Brasserie Dupont is a co-writer of Belgian beer history. Situated in Tourpes, in the centre of West-Hainaut, and incorporating an old farm, the brewery has been producing wonderful, unique beers since 1844.
Their specialty, is in producing saisons - farmhouse ales traditionally brewed in the winter to sustain the farm labourers during the summer. ‘Saison’ literally translates to ‘season’. Therefore, saisons are traditionally light and spicy beers brewed for the summer and hotter months, a low terminal gravity makes them remarkably dry and refreshing.
Fruity, dry and spicy, saisons are complex beers. Much of the flavour comes from the use of some unique top fermenting yeast strains. They lend spicy flavours, reminiscent of orange peel, clove, allspice, citrus, cut grass and coriander. Saisons also have a distinct 'funkyness' about them - earthy and rustic flavours as comforting as a good red wine.
Dupont's beers have a more aggressive hop character than other Belgian ales, adding to the complexity and refreshing nature of the style.
In recent times there has been a trend towards producing high gravity "super saisons". Dupont produced the first of these beers in the 1950's under the Moinette label (Moinette Blonde and Moinette Brune). The Avec Les Bon Voeux reinforced this concept, and paved the way for this new style of beer.
With the exception of the Moinette, the Dupont beers come in 750mL corked champagne-style bottles. This is the traditional bottling method of farmhouse breweries such as Dupont, a logical extension given the vinous characters of the beers, and not surprising considering they are such close neighbours to France!
As part of the breweries production, Brasserie Dupont now produce several qualified organic beers with the label Biogarantie® These include the Saison Bio, Moinette Bio, Bier de Meil Bio and Blanche du ht Bio.
This complex style will benefit from several years in your cellar.