the case for me both directions so I haven't had to walk between the station and Fantome.

De La Senne - Brasserie  De La Senne's co-founder Yvan de Baets is a man who needs no
introduction to a saison enthusiast. He is probably the world's foremost expert on saison history and his chapter on this topic in Markowski's Farmhouse Ales is by far the best English-language source of information on the topic. It is easy to underestimate the amount of work that went into this chapter, but if you ever turn to French language brewing sources from the 1800s (or earlier or even in the 1900s) you'll see how frustratingly difficult it can be to find information about historic saisons. And often the info you do find will be incomplete and can contradict either your other sources or could be self-contradictory within one source. The simple truth is that writers at the time didn't care about poor rural breweries. And the information Yvan has compiled to come up with a coherent history is truly remarkable.

A short and wide De La Senne fermenter.

Brasserie De La Senne has earned their place as a leader of a new and innovative wave of Belgian brewers who are breaking from classic Belgian beers of today like sweeter blondes, dubbels, tripels, etc. by making modern beers with historical connections. They make beers that they call saison, but they also make others that fit with saison characteristics without using the name. Hop-forward and low strength beers like Taras Boubla remind today's drinkers that Belgian beer can be hoppy and light (as was common historically) and fit well within the historical roots of saison. At their core, De La Senne beers are for people who like drinking beer and De La Senne shows that beer can have complex flavor while maintaining a balance and drinkability.

I won't say too much more about them here but if you are interested Topher at Farmhouse Beer Blog has a nice write up (including discussion of their fermenter geometry, which is unique among modern brewers). And there are also some good interviews out there like this old one by the Shelton Brothers with Yvan and the other co-founder Bernard Leboucq and this more recent one from the Beer Temple.

When to visit: The brewery is open from 9-3 (office 8-4) Monday through Friday and they have a bar/tasting room. The aren't set up to receive individual visits but can take groups of at least 15 people with a reservation.

Getting there: You can reach the brewery by MVIB/STIB (Brussels public transit) streetcar from the Weststation metro station in Brussels. From there take tram line 82 to the Molenbeek cemetery stop. Then it is a quick walk to the brewery which is in an warehouse space to the right/north. Note that they are moving locations within the next two years and that these instructions/descriptions are for the Molenbeek location.

Bitter Blond a Lambiek

Seizoensbrouwerij Vandewalle - Although a new brewery (first brew was fall 2011) and in the Flemish region of Belgium, Seizoensbrouwerij Vandewalle fits well with the spirit and characteristics of saison. Chris Vandewalle is the owner/brewer and he is the 10th generation in a line of brewers. The brewery is a small and focused operation, with Chris taking the time to produce exactly the beer he wants. He puts an emphasis on local products in his beers, and on the whole he makes a point to promote his region. There are some unique production methods in use here (as I mention in this post about the brewery) and checking them out might be especially interesting for inspiration for smaller brewers and home brewers.

Chris makes 4 beers - Reninge Bitter Blond, Oud Bruin, Kriek and Bitter Blond a Lambiek. The Reninge Bitter Blond is a dry and very hoppy blond beer that seems to match the sort of descriptions that Yvan De Baets gives in his history of saison chapter - a beer that when younger was very bitter. Vandewalle also produces a version of this beer blended with lambic (Reninge Bitter Blond a Lambiek) which again aligns with saison brewing history and provides an interesting balance of hoppy and mixed-fermentation beers that have a vinous character and light acidity. Vandewalle is quite the beer historian, so it should come as no surprise that he is producing great beers which fit with historical Belgian brewing.

Barrels for Kriek at Vandewalle.

Chris is a very welcoming brewer and is happy to share his story. A visit to the brewery is packed full of local history, beer history, brewer philosophy, unique production, and good beers. Go expecting to learn, especially about how the local history influenced regional brewing. I'll try to get a post focused on visiting Seizoensbrouwerij Vandewalle and I'll update this post with a link if/when I do.

When to visit: Visits need to be arranged in advance, so contact the brewery for timing. They may take solo visits here and there (I was fortunate to have that opportunity) but generally visits are better suited for medium to small groups as there is a minimum cost of EUR 80, which I'm told includes a tasting of beers paired with local food).

Getting there: The most convenient/pleasant way I found to get there was renting a bike in Poperinge and heading through the hop fields (with a quick stop at Westvleteren/St. Sixtus for a glass of blond) to the brewery. As an aside, the Reninge bitter blond is massively more hoppy than the Westvleteren blond.

The nearest train station is Diksmuide (the same station one would go to in order to visit De Dolle, and on the line between Brussels and De Panne which you would use to get to Thiriez by train). From there you can take De Lijn route #24 to Reninge and the brewery, though note that this bus has very limited hours and it may not line up with your trip. So the bike plan is probably safest.

The brewery building.

Brouwerij De Glazen Toren - In Flemish-speaking Belgium and closer to traditional lambic territory that the traditional saison region of Hainaut, Brouwerij De Glazen Toren is a comparatively newer arrival in Belgian saison brewing. They opened in 2004 as a joint venture of 3 friends. Their brewery is shiny and generally modern, although there are some unique differences from conventional breweries. Their fermenter aspect ratios are basically the opposite of someone like Dupont or De La Senne. They also don't have temperature control (or at least didn't a couple years ago) but will at times wrap insulation around tanks to keep them warm (see the tank on the right in the photo below).

Their saison follows very much along the lines of Dupont's saison - pale, crisply hoppy and 'clean' fermentation (no brett or bacteria). They don't really offer tours and they have no tasting room/bar. I've had poor success emailing them and it's one of the only breweries I visited where I didn't feel especially welcome. After waiting for a bit I was able to ask some questions and by the end I felt more welcome. In the end I had a nice trip and got to talk with the owners/brewers for a fair bit, but I can't say that this is a reliable destination for getting some brewing info/talking about beer and drinking a beer.

Tall and thin fermenters at De Glazen Toren.

When to visit: They are open on Friday afternoons and Saturdays. They aren't really set up to welcome guests, so the term 'visiting' is used loosely. In general their opening hours are for people to show up, buy bottles to take home, and then leave. Although I did have a good time in the end, based on my experience I can't recommend visiting and I would put this pretty far down the priority list unless you have a very strong reason to visit this specific brewery. Things may have changed since I was there in 2014.

Getting there: You can take a De Lijn bus #81 or #91 from Aalst or walk from the Ede station (a bit over 2 km, trains from Brussels to Ede only on weekdays). The brewery is in a residential area and coming from a North American background it was sort of surprising to see a line of houses, with one in the middle (still in a house-type building) that is a brewery.



I'll end with a list of some other breweries you might want to consider, but that I have not been to so I can't add anything about them.

Brouwerij de Ranke (just in the Walloon region in Dottignies)
Brasserie de Cazeau (outside of Tournai) - the brewery dates back to the 1700s.

Ok, that's it for now. I'll update the list and/or add to the notes as I make more visits. Happy travels!

Sunrise over Wallonian fields with a mound of sugar beets.