About Us
Background
We are a small, family-run, saison-focused brewery in Lombard, Illinois brewing 1.5-barrel batches. Saison is a style that was born in the Belgian and French countryside, traditionally consumed by field laborers. We believe saisons should be dry, relatively low in alcohol, highly carbonated, and thirst quenching.
Our saisons take inspiration from Old World traditions, but also incorporate American and other New World fruit and hops. We emphasize the use of oak and fermentation with yeast and bacteria outside of traditional brewer’s yeast. We use Midwestern ingredients when possible.
Our individual beers are based on concepts and, like wine, will vary from batch to batch; our production is entirely manual without any automation. We believe in subtlety of flavor and that saisons are often, though not always, enhanced by a bit of lemonade or wine-like tartness, though not by outright acidity. We plan to create beers that we enjoy, and hope that our community will embrace them too.
Core Beers & Concepts
Saison Meer. Blonde mixed fermentation saison brewed with Midwestern ingredients and aged in oak. Currently brewed with grain from Indiana and Ohio, hops from Illinois and Michigan, Lake Michigan water, and our house fermentation blend.
Saison Auran. Mixed fermentation saison brewed with citrus zest and rose hips.
Saison Amer. Hoppy, slightly more bitter mixed fermentation saison brewed with a rotating blend of hops.
Saison Avec. Rotating series of blonde mixed fermentation saisons focusing on individual ingredients, including fruit, spices, and interesting hops. A Saison Meer base beer will often become Saison Avec with the introduction of non-Midwestern ingredients.
Bière de Pieces. A series of blended barrel-aged saisons.
Farmhouse Mild. Mixed fermentation saison brewed with New World hops.
While thes beer isn't brewed on a farm (at least not yet), we adhere as closely as we can to traditional farmhouse beers. We source as many of the ingredients as possible from Illinois and the broader Midwest. Hop varieties (which include some hops from our home hop garden) and adjunct grains are changed from batch to batch based on what we have on hand. The yeast and bacteria used to ferment the beer include local cultures that have produced beautiful spontaneous beers in previous years.
While the specific flavors from different hop combinations will change from batch to batch, the resulting beer will always be lightly bitter, lightly tart, fruity, and low in alcohol.
Faible. Easy-drinking saison with New World hops.
Table. Session saison with Cascade hops.
Tradition. Blonde saison brewed with Old School hops.
Please find our full beer list here.