The Lambic Beers

Introduction Types Beer Organizations
Breweries and Blenders Beer List References
Beerpubs Related Websites HORAL

Introduction	Types	Beer Organizations
Breweries and Blenders	Beer List	References
Beerpubs	Related Websites	HORAL

HORAL

Introduction

These Webpages are entirely devoted to Belgian Lambic, Geuze, Faro and other Lambic-derived beers.
This belgian beer-style goes back to a long tradition, but the more traditional styles are in danger to become extinct nowadays. Because I like an honest Geuze myself I decided to make a humble contribution to the promotion of this beer-style.
Additional disclaimer!

History

The Lambic style can trace its roots back over 400 years, and has remained mostly unchanged from its introduction. The first written recipe is dated 1516 and accounts from 1559 mention the production of Lambic "according to an old recipe".
In fact in ancient Mesopotamia a beer that could be thought of as the "roots" of Lambic was brewed by the Sumerians, about 5500 BC. Sikaru, the premium beer of the day, was brewed from 60% malt, 40% raw wheat, used wild fermentation and was flavored with herbs like aniseed and cinnamon.
Although it is impossible to confirm the origin of the word "Lambic" ("lambiek" in Flemish / Dutch), it is most likely a distortion of Lembeek (Flemish) or Lembecq (French), a present and historic Lambic brewing town. Other sources relate it to "alambic" or to "lambere" (Latin).

Brewing of Lambic

The oddities of the style are many. Like its ancient Mesopotamian predecessor, the wort is composed of 60 - 70% barley malt and 30 - 40% unmalted wheat. The hops are aged to curtail the introduction of hop character. These aged hops have lost their bittering power but have retained their antiseptic properties.
The brewing method of Lambic is the turbid mash method or "slijmmethode" in Flemish with the peculiarity that the brewer intends to obtain a highly dextrinous wort, more appropriate for sustaining a long fermentation by a mixed flora of microorganisms and leading to the typical Lambic flavor.
The most typical differences between the brewing process of a conventional lager beer and Lambic are the following:

- To brew a spontaneous fermented Lambic, no yeast is artificial added to the wort, but the wort is exposed to the open air of the "Zennevalei" (E: Senne-valley). The result of this method is that wild yeast cells, among them Bretanomyces bruxellensis and B. lambicus, which are always in the open air in the environment of Brussels, come into the wort and start on a natural, spontaneous way the fermentation.
- More than 30 percent unmalted wheat is utilized, this in contrast to lager beers, where corn or rice is used.
- The Lambic brewer uses old dry hop, aged three years. He does not want the bitterness of the fresh hop, but the conservation property of the dried hop. The lager brewer uses young hop which gives beer its typical bitter taste.

By law the brewer must use min. 30 % unmalted wheat and 70% malt (1/3 winter; 2/3 summer cereal) and a wort-strength of 11-12 degrees Plato. The acidity of the Lambic should be min. 30 milli. equivalents NaOH and the volatile acidity: min. 2 milli. eq. NaOH. The spontaneous inoculation from open coolship is a requisite to create a Lambic.

Due to the spontaneous fermentation, Lambic is a seasonal beer, which can be brewn only in the winter season (October-May). In summertime, there are too much undesirable bacteria, which can infect the wort and influence negatively the fermentation.
The very old brewing procedure of Lambic goes as follows (the precise procedure may vary between different breweries):
Mashing
1. A batter (mash - see picture) of water, malt and at least 30 % wheat is made at 45 degrees Celsius. At this temperature the malt releases his first soluble elements, under which the most important: starch.
2. The second step is to warm up this brew to 52 degrees Celsius. By this, the proteases break off the malt flour, through which the brewer obtains an optimal solution of proteins. This white turbid extract is called "the milk" or "the slime"
3. By increasing the temperature of the slime to 65-75 degrees, the enzymatical conversion of starch into sugar is taking place.
4. After filtration of this solution, the brewer obtains an extract of sugars, proteins and minerals, which is called "the wort". this extract is seasoned by dried (aged) hops (600 g/l) and boiled for 4 hours.
5. Further, the boiled wort goes into the "koelbak" (Flemish) or "bac refroidissoir"(French), an open, shallow cooling tun, made of copper and located in a well ventilated room, to cool down overnight.
koelbak
It is at this crucial moment that the inoculation takes place: specific wild yeasts and enteric bacteria, altogether a mixture of 86 microorganisms, which are floating in the air around Brussels, fall down into the wort. The resulting process is called spontaneous fermentation and this mystery of the Lambic-beers is unique in the beer-world.
barrels
6. Next day, the inoculated wort is pumped into old oaken or chestnut barrels, called "tonnen" (Flemish) or "tonneaux" (French, 250 liters) "pijpen" or "pipes"(650 liters) or "foeders" or "foudres" (3000 liters) where the fermentation can start. The micro-environment of these barrels contributes to the specific flavor of the Lambic. The brewers use old barrels because the wood has lost its tannin, which would affect the flavor of the Lambic. These old barrels mainly come from the Porto or Sherry region. The evolution of the Lambic goes slower in the larger barrels, but it is said to be better. Nowadays brewers are also using steel tanks with wood chips for the fermentation of Lambic.

