Radio 2
First new Lambic brewery in the City of Brussels in half a century
For the
first time in a half a century the City of Brussels is getting a new Lambic
beer brewery. An existing brewery is being turned into a Lambic brewery. Lambics
are Belgian style beers like Geuze, Kriek Lambic and Framboise fermented by exposure
to wild yeasts and bacteria, while for other beers there is exposure to carefully
cultivated strains of brewers’ yeasts.
“It’s quite
crazy” says Dimitri of the Brussels Beer Project. “We’ve been at it for two
years now. The first Lambic we brewed
dates from January 2020. You can’t rush Lambic. Geuze is a blend of one, two and
three-year-old Lambics. We still have a
year to go before we can turn out our first Geuze”.
The brewery
has been in operation for six years now but is being turned into a Lambic
brewery. Still, it will continue to
produce mixed fermentation beers too.
“All the
brews will transition through oak casks.
We will follow the rules that entitle us to label our beer ’Lambic’, but
other ingredients will be in play too! We intend to experiment with exotic
fruits.”
Lambic
enjoys increased popularity in a sector in full development: “We want to be
part of this” explains Dimitri. “Corona
measures permitting we will organise an event next week to launch the first two
releases”.
“Starting
next year, we will be able to offer more products that still need to be bottled”.
