All about the Saison beer style with Jef Van Den Steen, master saison brewer.

If you watch no other interviews about beer this year, watch this one. One of the greatest characters I have come across on my travels. His name is Jef Van Den Steen, owner of Brewery De Glazen Toren and he is about as passionate about Saisons as anyone on the planet. Not to mention the fact that the saison he produces in his tiny backyard brewery was recently awarded as the second best in the whole of Belgium, just behind Dupont!!

[@maphilib]

In fact he is an icon in Belgium, the little Michael Jackson from Belgium, he wrote different books(in dutch) about beer, not brewing but beer styles. A well known member off different tasting panels, a column writer, if you think about beer in Belgium, you think about Jef, he is a really connoisseur ...

[@rickkan4870]

Should be Michael Jordon because he puts a lot of hops, one needs to have hops to dunk but doesn’t need hops to moon walk

[@user-oy2xb1vg6q]

@@rickkan4870 Actually he really means Michael Jackson, the beer and whisky expert who wrote The World Guide to Beer&The World Guide to Whisky, not the singer.

[@adammarcello9797]

He had me at: “Convert all the sugars into alcohol”…..We drink beer for the taste, refreshment, and for the alcohol. I like high alcohol beers….drinking a lot of Maine Beer Company (Freeport, Maine). Straight up delicious beer.

[@Amocoru]

Belgian beer is everything. No other country even comes close. They're hundreds of years ahead. Absolute heaven.

[@GratDuForloradeArgumentet]

Haha you wish :P

[@alanpotter8680]

@@GratDuForloradeArgumentet Care to elaborate? No? Leave, then. Belgian beer beats everyone else by a mile. Second come the Czech.

[@GratDuForloradeArgumentet]

@@alanpotter8680 Yeah they are not that good, and most European countries have better breweries. But as you are some filthy casual you wouldn't know I suppose.

[@SanderBK]

@@alanpotter8680 , you must be an oldschool beerdrinker. There is so much more. I'm a brewer myself and must admit, the Belgians make good beers and probobly are my favorite. But they are conservative and don't adapt. So lucky we live in an age where the number of craftbrewers is skyrocketing to a number we have'nt seen since forever.

[@goodolarchie]

America is extremely innovative and makes awesome beer, but it's true, Belgium is mecca for the most exquisite and nuanced ales, and Czechia is the same for lagers. That doesn't mean Germany, Britain, US, etc. don't have incredible beer scenes, but when you've been crushing it for 1000 years, you earn this right.

[@zingiberae]

This is one of the best beer videos I've ever seen..cheers

[@MinnesotaFats]

100% agree. This guy's got beer and life figured out. Makes me happy people like him are out there.

[@HopZine]

Great video, what a character. He makes some fantastic beer.

[@alexreily1376]

agree!

[@wouter012]

Jeff, you make me look forward to retirement now!

[@photosmithy]

awesome guy 🍻 just discovered this style of beer i love them.

[@RandomPsychic]

what a fanstastic outlook. Love his passion.

[@eamonnmurphy8116]

Absolute badass, and a fantastic brewer to boot! Thanks for putting up the video!

[@makacraque]

That was so great, thx!!!!

[@MinnesotaFats]

I brew a lot of saisons. Completely agree with his 'no sweetness' philosophy. Just kegged one that has been fermenting for over two months. Took that long to dry out.

[@alanpotter8680]

Then you did it wrong, as Belgian brewers would say. Saisons should be bottle conditioned and aged. The "CO2 is CO2" saying is completely wrong. Also, if u use the "recommended" strains, you'd never get sweetness, unless you screwed up during the step-mashing (yes, they all step-mash). My Saisons always ferment to almost 0, with attenuation between 95 and 100%. I age them for 6 months in a temp controlled room. I brew big batches, though.

[@alexreily1376]

Super man! Hundreds years of happy life for people like he is!!

[@HopsANDgnarly]

Wonderful life goal! I hope to be like him!

[@kevinismawayoflife4660]

This was fantastic!

[@kyleseifert3892]

What a character

[@Shep01]

This guy is living life.

[@Stian1342]

WIsh my job was to brew beer. Someday!! Awesome guy, seems so lovley

[@ziggybarth5026]

Brew at home it's great!

[@Swagg3r3d]

This guy is awesome. Great life philosophy

[@thomashancock6805]

The Dutch Jim Lahey

[@wimdetroyer8532]

He is Belgian, not Dutch. The language is Dutch, that is correct.

[@thomashancock6805]

Cheers Randy

[@skramdurosnob9794]

@@thomashancock6805 frig off bubbles 😜

[@punamicrocerveceria7923]

Awsome video man! U need to come to Argentina!

[@fungi42021]

Love the style

[@waynemcauliffe2362]

Great beer mate

[@grahoovian2628]

What an interesting man. Truly passionate

[@killerdude-hz2bb]

he talks so much shit

[@matthewchow4991]

Whoah this guy is THE MAN

[@monot00nz]

Saisons/farmer's ale isn't my bag, but I'm glad to see someone so well versed in the knowledge of them.

[@Patrick.Weightman]

I don't know anybody that does like it tbh. It's always so dry and bland it's like drinking a beer-flavored seltzer water. Almost like if you had an IPA filled with ice, drank half of it, let the ice melt then sold it as a new drink

[@harrisfreedman5785]

​@@Patrick.Weightman Try Saison Dupont. If you find Dupont bland, I feel sorry for your taste buds.

[@wimdetroyer8532]

@@harrisfreedman5785 saison Dupont is a great beer!

[@marc-antoineallard9317]

An inspiring man

[@Racer-M]

With him all the way til the end.. not sure how to take that last part. Lol.