After a few days, depending on the weather, the fermentation starts. White foam appears on the upper hole of the barrel. Later, the foam becomes brown and form a natural stopper, which preserves the beer for external factors, like undesirable bacteria and oxygen, but the CO2 (carbon dioxide), released by fermentation, can escape.
The principle fermentation is passing on to a second fermentation and further to a cascade of other smaller fermentations and finally there is the maturation of Lambic, which takes up to 2 years. Lambic requires several years to come of age, during which time, dust and cobwebs cover the barrels.
The production of Lambic is limited to the cooler seasons, as during summer other micro-organisms may interfere with the natural fermentation .The production of Lambic is usually confined from mid-October to May (15 October to 15 May), allowing for the wild yeast and beer to ferment during the summer.

Microorganisms involved in the spontaneous fermentation of Lambic

The purely wild yeasts that enter the mash and perform the fermentation, give the Lambic an untamed (and sometimes unpredictable) taste not possible using cultured yeasts.
The spontaneous fermentation by enterobacteria and Brettanomyces spp. (photo by J. Liddil), altogether some 86 different micro-organisms, followed by the maturation in old oak barrels gives these beers their unique taste and flavor.

The fermentation process

Three to seven days after the wort has been cooled, the primary fermentation starts with the development of Kloeckera apiculata yeasts together with wort enterobacteria, that produce large amounts of acetic acid (mixed-acid fermentation). The enteric bacteria persist only for about one month because of pH lowering and ethanol production.
After two to three weeks yeasts of the Saccharomyces family take over like S, cerevisiae, S. bayanus, S. globosus, S. dairensis and S. uvarum and completes the main or primary alcoholic fermentation in three to four months.

After this a strong bacterial activity takes place of strains of lactic acid bacteria Pediococcus, (photo by J. Liddil) mainly P. damnosus and Lactobacillus, for 3 tot 4 months. Pediococcus damnosus and Pediococcus cerevisiae are responsible for some of the intense lactic sourness present in Lambic. The production of lactic acid by these bacteria, causes a strong drop in the pH of the wort. At this stage of the fermentation, the Lambic is often ropy or oily. This phenomenon is caused by the production of slime by P. damnosus form the glucose or maltose in the wort. At this stage the Lambic is said to be sick. This slime, which consists of carbohydrates, nucleic acids and proteins, is later hydrolyzed by Brettanomyces spp..

After five to eight months, Brettanomyces species appear in the wort. They further reduce the residual extract and are to a large part responsible for the unique flavor of Lambic.
Two of the Brettanomyces species involved in Lambic production are Brettanomyces lambicus and Brettanomyces bruxellensis. They are able to ferment dextrins, which the Saccharomyces was unable to metabolize. There are more differences between Saccharomyces and Brettanomyces, that account for the typical flavor of Lambicbeers.
Brettanomyces lambicus is an important contributor to the flavor profile of Lambic beers and contributes a unique and complex flavor sometimes described as "horsey" or "old leather", caused by tetrahydropyridines. Brettanomyces bruxellensis produces an odd horse-like aroma and flavor. The Brettanomyces spp. produce very little carbon dioxide, in contrast to S. cerevisiae.
Brettanomyces contributes to the character of the Lambic by means of the secondary fermentation products of the fermentation pathway, like ethyl lactate and ethyl acetate (esters), due to a high esterase activity. Brettanomyces lambicus is a slow growing yeast which takes several weeks to ferment and develop its unique character.
Brettanomyces lambicus is dominant in the countryside surrounding Brussels as opposed to Brettanomyces bruxellensis which is dominant in the city of Brussels.
Other yeasts which are also detected in Lambic are yeasts of the genera Candida, Hansenula and Pichia. They contribute to the fruity character of Lambic.
It takes about two to three years for the entire process to complete and to produce a mature Lambic. Tasting Lambics of different stages of fermentation is an exciting experience, as the flavor changes through the process.
By blending young and old Lambic to obtain Geuze, the secondary fermentation starts in the bottle.
It is important to keep in mind that all these microorganisms, in order to create a Lambic, must work in a specific sequence. Each microroganism depends on the metabolisation products of its predecessors, to create the unique Lambic flavor.

