On the Lamb(ic) in Brussels
Of all the styles of beer in the world there is perhaps none as unusual and unique as a true Belgian Lambic. This uniqueness stems not only from the beers taste but also from the methods employed in its production. Most lambics today are still produced the way they were hundreds of years ago, such is the case at the family owned Cantillon Brewery in Brussels.
The brewery also bills itself as a Gueuze Museum and in a recent visit to the small and unassuming building, located at 56 rue Gheude I was able to tour the facilities and speak with brewer Jean Pierre Van Roy.
The origin of the style and the name are unclear but many believe the name lambic derives from the small town of Lembeek just south of Brussels. The Van Roy family traces their origins to this town but they have been brewing in Brussels for nearly sixty years now.
Perhaps the best way to understand the peculiarities of the lambic style is to run through the brewing process just as the visitors to the brewery are able to do. The mash tun sits on the ground floor and is fed from above by a grain mill that is as old as the brewery. The mash is composed of 35% unmalted wheat and 65% malted barley, these grains are stored in a rickety old loft on the top floor of the building.
After a 2 1/2 hour mash with temperatures reaching around 160 F the resulting "wort" is run off through the spent grains and pumped into the copper boiling tun where it is mixed with hops. Here we encounter one of the unusual aspects of the lambic style. These brewers seek hops that are old and dried out - not fresh and aromatic! Their intent is not to add aroma and bouquet but simply to employ the preservative qualities of the plant, they use hops that are often 3 years old or so.
At Cantillon they use a very long boil, at least 3 1/2 hours, the water evaporation results in an increase in the density of the wort. After the boil the wort is brought to a large, shallow cooling vessel in the loft. This copper container is about 12' x 16' and less than a foot deep. The idea is to expose as much of the wort as possible to the open air, this allows it to cool.
Here we encounter another unique aspect of lambic. Instead of pitching controlled strains of yeast to begin the fermentation as most brewers do the lambic brewers use no yeast at all. As the wort cools it is allowed to come into contact with the surrounding air via a slotted roof (which also has more than a few missing tiles). The wild air-borne yeasts in the Brussels region infect the wort and actually begin a process the Belgian's refer to as spontaneous fermentation.
When the wort cools down to just under 70 F it is ready to be racked. The containers used for the racking, usually oak barrels, are called "tonnes", "pipes" and "foudres", respectively these have capacities of 250, 650 and 3000 liters.
The oak barrels also play an integral part in the fermentation process of lambic beer. They are cleaned after each use with brushes (called Ramons) and chains. The chains have sharp edges and are dropped into the barrels with hot water. They are then put on machines which shake them causing the chains to scrape against the insides of the barrels. This process cleans the barrels without completely destroying the residual organisms which further aid the fermentation.
Although the process described here is for the production of lambic beer it is actually very difficult to find lambic beer on the market. This is because lambics of different ages (but at least one year old) are taken out of the barrels and blended just prior to bottling, the final result is now called Gueuze. Even after bottling the gueuze will ferment and continue to age for another two years before it is released onto the market.
Not all lambic however is blended to become gueuze, it is also the basis for several other types of Belgian ale. Some lambics are infused with macerated cherries from the nearby town of Schaerbeek, this maceration lasts for five or six months and the resulting beer is called Kriek. A similar process is also performed using raspberries and this results in a Frambozen or Framboise. At Cantillon they also produce a Faro, this is made by adding candy sugar and caramel to the lambic.
Due to the nature of the spontaneous fermentation process the production of lambic beer is confined to the geographic region surrounding Brussels. Even within this region there is a great amount of diversity among lambic brewers. Many add syrups or sugars to their beer to make them more palatable and sweet while others such as Van Roy continue to produce beers that are somewhat tart and dry. Regardless of the brewer's preference this style of brewing results in beers that are tremendously complex in both taste and smell, they are the champagnes of brewing.
Some of these products are available in the states and although the gueuze is hard to find the krieks and frambozens are more common. Among the sweeter styles look for "Timmerman's" or "Lindeman's", "Frank Boon's" are also excellent but a little less sweet. You may also see a kriek or frambozen made by Liefman's and although this is an excellent beer it is not a lambic, the base for their fruit beers is a brown ale. It is easy to be dismayed by the price of these beers at $4 or $5 for a bottle but perhaps the complexity of their production and maturation helps to explain this a little.
© C. Renegar Jr.