[@spicymchaggis2601]

Good to see he got dressed up for his interview

[@greglucero8714]

Real truth right there

[@andrewlutton4684]

Dude !

[@bcbstmike]

My man

[@makrele2487]

Come to Düsseldorf if you want bitter beer. After 3 glasses you will love it forever

[@CG-ud6my]

Modern Times has a good saison

[@smgri]

funny guy///last of the old guard

[@MikluxaMaklay40rus]

Я сам пиво варю и понимаю человека хоть я и не знаю языка) Быть добру, товарищи!)

[@mkeysou812]

Looks like he lives on a diet of Saison and yoga

[@flyttkartong6761]

Cool guy :) I agree, I´m not very fond of sweet beers.

[@deanrouleau8403]

Been to the brewery...he uses dry yeast at lower temps..tanks have no chilling on them and he has to heat them up during the cold winters. the have foil blankets loosely wrapped around the bottom with small space heaters...might be lager yeast NOT Dupont yeast...

[@AndreyKaravashkin]

Мощный дед

[@GratDuForloradeArgumentet]

I can't find any reasonable definition for what a Saison is 😁

[@giossicom]

De Glazen Toren: the best beers in the World

[@andyhawkins5463]

I want some right meow to go with my budveiser

[@dcumanjae]

이분이 세종대왕인가요

[@JudgeHolden13]

This video is making me thirsty

[@BenRangel]

Do you really think saison is more drinkable than any other beer? Personally I drink it way slower than a lager or IPA which I can gulp down fast

[@stateofchrysalis5483]

Why gulp beer?

[@BenRangel]

@@stateofchrysalis5483 I usually take my time with a beer. But this guy is mentioning drinkability as a top feature of Saison. So just questioning that. if I was working outside on a hot day and someone was gonna bring me some beer to quench my thirst a Saison wouldn't be my top choice.

[@squiremuldoon5462]

Sweet is good for horse and elephants, not human beings.

[@blu02215]

Quote of the day!

[@Tylar245]

Indeed

[@ziggybarth5026]

Sweet is good for yeast

[@davidgreen4084]

Then why do I like candy so much?

[@stefanlauster4877]

His accent sounds Swiss

[@ahpadt]

its a dutch-belgian accent

[@MrMCassassin]

He looks like a Greek Philosopher.

[@chrisstrebeck4345]

Indeed.. I was thinking the same thing..

[@skramdurosnob9794]

And to think I drank 8 carlsbergs last night. He dont do sweet lol

[@donniedarko979]

You want your beer with or without hair?

[@ziggybarth5026]

Both...

[@KarlosEPM]

Yes.

[@rogerman65]

Sweet is also good for children, and for me. But not for oldtimers. I like both sweet and dry beers myself. Belgian beers are very good and actually probably the best, but IPAs and APAs can also be good. German Reinheitsgebot beers can too be good. Belgian beers very often have natural flavor enhancers as opposed to German beers. The Danes put syrup in their beers as a natural flavor enhancer. If you can enhance the flavor in a beer by using natural ingredients, then why not. But the Czhech use chemicals in their beers as flavor enhancers, at least in Bernard Amber. Not cool, because it gives an acidic long lingering aftertaste!

[@SuperNoncents]

What you are saying is beyond snobbish. There are breweries everywhere that do all kinds of things. Don't generalize entire regions or people. Fuck off. From Oregon with love.

[@rogerman65]

@@SuperNoncents Of course. I like many American IPA or APA beers a lot. The American hops are some of the best there is, if not the best. I may generalize regions, but that's because I am from Europe. I have reviewed South Side Strong once. I think it got good grades. Sorry if I came out looking beyond snobbish. Actually I am only snobbish.

[@rogerman65]

@@SuperNoncents IPA stands for Indian Pale Ale as in India in Asia. APA stands for American Pale Ale. If you didn't know. Like in my country, mainstream lagers or pilseners like Budweisser are no good. But there are craft beer breweries in America that keeps a high standard on their beers. I think they absolutely can compete with Belgian and German beers.

[@NLJeffEU]

@@rogerman65 not realy. Fuck amurican beer 😂👍

[@SergeOOnliner]

Прикольный пердун

[@KrummyBrinkleJr.]

call me a horse because dry beers make me vomit

[@AgnosiaAgnosis]

Seriously that glass was not beer clean... gross.

[@ziggybarth5026]

When?

[@AgnosiaAgnosis]

@@ziggybarth5026 look at when he's pouring the glass (it has bubbles on the side it's so gross lol)

[@ziggybarth5026]

@@AgnosiaAgnosis you mean in the first 10sec of the video? The foam on top of the beer?

[@AgnosiaAgnosis]

@@ziggybarth5026 lol what? No. Like 15 seconds in maybe

[@ziggybarth5026]

@@AgnosiaAgnosis "like 15 seconds"? There's a time scale on the bottom of the play screen that gives you the Exact time in any moment of the video so giving me the EXACT time would make this all a lot easier

[@kash0r]

8,40 € für ne scheiß Pulle Bier. Junge gehts dir nicht gut?

[@tomthx5804]

Jesus Christ, my man. Buy a plaid shirt, get a buzz cut, shave the beard, and you will go far.

[@nosaj9167]

If its not a ipa it is trash been

[@j.frankparnell6195]

Saison, Farmer's Ale, Brett, Gose, Lambic, Oud Bruin are all just cons to get your to buy beer that's gone off.

[@knotwilg3596]

Like cheese is a con to make you buy milk that has gone off. Mankind has been very versatile to convert scraps into taste.