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”.