Grove Koger
Despite its downscale reputation in some quarters, beer is a sophisticated beverage. While it involves the simplest of ingredients, it can be brewed in a number of different ways, resulting in beers that vary widely in taste, appearance, alcoholic content—and, of course, quality.
Beer can actually be brewed from almost anything that has sugar in it (although cereal grains are standard), but the compilers of a centuries-old set of criteria, the Reinheitsgebot, or Purity Law, attempted to lay down strict guidelines. Enacted in Bavaria in 1516, the law specifies that only barley, hops, and water can be used in making beer. But another ingredient—yeast—has since been added to the mix. The tiny fungi were always present, of course, floating in the air or present on the surfaces of the vessels involved in the brewing process, but early brewers didn’t realize that they were there.
The Reinheitsgebot has now been incorporated into the Bekanntmachung der Vorlaeufigen Neufassung des Biergesetzes, or Announcement of the Preliminary Revision of the Beer Act. While the act is regarded as something of a standard, the world is swamped with mass-produced beers that adhere to its guidelines but are perfectly insipid. Sophisticated brewers have long since learned to use different varieties of hops, for instance, and varying kinds of yeasts. And they often add flavorings to the beer at one stage or another of its production.
All of which brings us to lambic beers, which are brewed in Belgium’s Pajottenland region. Brewers here use a mixture of malted barley and unmalted wheat, and rely on the wild Brettanomyces bruxellensis and Brettanomyces lambicus yeasts natural to the area. Because harmful free-floating organisms are more common in the warmer months, production of lambic is limited to October through May. Substantial quantities of aged hops are used, but primarily for their preservative rather than their bittering qualities. The resulting beers tend to be dry and vinous, or “winey.” They’re also often flavored with fruit, including cherries, peaches, and raspberries, and sometimes sweetened.
The lambic that Maggie and I enjoy from time to time is a kriek lambic from Brouwerij Lindemans, a family-owned brewery founded in 1822 and based southwest of Brussels. The beer is flavored with fresh juice from the native Schaarbeekse variety of sour Morello cherries, and comes in a 12-ounce bottle that’s not only corked but also capped and topped distinctively with red foil.
The online site Beer Advocate scores Lindemans kriek lambic at 88, or “very good,” which is a little lower than the pale ales and India pale ales that we generally drink. Its ABV (alcohol by volume) is a low 3.5%, and its cherry flavor is pronounced—as is its ruby-red color. A spokesman for Lindemans explains that when the company began exporting the beer to the United States in the 1970s, the motion at sea reactivated the fermentation process and popped the corks. Now their lambic is pasteurized and apparently a bit sweeter than it once was. After sharing a bottle the other evening, Maggie and I agreed that it’s an excellent way to begin a celebratory evening—and a pleasant alternative to the cava we might otherwise choose.
The photograph of the Brouwerij Lindemans is by Paul Hermans and the photogaph of Morello cherries is by Rod Waddington; both are reproduced courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. If you’d like to know more about the brewery itself, watch the video How Do You Brew Lambic Beer on YouTube.
World Enough 