(There a Saison for everyone at Blindhouse Beer Company. Photo courtesy of the brewery.)
By Jennifer Waldera
With an eye on moving closer to the mountains and family, and living a more relaxed lifestyle, Tyler Wert and his wife, and now business partner, Nicole moved to Roanoke from Richmond in 2022. But the move also afforded Wert the opportunity to transform his home brewing into a full-blown brewery operation in the heart of Roanoke. Together, they now own and operate Blindhouse Beer Company.
Wert broke into the brewing industry in 2017, and quickly fell in love with brewing saison and mixed culture brewing.
“I started as a homebrewer as so many do, but got my start professionally in Richmond at Triple Crossing Brewing. There I worked my way up from cellarman to brewer, to barrel program manager and eventually head brewer. I worked there for 5.5 years before deciding to pursue my own venture. I got a chance to brew a ton of different styles, but that is where my passion for Saison emerged.”
And from there, Wert went on to further pursue his adoration for Saison while weaving in his favor for seasonality.
“Saison is the style I fell in love with. It can be a little confusing for people because it is actually an extremely broad category. We focus on “mixed culture” Saison, which means we utilize a mix of wild yeast and bacteria to ferment our beers.
It is believed that historically Saison, a farmer’s beer in Belgium/France (hence the term farmhouse ales), would have had a wild yeast component due to the lack of fermentation knowledge at the time, so it’s a bit of a nod to that. I’m also a big believer in the seasonal aspect and I love using what is growing locally around us to reflect each season.”
Realizing that these types of brews weren’t prevalent, he wanted to open a brewery that brought the style front and center — and differentiate it from other spots.
“We are different from a lot of breweries because of our focus on mixed culture Saison brewing. Our beers feature expressive yeast that provides a lot of citrus and stone fruit qualities as well as a refreshing dryness and light acidity. We pay special attention to serving these beers properly. It takes a little bit longer to get a pour here, but we believe proper foam and a beautiful pour are worth the wait.”
Blindhouse’s beers feature different flavors and they’re expressed differently when they pour, but there is also special care taken during the brewing process.
“We have a fairly unique brewing process here at Blindhouse. I actually utilize extra brewing capacity at other breweries (currently we brew just down the street), pump wort into an IBC tote, and truck it to our location for fermentation. Here all of our beers are open fermented with our house mixed culture. This is a blend of classic Saison yeast and wild foraged yeast from some family land in Callaway, VA. After primary fermentation, most of them are laid to rest in oak barrels for an extended period. From there the barrels are blended and sometimes infused with various local fruits and botanicals.”
In terms of sourcing, Wert works hard to source from local providers. Some are as close as Roanoke itself, while others are throughout the Commonwealth, or in a neighboring state like North Carolina.
“We do our best to source locally/regionally. All of our malt is Virginia or North Carolina-grown. We primarily buy from Epiphany Craft Malt. All of the fruit and herbs we use are Virginia-grown, and mostly come from the greater Roanoke area. The only place we have to break this mold are hops. Good quality hops grown in Virginia are hard to come by, so we tend to source those from the Pacific Northwest or Europe at times.”
The building that houses Blindhouse’s taproom was built in the 1940s and Wert works to make the historical spot a place of respite and relaxation.
“Our taproom is quaint and cozy with a lot of natural wood and a relaxing ambiance. It is set up with lots of eclectic wooden tables and chairs and various plants. The goal was to create a European Beer Café combined with drinking in your best friend’s living room.”
While only a few beers can currently be purchased to-go, all can be purchased in the taproom where Wert also hosts occasional live music, fundraisers, and food pop-ups. Plus, Blindhouse has its eye on serving natural wine and cider, too. In the meantime, Wert is pleased with the local community response and how people have come to love Blindhouse’s offerings.
“I strongly believe that given the chance, there’s something in the Saison/Farmhouse Ale family of beers to satisfy everyone and so far we’re really happy with how people have embraced it.”
