History
Saison’s history is shrouded in mystery; some say it evolved from the farms of Hainaut in Belgium, prized for their use of farm grown ingredients, brewed during colder months, aged, and given to hired farmhands during the warm months of the laboring season. Others maintain that much of Saison’s production was brewed in the industrialized city of Liége, where breweries imported much of their ingredients from as far as the Netherlands.
Basque style cider originated in the Basque region, a little slice between Spain and France in the Western Pyrenees mountains, where cidermaking is a centuries-old treasured tradition. Local cider houses (sagardotegi) make cider (sagardo) using local high-tannin, high-acid apple varieties, like Andoain, Gorri and Burgo. The juice is fermented using native yeasts, and it is aged in large chestnut casks or barrels; the resulting cider is sharp, dry and wild. It’s usually bottled still and then poured from a height to aerate it, and slightly carbonate it, as it hits the glass.
Combining beer and cider isn’t a new idea, but generally it’s blended in the drinker’s glass and referred to as a snakebite. Blending them in the tank, however, is a fairly new concept. Blending barrel aged saison with spontaneously fermented foeder aged Basque style cider is uncharted territory. For this second blend with Son of Man, we sourced ciders from two tanks, with six apple varieties (broken down below). This blend is 60% saison, 40% cider and has osmanthus flowers and grains of paradise added for fruity, floral and spicy aromatics.
Roxbury Blend Cider
60% Roxbury Russet (Acid)
20% Marie Menard (Bittersweet)
20% Frequid Rouge (Bittersweet)
Foeder Aged Cider
30% Jonathan (Acid)
30% Karmijn Da Sonnaville (Acid)
40% Domaines (Bittersweet)
Tasting Notes
Pours a bright golden yellow, under a thin white cap of tightly formed bubbles. Aromas of blossoming flowers, ripe banana and passionfruit. Flavors are of stonefruit, crisp apple, citrus and oak balanced with a tannic finish.
Food Pairings
Aged cheeses with herbs, cured meats, sourdough bread with thick cut heirloom tomatoes, salad with fresh peaches and hazelnuts, pesto pasta with parmesan cheese. Good company.
