Saison Dupont from Brasserie Dupont in Tourpes, Belgium is my favorite saison. For many, it defines the style – bone dry, champagne-like effervescence, fruity, and somewhat bitter. Silver Tree Saison was my
salute to Dupont for producing such a simple, yet elegant beer that begs me to drink more (until the 6.5% ABV catches up!).
While Dupont’s recipe is as basic as it gets in the grain department with nothing more than pilsner malt, I’ve thrown in a bit of historical flare for something different. The grain bill comprises pilsner malt, Munich malt, oats, and wheat malt. For hops, I use the traditional Styrian Goldings and Saaz, but also throw in an interesting hop from New Zealand called Motueka, which possesses a bit of lime character. In terms of Belgian beers, saisons tend to have much higher hopping rates than the bulk of the malt forward, Abbey-style beers. For bitterness, I target 23IBUs with a lot of late hopping.
The signature of a properly made saison is an extremely dry finish and fruity esters, and there are really only two main saison yeasts that can pull off 95% apparent attenuation without turning into a phenolic mess – Dupont’s yeast and Brasserie Thiriez’s, from just over the border in France. Legend has it that Dupont’s yeast is actually a descendant of red wine yeast that made its way to Belgium a number of centuries ago. The result of using proper saison yeast in Silver Tree Saison is a terminal gravity of about 1.003, a bit more than 5% ABV, and citrus-fruit esters.