Event Recording
Brewing Saisons with is/was Brewing
Mike Schallau of is/was Brewing gives a technical presentation on modern saison brewing, covering saison history, yeast selection, mash and recipe design, hopping, fermentation practices, mixed-culture management, Brettanomyces, blending, packaging, and the practical realities of running a saison-focused brewery.
About This Video
Mike Schallau of is/was Brewing joined Gnome Brew for a technical deep dive into modern saison brewing, with a focus on how is/was approaches yeast selection, recipe design, fermentation, mixed culture beers, blending, and natural conditioning.
The presentation began with Schallau's path from West Lakeview Liquors and Pipeworks to founding is/was Brewing, then moved into the debated history of saison as both a farmhouse and commercial brewing tradition in Belgium and northern France. He discussed the influence of breweries such as Blaugies, Saison Dupont, Fantôme, and lambic producers on contemporary American saison brewing.
Schallau then outlined the is/was Brewing process in detail, including low-temperature mashing for dryness, pilsner malt with adjuncts such as spelt and triticale, heavy use of low-alpha hops, chloride-forward water profiles, warm knockout temperatures, open-top fermentation, early sugar additions, Brettanomyces management, bottle and can conditioning, and practical cleaning and equipment separation for mixed-culture production.
The session concluded with an extended Q&A covering homebrew-scale saison production, fermentation length, recipe formulation for Willoughby, hop choices such as Saphir and Celeia, aged hops, Brettanomyces management, barrel blending, package conditioning, and the philosophy behind the is/was Brewing name and brand.
