Brü It Yourself | I Left Tasman And Landed In Wallonia New Zealand Saison

Author: Jordan Folks

I’ll be the first to admit I enjoy brewing classic styles with traditional ingredients and processes – and Belgian beers are no exception. Be it open-fermented Saison, turbid mashed Gueuze blends, or Belgian Single made with candi sugar, I love brewing and imbibing traditional Belgian ales. However, there is one deviation from this dogmatic adherence to Belgian brewing tradition that I’ve become quite fond of – brewing Belgian inspired ales with New Zealand hops.

Something about the combination of the tropical fruit punch of late additions of New Zealand hops with the fermentation character of Belgian yeast just works. From lambic-style sour blends to brett beers to simple Saisons, I’ve found that New Zealand hops can create insanely interesting and enjoyable flavors and aromas when incorporated into otherwise “Belgian” ales.

I’ve been playing around with Riwaka a lot lately, as I’ve found it to be very unique and intense. While some have described this variety as imparting notes of grapefruit, citrus, tropical fruit, and sweet fruit, that doesn’t necessarily line up with my experience, at least when using hefty amounts. Rather, I get a strong diesel note that is unparalleled in other varieties I’ve tried, and it kind of reminds me of the skunk character found in certain green bottles of the style-defining Saison Dupont. A lightbulb recently went off and I began devising a New Zealand Saison recipe that would bring together the best of both worlds, hoping to emulate some of that green bottle skunk character without the beer being actually light-struck.

| Making I Left Tasman And Landed In Wallonia New Zealand Saison |

This recipe was inspired by the now defunct Birds Fly South Saison is Dead, a hoppy farmhouse beer that gets the bulk of its bitterness from whirlpool hop additions. Thanks to F.H. Steinbart for hooking me up with the malt for this batch!

I Left Tasman And Landed In Wallonia New Zealand Saison

After collecting the water for this 6.5 gallon/25 liter batch, adjusting it to my desired profile, and flipping the switch on my controller to get it heating up, I weighed out and milled the grains.

With the water properly heated, I incorporated the grains and set my Clawhammer Supply 240v controller to maintain a mash temperature of 147°F/64°C.

During the mash rest, I weighed out the kettle hop additions.

When the 60 minute mash rest was complete, I removed the grains and boiled the wort for 60 minutes with hops added at the times listed in the recipe. At the end of the boil, I quickly chilled the wort and transferred it to a fermenter before taking a refractometer reading showing it was at my target OG.

With the wort sitting at 64°F/18°C, I pitched some previously saved Imperial Yeast B56 Rustic.

The beer was left to ferment with a piece of foil covering the carboy opening at ambient temperature, which was around 66°F/19°C, for 4 days. I then added an airlock and began gradually raising the temperature to 75°F/24°C over the course of a few days to encourage complete attenuation. With no signs of observable activity, I took a hydrometer measurement confirming the beer was at the target FG.

At this point, I pressure-transferred the beer to a CO2 purged keg containing the amount of priming sugar solution calculated to result in 3.2 volumes of CO2.  With the beer and priming sugar adequately combined, I bottled the beer with my Blichmann BeerGun.

The bottled beers were then left to condition in a closet for a month, at which point they were ready to chill and drink!

| IMPRESSIONS |

On its own, Saison offers a unique drinking experience with its characterful fermentation, supreme dryness, and effervescence. Similarly, Riwaka hops impart certain aromas and flavors that I’ve found to be rather distinct from other varieties, one of which is a notable diesel funk, similar to what I get in classic Saison Dupont from a green bottle. It was both of these things that inspired me to come up with this New Zealand Saison recipe, the goal of which was to create a crushable Saison with a hint of skunkiness that came from hops rather than being light-struck.

Ultimately, this beer was both a success and a failure. On one hand, it was truly fantastic, combining the dryness, brightness, and tropical notes of modern hoppy ales with a uniquely fruity and spicy fermentation profile associated with Belgian beers. However, it didn’t possess any of the mock skunky character I was hoping the Riwaka hops would contribute, which may have been due to the fact I used them in the kettle and whirlpool rather than for dry hopping.

Regardless, this was an impressive beer that was a lot of fun to drink, I absolutely recommend this recipe to anyone who enjoys hoppy Saison or just likes trying new things. In the future, I plan on adding a dose of Brettanomyces Claussenii once primary fermentation is complete to add more complexity and dry hopping in the hopes of lending a more dank aroma, even though this batch was excellent as it was.

If you have thoughts about this recipe or experience making something similar, please feel free to share in the comments section below!

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