La Maison Saison – Marmalade

The ties between agriculture and the beloved nectar we call beer date back to the beginning of human history. No style of beer showcases this ancient relationship as well as the saison. In the days before heavy machinery and work safety regulations, these farmhouse beers were brewed in the cooler months and enjoyed by the farm workers throughout the summer whilst they worked in the fields (don’t drink and plow guys).

Here at Beerfarm, we love them so much we have a House Saison aptly named La Maison Saison, which we roll out across the seasons and give it a farmy twist. Literally meaning ‘season’ in French, saisons are the perfect chance for brewers to flex their creative muscles and our brew crew revels at the chance to play around with this style and give it a unique variation each season.

We only get a chance to make this Marmalade Saison once a year, as the key ingredient comes from the orange tree that grows beside our brewhouse in Metricup. This tree actually produced the fruit in our first ever brew at Beerfarm back when we opened in 2015. Flourishing once every year towards the end of winter, we fire up the cherry picker and harvest the tart and flavoursome Seville oranges by hand. Zesting the harvest is a time consuming job, but beer is a labour of love and boy do we love this beer.

Once added to the kettle, the impact from the orange zest is instantaneous. Wafts of citrus oils and morning orange juice flood the brewhouse. Though we were tempted to put this one straight into kegs and through the taps, we’ve let her go through a second fermentation over oak. This allows the orange flavours to infuse and the yeast characters to develop. Beerfarm was ‘established for the future’ but we see this classic style of beer as a nice way to pay homage to the brewing farmers of the past whilst pushing the boundaries of our brews.

“Can we orange for someone else to do this next time” – Tommy

Prominent orange aromas on the nose balancing nicely with the saison yeast esters.
Dry and breakfast juice like on the palate, the flavours of orange match well with the bold characters of our saison yeast

6.5% ABV 28 IBU