Scotland might have some world-class beers and breweries, but it’s Belgium that knocks every other country out of the park, including brewing heavyweights America and Germany.
Nowhere else can compare for variety of styles, nor global influence. From blondes to Abbey beers, Tripels to lambics, the breadth and quality of Belgian brewing enjoys well deserved international acclaim.
And as beer drinkers’ tastes start to see past IPAs, so people are increasingly turning to more challenging beers, such as sours and Belgian lambics and gueuzes; tangy, acidic beers that have more in common with champagne than they do with any lager or bitter.
Although experiencing a modern-day resurgence, lambics and gueuzes boast an ancient pedigree. Unlike almost all other beers, made in ultra-sanitised breweries that resemble laboratories, these beers are made by a process called spontaneous fermentation, whereby the brewer deliberately contaminates the liquid wort using wild yeasts in the air and bacteria in the oak barrels in which they mature. Louis Pasteur would be birling in his grave.
Lambics tend to come from Pajottenland, an area south of Brussels that was once abundant in cherry orchards, though the style is being replicated in other countries. While the trees of Pajottenland are mostly long gone, the fruits’ influence on the airborne and barrel-borne yeast is still strong, giving the area its own terroir, much like wine.
Lambics and gueuzes (a carbonated blend of lambics) are tart, funky, salty and sour; they’re incredibly complex and, once a taste has been acquired, immensely rewarding. They go particularly well with food; far better than wine as they cleanse the palette rather than coat it, refreshing the mouth and complementing flavours rather than tussling with them. Seek these rather rare beers out and try to appreciate and understand them. It’s time well spent.
Five great Belgian lambic and gueuze beers
Gueuze Cuvée René by Brouwerij Lindemans (5%)
An aroma of cider, hay and summer meadows before a burst of flavours that begins with bubbling effervescence and notes of peach and wet granite. Tangy, with a substantial sourness that evolves into a syrupy and fruity sweetness of Granny Smiths and crisp pear, served atop caramel-coated waffles that leaves a long, dry finish.
Oude Gueuze by Hanssens Artisanaal (6%)
An aroma of pungent sweat and acidic hay, dank tent and sourdough bread; for those who’ve had vegan cheese, that. Prickly on the lips and lively on the tongue the taste starts cidery and tart, with an avalanche of wine flavours that eases into a gentle fruits like nectarine and tangerine. Complex and multi-layered.
Oude Gueuze by Brouwerij Boon (7%)
Again, the tangy aroma, though Boon’s gueuze this edges towards citrus and lemon with a wee bit of forest flowers. Tart and dry, it smells of champagne and you can taste the similarities. It’s hugely refreshing, enjoyable, complex and balanced, with sour flavours alongside notes of apple, ginger and lemon. Very lively!
Peche Lambic by Brouwerij Timmerman (4%)
No surprises at the aroma here: it’s peach all the way. Though some peche lambics can be too sweet, Timmerman’s isn’t. It’s fruity, tangy and retains its sour lambic qualities. Think peach champagne and you’re not far away.
Framboise lambic by Boon (5%)
This is pretty much alcoholic raspberry juice. It’s gorgeous, both in hazy red appearance and funky fruity flavours. Sweet raspberries with a hint of vanilla with a crisp and tart middle. Moves to a deliciously rounded, long finish. Great with a fruit desert, though fact it’s great as a desert in itself.
Picture copyright: BeerTourism.com
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