Sour due to spontaneous fermentation; the Old Gueuze and Lambic beers.
Oude Geuze/Lambiek
- Alcohol: 4,8% – 8,5%
- Color: yellow to light amber
- IBU: 5 – 10
- Special notes: Old Gueuze Lambic is a beer that is spontaneously fermented. It is made from young lambic beers that have been aged for at least 3 years in oak barrels. This results in wonderfully complex flavors that continue to mature even in the bottle.
The most well-known brewery producing gueuze lambic is undoubtedly Boon. The familiar bottle with a cork is well known to many, whether it is the Oude Geuze or the kriek version. Both are very tasty, with a subtle funkiness from the Brettanomyces yeast.
To slightly soften the sharp taste of Oude Gueuze, this beer pairs well with a soft, creamy cheese such as young goat cheese. You can then complement it nicely with something sweet like jam, marmalade, or even custard.
Global characteristics
Lambic is a beer that is fermented through spontaneous fermentation. This means that after brewing, the wort is cooled in a large shallow cooling tray. During cooling, yeast and bacteria from the air settle into it. A large portion of the bacteria will be killed by the antibacterial properties of the hops, but the yeast gets to work. Once the wort has cooled to 22°C, it is pumped into wooden barrels. In these barrels, the beer continues to mature and ferment, sometimes for months and sometimes for years. Afterwards, young and old Lambic beers are “blended” to create a Gueuze beer. This Gueuze then undergoes secondary fermentation in the bottle, which creates the bubbles and foam.
Gueuze beer is not brewed, but “blended” from Lambic and undergoes secondary fermentation in the bottle to create carbonation and a nice foam head. This makes this beer style unique compared to other Belgian beers.
Dave Hersbach
Lambiek? Geuze? Oude geuze? Kriek?
You come across different terms for spontaneously fermented Belgian beer, and I understand it can get a bit confusing at some point. Here follows a brief explanation of the wonderful world of spontaneously fermented beers from Belgium.
As you can see above, all these beer styles originate from spontaneously fermented “lambic.” This is a beer with a very specific flavor that not everyone appreciates. It has a taste that is often compared to a sweaty horse blanket.
To make the beer more approachable, our southern neighbors have used a few tricks. For Faro beer, for example, they added candy sugar, but the addition of fruit has also led to some beautiful beers.
Spontaneous fermentation
Spontaneous fermentation is the oldest form of fermentation. The discovery of beer could not have happened without spontaneous fermentation. In the Middle East, someone once left a cup of water and bread outside in the open air. Yeast settled into it, after which these yeasts converted the remaining sugars in the bread into alcohol and CO₂. The Belgians adopted and perfected this method of brewing. In large cooling vessels, the temperature of the wort drops, after which yeasts settle into it. The yeast strain responsible for the beer’s specific flavour is Brettanomyces. The name is derived from Great Britain, where this yeast strain was first isolated in 1904.
Brettanomyces differs from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which is used for top-fermented beers such as specialty beers, and from Saccharomyces pastorianus, which is used for bottom-fermented beers such as pilsners. Beers fermented with Brettanomyces are generally drier, as this yeast can also ferment larger, more complex sugars. In addition, the flavour compounds produced by this yeast are distinct from those produced by other yeast strains. Read more here about the flavour characteristics of Brettanomyces: 4-ethylfenol.
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