Pairings Saisons with Craft Chocolate
Saison is a Belgian beer style that has long been associated with farmhouse brewing. The popular story goes that during the 19th century, Belgian and French farm estates would hire seasonal farm laborers to work the fields during the summer and harvest, and they were responsible for providing beer for these workers. The beers were brewed with what ingredients each farm had on hand, lending a rusticity to a style that would have varied farm to farm.
This romantic origin story has been disputed at points over the years, but it does appear true that those farms served beer to their workers. Whether modern Saisons have a lot in common with those 19th century beers from a sensory standpoint is open to debate, but the story has caught in the imagination of many craft beer lovers, and as I’m happy for anything that reminds folks of beer’s agricultural roots.
Saison is less of a style than a statement of intent, as there are numerous interpretations of what “Saison” should be. Some are fermented with ale yeast, some are brewed with a mixed-fermentation of various yeast and bacteria species, and some are even spontaneously fermented. Some are aged in wood for extended periods, some are not. Saisons can be more or less bitter and hoppy, or be brewed with additional herbs and botanicals. It can be hard to know what to expect when you see “Saison” on a draft list or label.
Saisons are, in general, excellent food pairing beers, but can be more challenging to pair with chocolate. Let’s break the broad range of Saisons down into two main categories and look at how they pair with craft chocolate.
Classic “clean” Saisons
Description—The beer that put Saison on the map is Saison Dupont, brewed by Brasserie Dupont in Belgium. This beer—and those inspired by it—is fermented by an expressive ale yeast that creates peppery notes and some mild, banana-like fruitiness. Gentle grainy malt flavors support grassy, earthy hop flavors. These beers are very dry-bodied, highly effervescent, and moderately bitter. Saison strength is sort of a continuum, but most fall in the 6-8% abv range (Saison Dupont is 6.5%).
Examples—Saison Dupont, Great Divide Colette, Ommegang Hennepin, Fantôme Saison, Boulevard Tank 7, St. Feuillien Saison, Taxman La Maison, De Glazen Toren Saison d’Erpe Mere, Allagash Saison
Pairing with Chocolate—Saisons of this type are finnicky pairing partners with chocolate, I won’t lie, which is ironic since they’re such champs at food pairing in general. The best pairings here keep the chocolate itself largely out of the way and allow herbal, botanical, or earthy inclusions to work with the fermentation, grain, and hop flavors in the beer, as long as the inclusions aren’t overly bitter or sharp. For a subtle pairing, white chocolate with alternative sugars like panela or maple can gently bolster the malt character of the beer.
Avoid When Pairing—Saisons are quite dry, with varying levels of hop bitterness, and any inclusions with too much bitterness will make a pairing harsh. Also, bold fruit inclusions or fruity, acidic cacao origins won’t work. Dark bars in general are tricky, so start out looking at white or milk bars.
Example Pairing—Branch & Bone Wavelength is a “Farmhouse Pale Ale”, which in this context means a Saison hopped with Citra and Mosaic, two varieties commonly found in modern IPAs. The hops come through with gentle white wine-like tropical fruit notes. I paired this with Dwaar Pista Kulfi, a white chocolate with pistachio and cardamom. Cardamom could be a problem here if it was too bold, but it’s nicely incorporated into the creamy, moderately sweet bar and dovetails nicely with the nuts. The beer’s fermentation spice adds complexity to the green, herbaceous cardamom, and the white chocolate and pistachio bolsters the malt and ester notes in the beer.
Mixed-Fermentation Saisons
Description—Many brewers lean into the rustic, primitive image of Saison and brew these beers with a touch of the wild, either pitching a mixed culture of microorganisms or allowing those in the environment of the brewery to inoculate the beer. Depending on the exact yeasts and bacteria involved, this can lead to acidity ranging from light tartness to assertive sourness, and/or some earthy, “funky” fermentation flavors. Additionally, these beers are usually aged in barrels, and can take on some degree of oakiness. The ale yeast flavors common in classic Saison are often absent or subdued, though the same malt and hop flavors can come through.
Examples—Various beers from Jolly Pumpkin, Russian River, Little Fish, Jackie O’s, Buried Acorn, and numerous other breweries. These beers are often small batch, so there are few widely available commercial examples.
Pairing with Chocolate—These beers can be awesome with the niche corner of craft chocolate bars made with mushrooms! The funky or even acidic fermentation work well with the earthy character of mushrooms. The same is true with earthy, less bright herb inclusions as long as they aren’t too bitter. Additionally, tart versions of these beers can work great with bars with dried fruit, and even acidic single origins potentially.
Avoid When Pairing—”Chocolatey” single origin bars, anything creamy or milky, and bars with spices or bitter inclusions.
Example Pairing—Let’s stick with Branch & Bone, shall we? Several years back they brewed a farmhouse ale (technically a Biere de Garde, not a Saison, but the basics don’t change here) called L’Internationale. Funky notes of musty attic met gentle apricot and cherry with moderate acidity, and a touch of hay and grassy bitterness. A pairing with Somerville Chunchu Peru 75% with chaga mushrooms rounded the rough edges of bot hthe beer and the bar, yielding ripe peach flesh and sweet chanterelle mushroom with a crisp, acidic finish.