(Geez, you'd think someone peed on my Wheaties of late - I'm not really that curmudgeonly. Hmmm, yes I am...)
Lambic.
I'm of the thought that term is a "protected" one, like Champagne. Lambic is a product of the Senne valley region outside of Brussels - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambic
This is what Allagash calls their latest experiment:
"Always an adventure… Allagash is taking experimentation to the next level by brewing a 100% spontaneously fermented beer in the tradition of the Belgian Lambics.
Last month we brewed the first two of our spontaneously fermented beers at Allagash. In brewing these beers we are using an authentic, traditional process honoring the classic Belgian Lambic tradition, including the use of a cool ship, which we built specifically for these spontaneous beers."
Which brings me to Vinne at RR:
"After a trip to Belgium in 2006, Vinnie successfully tried his hand at spontaneous fermentation using traditional, and not so traditional, Lambic methods. Out of respect for our Belgian brewing friends, we call this style “Sonambic”, a contraction between Sonoma and Lambic. We stole this term from our friend Brian Hunt at Moonlight, our local farmhouse brewery."
Can you refute anything in the Wiki lambic definition? I'd say it's pretty spot on, if not dicked. Feel free to pick it apart. And no, I didn't submit it...
Again, offer better. If you create something original, do you not feel it's worthy of its own designation, its own lineage? Why use a "crutch" of something it's not? That's just lazy.
Right. So perhaps we should stop calling our hoppy beers IPAs since we aren't shipping them to India... or cease using the designation "Imperial" since we aren't brewing them for the royal court... creativity is a must. But I prefer to be more creative in my brewing than in my naming. Anyone can name a beer...
=)
I am struck that no Belgian brewer would consider calling a beer "Lambic" if they were not close enough to Brussels. So, why should any other brewer call their beer a Lambic? It insults the real Lambic producers, especially when the often lame attempts fall so short of the mark.
We're brewing a "lambic-style" beer in Indiana, oak fermentation and whole locally grown fruit, yeast is via wyeast blend. I'd say it's probably more traditionally made than Lindeman's, but I digress, I've heard the arguments that we can't make Pilsners because the river isn't here either.
Only makes cleaning more OCD than usual, we have separate tanks and bottling line just for our wild line. It's fun, but tests your patience.
Don't forget about your friends here at Jolly Pumpkin. Every beer we brew is aged in oak with naturally occurring wild yeast and souring bacteria. When we opened it was our hope to be the first commercial brewery dedicated to sour and lambic style beers.
While most of our beers could be though to be more of a Flanders tradition (steel fermentation, oak aging with wild yeast and sour bacteria), we began our project lambic over three years ago. The beer is to be one of our regular offerings, so we have been brewing it and brewing it. We plan on blending this fall, and releasing as soon as it is ready. Parts of the blend will most likely be over four years old by this time.
At this point we are keeping things as traditional as possible. Turbid mash with a large percentage of raw wheat, extended boil with aged hops, using one of our open fermenters as a cool ship, and racking into our most sour barrels the next day. No culture wild yeast, just what has shown up here over the years.
Feel free to give me a call if you would like more details.
Oh Ron, I can't wait to try this beer. Any chance of export to Copenhagen... I thought I may of heard from a reliable source [Jeppe] that you were on the radar. If not, mail order?
Alas, technology has rendered their terroir portable
I’ve been to Europe a few times, and I am pleased to report that it’s a beautiful country. Belgium’s land-mass is somewhat less than 25% of Pennsylvania’s with a similar population and ~300 breweries (down dramatically from 3,233 in 1900). Surely *someone* in the Senne region brews a Lambic that is less than worthy of the appellation.
As previous posters pointed out, regional style names are abundant, and most normal people don’t bat an eye at the idea of brewing a pilsner. But somehow, people get extra touchy when it comes to Belgian styles, and Lambic in particular. While technically more correct, “Belgian-inspired” and “Lambic-style” strike me as pedantry and legalese when everybody knows damn well that the beer is brewed in (insert unglamorous non-Belgian locale). It’s understood that it’s the style, and not the product’s physical origin. It’s a distinction without a difference when the process goes well, and a well-meaning homage if it doesn’t.
Style naming provides a frame of reference that allows consumers to reconcile expectation with outcome. The world’s best clam chowder is occasion for a deeply dredged vomit if I think I’m drinking a glass of milk.
Tell me I need to go to France to make a real omelet, and homemade geuze will come shooting from my nose and form unsightly clumps in your powdered wig.
Vendetta, well said, were you a literary major in a former life?! Anyways why tear anyone down who is trying something new and advancing American brewing. I KNOW that well over 50% of craft beer out there abuses some true style or origin when naming their beers but that is the beauty of America. Everything we do from food to architecture takes from the origins and makes it new again. Sometimes for the worse but often for the better. I thought the video was well done and fun to watch.
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