Geographic location of Lambic-style beers

Due to the limited environment in which these micro-organisms grow, the traditional Lambic beers can only be produced in a small region of Belgium (Europe), surrounding the Belgian capital Brussels, in the valley of the river "Zenne" (E: Senne), which flows through a region called the "Pajottenland" in the south-western part of the province Vlaams-Brabant.
Traditionally, Lambic is brewed mostly within ten miles of the city of Brussels. Nowadays, the production is concentrated in the western part of Brussels and in the nearby "Pajottenland".
There are a few breweries outside the Pajottenland, that also make a beer of spontaneous fermentation, they are located in West-Vlaanderen. This beer however is not a real Lambic. Only when the inoculation with micro organisms takes place in the traditional region, you may get a real Lambic.

Legislation

A Belgian Royal Decree of 20 May 1965 concerning the usage of names for beer (published in the Belgisch Staatsblad / Moniteur Belge on June 1965, pp. 7219-7220) restricts usage of the names lambic(French),lambik(Flemish), gueuze(Fr.),geuze(Fl.), gueuze lambic(Fr.),geuze lambik(Fl.), to beers of spontaneous fermentation. They have to contain at least 30 percent wheat and the original density of the wort has to be at least 5 degrees.
A Belgian Royal Decree of 17 July 1973 concerning the usage of names for beer (published in the Belgisch Staatsblad / Moniteur Belge on 18 April 1974, p. 9940) restricts the usage of these names to beers produced by inoculation from the air, by cooling of the wort in an open cooler.
A Royal Decree of 29 March 1974 concerning beer(published in the Belgisch Staatsblad / Moniteur Belge on 4 September 1973, pp. 5490-5493) defines in article 1.2.a even more precise that these beer types are restricted to beer of spontaneous fermentation, with a density of at least 11 degrees Plato and a minimum acidity (min. 30 milli-equivalents NaOH and a volatile acidity of min. 2 milli-equivalents NaOH). At least 30 percent wheat should be used for the production. Since this Royal Decree the Flemish names have been changed to the French spelling in article 4.1.b. .
A Belgian Royal Decree of 31 March 1993 concerning beer (published in the Belgisch Staatsblad / Moniteur Belge on 4 June 1993, pp. 13507-13509) replaces the Royal Decrees of 1965, 1973 and 1974. For the beers of spontaneous fermentation it defines the same rules as the Royal Decree of 1974, but now not all of the beer must be derived from spontaneous fermentation.
A regulation of the European Community of 21 January 1997 according to the regulation (EEC) No. 2082/92 on certificates of specific character for agricultural products and foodstuffs ( GREEN EUROPE. No. 1. 1996. Office for Official Publications of the EC. Luxembourg. 45 p. Tabl. Graph. Ann. Free. ). This European regulation defines new rules for the the lambic beers, the new rules give a better protection of the traditional product. European legislation however protects products based on the traditional production methods or region, not both together. A traditionally produced Geuze will now be called "Old" Geuze.
I just give you the names of the traditional products, as they will be used once the new legislation is incorporated in the national law:
For Geuze it will be:
vieille gueuze, vieille gueuze lambic, and vieux lambic(Fr.), Oude Geuze, Oude Kriek Geuze-Lambiek and Oude Lambiek(Fl.).
For fuit beers derived from Lambic:
vieille kriek, vieille kriek lambic, vieille framboise lambic and vieux fruit lambic(Fr.), Oude Kriek, Oude Krieklambiek, Oude Frambozenlambiek and Oude Fruitlambiek(Fl.).
For Faro, the name is written the same in French and Dutch/Flemish.
The beers that do not have "vieille" or "Oude" in their name will be the more commercial and mostly sweetened mass-market products.

Types

Kriek: orangey to deep red in color, combines the character of geuze with fresh fruit and pit aromas and some residual sweetness, it has a delicious taste of sparkling cherry champagne.
In origin, this sweet-acid drink was obtained by adding fresh black cherries to a barrel Lambic of 6 months young. The addition of fruits provokes a new fermentation in the oak barrels. After another 8 to 12 months, only peels and stones left and the Kriek-Lambic is ready to be filtered and bottled.
O.G.: 1.040 - 1.072; Alcohol: 4 - 7%; IBU's: 3 - 22; SRM: red.

Framboise: ruby red with huge raspberry aroma. It is just delicious with chocolate cake.
O.G.: 1.040 - 1.072; Alcohol: 4 - 7%; IBU's: 3 - 22; SRM: red.

Peche: made with peaches. It is not tot be despised with pancakes, filled with ice-cream.
O.G.: 1.040 - 1.072; Alcohol: 4 - 7%; IBU's: 3 - 22; SRM: 4 - 15.

Cassis: made with black currents. Very aromatic and rich.
O.G.: 1.040 - 1.072; Alcohol: 4 - 7%; IBU's: 3 - 22; SRM: 4 - 15.

Muscat: made with grapes, purplish, wine-like.

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