2024-01-03 09:56:30
They have nested in the cracks in the walls of centuries-old brewery cellars, in the pores of wooden barrels and in the fine webs of cobwebs. As winter approaches and the nights get colder, they begin their mysterious wonder. The invisible yeasts, scientifically Brettanomyces bruxellensis and Brettanomyces lambicus, dance through the air and infiltrate the worts that the brewers have left in open cooling vats. Only this spontaneous fermentation creates the lambic, which is the basis for the famous Belgian Geuze beer – for many beer drinkers the most exclusive and sophisticated barley drink in the world.
“The wild yeasts are a gift from heaven,” enthuses brewer Gert Christiaens and points out that this microflora is only native to the Flemish areas of Pajottenland and Zennetal, southwest of Brussels. The patron of the Oud Beersel brewery in the town of the same name leads us through his underground kingdom, where another miraculous transformation of the beer brew takes place in old oak barrels. Mixtures from different Lambic vintages are stored here before they are bottled in cork-sealed bottles, in which secondary fermentation takes place, similar to champagne. This maturity until Oude Geuze, i.e. old Geuze, takes twelve months, but can also be many years more. The Lambic creations are the Methuselahs of beers and last for at least twenty years. The lengthy and traditional production explains the prices of these top-fermented special beers, which are sometimes comparable to those of champagne.
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