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| casks at Drei Fonteinen brewery |
Lambic and Geuze beers have been
always one of my favorite brews. Not only because of their sour, layered and
complex taste, but also because of how their taste profiles change drastically within
miles in the valley, with different types of casks used and with different length
of maturation.
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| cellars at Oud Beersel brewery |
Although the historic records list that
the traditional grain ratio of Lambic beer is supposed to be 6/16 wheat and
10/16 barley, nowadays most brewers use a ratio of 40/60. After the wort (grain
mixed with water) is cooked for almost four hours, which is way longer than in normal
brewing processes, it is allowed to cool down in stainless steel cooling ships
to allow the yeast to do its job. Because of the nature of open air cooling,
the brewing season is limited from Fall to Spring. Temperatures more than
18C-20C (65F-68F) result in acidity in taste and, more importantly, can cause
infections. The fun part starts after the barrels are filled with the cooled
wort. Wild yeast starts to work immediately and can be witnessed by observing
the overflow of white foam around the bung at the top of the barrel. At that
level bungs are not tightly sealed to allow the foam to flow out to protect the
barrel and allow more oxygen in and carbon dioxide out. It settles down in
about two weeks and the barrels are sealed. The brew continues to ferment in
the casks for up to ten months, going through different fermenting phases that are
all closely monitored. After that, the beer is ready to be consumed as Lambic
or to be blended as Geuze.
Blending Geuze is a relatively new
process. It all started with bottled beer taking over the world at the very end
of the 19th century. Beer in bottles was easy to transport and
reached consumers who couldn’t afford to buy bulk beer in casks. On top of
everything, imported bottled German beer was less sour and had a good head. To
be able to survive in this new market, some Lambic brewers started to bottle
their beers using the Champagne method. They basically bottled older Lambic
beers with much younger ones still containing sugar to allow a secondary
fermentation in the bottle. The result was sweeter and had a great head: a new
type of beer was born. Like in the whisky industry, the beer world suddenly
discovered the art of blending.
After WWII, a new type of blending
started by mixing, actually, non-Lambic beer and pure carbon dioxide with
blends of Lambic beers to make them even sweeter and with more head. A distinction
had to be made between these two different blending methods to protect the
authenticity: Traditional Geuze started to be labeled as “Old Geuze” and the
new less pure method kept the term “Geuze”.
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| Leuven Town Hall |
The best way to learn and enjoy more
Lambic/Geuze brews is to take a trip to the valley of River Zenne. We made our
pilgrimage last August. It was a five day trip and we chose the city of Leuven
as our base. Leuven is a pretty Flemish city east of Brussels. It is an old college town, famous for its sidewalk cafes, serious
cycling culture, and as the home of Stella Artois brewery. Our first visit was to Oud Beersel brewery. Oud Beersel was founded in 1882 on the outskirts of the little town Beersel but mothballed in 2002. Fortunately it was saved by two young beer enthusiasts, Gert Christiaens and Roland De Bus, who simply didn't want to see their favorite beer gone forever. The brewery re-opened in 2005 and in 2007 when Roland had to leave due to family reasons, Gert decided to continue all by himself. The tour was good and the tasting follower was very casual and informative. Their Oude Geuze is a wonder, by the way.
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| tasting at Oud Beersel brewery |
Second stop was Drie Fonteinen brewery,
which has been owned by the same family since 1953. We were very lucky to meet
the master brewer Armand Debelder and his wife. Armand gave us the long tour,
told us the history of the brewery and explained every single step of the
process at an amazing level of detail. I have to say I learned more about Lambic
and Geuze there in two hours than anywhere else. It is always inspiring to see
somebody so passionate about what he does. And Drei Fonteinen Oud Geuze is one
of the best beers I ever tasted.
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| Armand Debelder is pouring samples directly from the cask |
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| De Fiere Margriet |
A big chunk of the rest of our time in
Leuven was spent at De Fiere Margriet (located right behind St. Peter’s Church)
which is definitely one of the best beer bars in Belgium, along with Kulminator
in Antwerp and Chez Moeder Lambic in Brussels. Their inventory is endless and
they are open very early in the morning. So, needless to say, many mornings our
day started right there. To be honest, that joint might be easily a reason by
itself to visit Leuven.
If anybody wants to learn more about
Lambic and Geuze beers “Geuze & Kriek” by Jef Van den Steen is an excellent
book that inspired and encouraged me to plan my trip to Leuven almost a year
ago.
[edited by Teresa Hartmann]
[special thanks to our friend Pieter Bruelemans for pointing us to the direction of Leuven]
[special thanks to our friend Pieter Bruelemans for pointing us to the direction of Leuven]
*Originally written for and posted at The Alcohol Professor on January 7th, 2014.
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