I always enjoy seeing new beer releases from some of the area’s more established breweries. Pike Brewing recently released a new seasonal called Saison Houblon, which is a bit of a hybrid between a saison and an IPA. I enjoyed a bottle of it the other night and reached out to Head Brewer Dean Mochizuki for more details.

Saison Houblon is a Saison/IPA hybrid beer. IBU’s at 55. Hops were a combination of Aramis(French hop), Apollo, Citra, and Falconers Flight 7c’s. It is also dry hopped in the fermenter. Originally we wanted to do a Saison, but with something different. I suggested a hoppy Saison naturally; Houblon is the Belgian word for hop/hops. We only brewed one batch and will most likely keep it as a seasonal beer. This beer is fermented with a traditional saison yeast strain which gives it a little tartness. Fermentation temperature was started low and allowed to rise naturally and then brought back down again.

I enjoyed the beer, and I’d suggest checking it out for yourself. It is available in 22oz bottles all over town, as well as on draft at the brewpub and at select accounts.

Dean went on to say that Pike will continue to branch out with more seasonals in the future, which he is quite excited about (so am I!).