Lambic is one of the most unique Belgian beer styles. Sour and flat, with no hop flavor or aroma, it tastes like a throwback to an earlier era of brewing.
Traditional lambic breweries use open fermentation, allowing the wild yeasts and airborne bacteria of the Senne valley where these beers are brewed to inoculate the beer. The characteristic sour, barnyard taste of Brettanomyces dominates, along with contributions from dozens of other microorganisms.
Contents
History of Lambic
|
This section is a stub.
|
Types of Lambic
Unblended Lambic
|
This section is a stub.
|
Gueuze
|
This section is a stub.
|
Fruit Lambic
|
This section is a stub.
|
Mars
|
This section is a stub.
|
Faro
Faro is made by blending lambic, usually low-gravity Unblended Lambic or a blend of Lambic and Mars, with burnt sugar or dark candi sugar to form a sweet and sour beverage. Traditionally, the sugar was added directly to the mug and served with a mortar with which the drinker could crush it into the beer; therefore the sweet beer remained uncarbonated, as with an Unblended Lambic. Faro is not generally available outside of some Belgian draft versions.
Brewing Lambic
The main concern with the homebrewer of lambic is the introduction of brettanomyces into the brew house. Brett is persistent, hard to kill, and unwanted in most beer styles. Homebrewers are at an advantage over commercial brewers in that homebrewers can (and probably should) maintain a separate fermentation and racking system, and maybe even a separate room, for sour beers to avoid cross-contamination.
Grist
Lambic is traditionally brewed with approximately 70% malted barley and 30% unmalted wheat.
Hops
Lambic brewers used aged hops, often three years old. The hops are used primarily for their preservative qualities; hop flavor and aroma are not required. See the article on aged hops for more information on simulating this effect in the home brewery.
Yeast
Traditional versions use open fermentation; however, homebrewers can obtain lambic yeast cultures, or cultures of individual strains, from several sources. Harvesting yeast from bottles is not always successful, since some Belgian breweries use different yeasts for bottle conditioning than primary fermentation in an effort to keep their yeasts a secret.
Competition Styles
Both the BJCP and the GABF style guidelines recognize at unblended and fruit lambic and gueuze as competition styles.
