Three walloon beer styles: Saison, Grisette and Blanche

For many people, beers are still classified just by their color: the vast majority are blonde or golden, some show tan and reddish tones, and only a few are dark or almost black. But all this conception changed thanks to Michael Jackson, a british writer and journalist who, in addition to sharing his name with 'The King of Pop', was specialized in the beer sector.

Thanks to his tireless work in the beer world and his travels around the planet to try different local specialties, the modern theory of beer style classification emerged. In his famous book 'The world guide to beer', he analyzed and grouped a good number of types of beer, and laid the foundations for the more than one hundred different styles of beer that are recognized today.

Michael was a great fan of belgian beers, and on several occasions he pointed them out as his great favorites. He was very struck by the status that beer enjoys in Belgium, similar to that enjoyed by wine in other countries. There are many breweries that produce their recipes there, from large factories that manage astronomical volumes using the latest technology, to small producers who install their breweries on family farms, brewing their beers in the most classic and traditional way.

In addition, throughout the country there are numerous cafes and brasseries where it is possible to taste local beers, always served in specific glasses for each one of them, and in many cases accompanied by dishes and gastronomic preparations in which beer is also part of the recipe. For this reason, Belgium occupies a special place in Michael Jackson's book of beers from around the world, where he dedicated a section to beers originating from Wallonia.

Saison, the beer made by and for farmers

One of the most appreciated native styles of Wallonia today is Saison, a type of rustic beer that emerged on the farms and agricultural holdings of the border region with France, which is why it is also known as Farmbeer or Farmhouse Ale. Its name comes from the French word that designates the seasons, since originally they were produced in winter to be consumed in the summer season, to quench thirst and refresh the seasonal farmers or saisonniers who carried out the harvest.

Saisons are generally light, low-alcoholic amber beers, made with mild barley malt and sometimes also with wheat, oats, rye or spelt. They incorporate noble hops and often local herbs or spices, and are fermented with a type of traditional yeast that produces esters and phenols. Its profile includes spicy, citrus and fruit notes, pleasant acidity, moderate bitterness, high carbonation and a dry finish.

The best-known representative of the style is the Saison brewed by Brasserie Dupont, a family brewery whose origins date back to the 19th century. Its Saison Dupont is a benchmark of the style that has been produced with the same recipe since 1920, and that has conquered the palates of numerous beer fans in Europe and the United States. Many beer experts consider that to know in detail the characteristics of a good Saison, it is necessary to try the one produced by Dupont.

Grisette, the soft drink of the walloon miners

The province of Hainaut occupies the western region of Wallonia, and is the cradle of another local beer style. Throughout history, this region has been one of the epicenters of coal mining in Europe, reaching its peak in the 18th and 19th centuries. In the surroundings of the local coal mines Grisette emerged, a beer style very close to Saison and popular among mining workers in the area.

There are several theories that explain the origin of the name Grisette. The most widespread refer to the veiled and cloudy appearance of the beer, or the grayish color of the dust that covered the miners who consumed it at the end of their working day. A somewhat more romantic explanation refers to the young workers in the factories attached to the mines, who wore dresses in dull gray tones and supplied beer to the mine workers. At its peak, up to 4 substyles of Grissete were defined depending on their intensity, but the style went into decline and practically disappeared in the 1960s.

There are not many commercial examples that have remained faithful to the historical tradition of the Grisette, and therefore many manuals do not consider it to be a style as such, but rather a softer and lighter reinterpretation of the Saison. These mixed fermentation beers with very low alcohol content have been recovered in recent years thanks to the efforts of some european and american craft brewers, who have been inspired by the historical recipes to produce very original varieties that include such peculiar ingredients like fruits, wild herbs or coffee.

Bière Blanche, the belgian wheat beer

While Saison and Grisette are beers originating from Wallonia, Witbier or Blanche emerged in Flemish Brabant, but achieved great popularity throughout Belgium and in the Walloon region in particular. The story goes that in 1445 the monks of the flemish town of Hoegaarden were already brewing a type of beer that was very popular in the area, using local ingredients such as wheat, barley, spices and orange peel.

Witbiers were widely consumed for more than 400 years, but in the mid-1950s the style suffered a decline that led to total extinction. The person in charge of reviving it was Pierre Celis, a fan of belgian white beers who resumed production and managed to position his Hoegaarden brewery worldwide. Since then, white wheat beers have re-emerged throughout Belgium, being called Witbier in Flanders and Bière Blanche in Wallonia.

Blanche beers are made with 50% unmalted wheat, a cereal that gives its characteristic milky whitish color and creamy texture. Its recipe also includes light barley and oats on some occasions, and it usually does not lack freshly ground coriander or curaçao and sweet orange peel, in addition to spices such as chamomile, cumin and even lactic acid. They are refreshing but tasty beers, with a perfumed aroma and citrus, spicy and herbal notes, which provide a fruity and a slight sour character with a dry finish. Blanche are the beer pride of many towns in Wallonia, and their bottles carry the name of the cities where they are produced, such as Charleroi or Namur.