Lambic, A topic of discussion…

If you missed it….

As some of you may have read; as there was a post here on the RB about it, there was a recent Limbic article featured in the New York Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/03/dining/03beer.html?ex=1147838400&en=70b5b1a9715e84a0&ei=5070


Dan Shelton; importer of Cantillon and Drie Fonteinen, retorts here with his thought’s in last weeks RateBeer article.

http://www.ratebeer.com/Beer-News/Article-615.htm


I have really wanted to have the topic of Traditional Lambic discussed in more depth… that is why I post this.
-Matt A.

I wonder how objective a story we will get from the importer of 2 of the only 3 Lambics being written about as "traditional".

I hope the pieces are truly informative, and not just a sales pitch for beer that he sells.

Shelton’s details about lambic production and history are welcome and informative, but I believe he’s gotten a bit over-anxious about the NYT article.
IMO, the NYT article was great. Not only did it give proper props to the authentic lambics, but did a good job of explaining the difference, diplomatically, between those and the sweet fruit "lambics".
It sounds as if Shelton would have preferred those latter beers to have been ignored completely but such would have been an enormous mistake, esp. for those who want to talk up the qualities of traditional lambic!
Its best to cover both types, explain the difference, and thus educate the consumer, rather than pretend the bad ones don’t exist and cover only the good ones. My logic is that what happens when the reader of the article, if s/he didn’t know about the bad sweet lambics but decides to try some lambics, goes and buys some Chapeau, not knowing any better. If s/he found them disgustingly sweet, then they wouldn’t be equipped with the knowledge to know there are drier more complex examples out there, and wouldn’t necessary understand the difference between them.

Of course its OK to sample both types together, you have to if you’re to learn anything about the differences between them, and the positives and negatives. Does Shelton just want everyone to drink the good dry lambics and never judge for themselves whether the sweet ones would be worth drinking?
IMO, he’s just being far too pedantic on this issue.

His one good point is that its not clear why they would choose to feature the Apricot Chapeau in the accompanying picture. But for anyone who actually read the article, I don’t think you can leave it with the impression that this beer was considered the best.

I quite enjoyed the article and am looking forward to the coming few. I think lambic and lambic production are extremely interesting topics.

Originally posted by Dan Shelton
The only producers of lambic beers that are consistently making authentic, natural products are Cantillon, Drie Fonteinen, and De Cam (which is not available in the U.S.). One or two of the beers of Girardin and Hanssens are, well, mostly traditional. As for the rest – as they say, if you have nothing good to say, say nothing at all.

And isn’t Drie Fonteinen just a blender?

Originally posted by JorisPPattyn

And isn’t Drie Fonteinen just a blender?

No. There’s a small lambic brewery on the premisses. Not enough for the full gueuze/kriek/... production (luckily, blending makes it more interesting), but it is a brewery.

Joris

Originally posted by BierKönig

Originally posted by JorisPPattyn

And isn’t Drie Fonteinen just a blender?

No. There’s a small lambic brewery on the premisses. Not enough for the full gueuze/kriek/... production (luckily, blending makes it more interesting), but it is a brewery.

Joris

Sure is Joris! And, I just had an awesome chat with Armand and a tour at the brewery plus his external stock!! I even tasted something that......WOW!!

CHUT! That’s supposed to be secret still!!
JPP

Originally posted by JorisPPattyn

Originally posted by BierKönig

Originally posted by JorisPPattyn

And isn’t Drie Fonteinen just a blender?

No. There’s a small lambic brewery on the premisses. Not enough for the full gueuze/kriek/... production (luckily, blending makes it more interesting), but it is a brewery.

Joris

Sure is Joris! And, I just had an awesome chat with Armand and a tour at the brewery plus his external stock!! I even tasted something that......WOW!!

CHUT! That’s supposed to be secret still!!
JPP

I like the New York Times article - it was informed, balanced and well written. I couldn’t finish Dan Shelton’s piece. I stopped at the point in which he was giving his unsupported opinion that "Lambic is the oldest existing style of beer in the world." The key to this theory is the use of uncultivated yeast.
What we do know is that the yeasts which make lambic are individual - and are present in the area in which lambic is brewed.
While beers from around the world have been and still are made from uncultivated yeasts, they are not lambics.
It is not any airborne and wild yeasts that make a beer a lambic, but the very specific yeasts that are present in the lambic region. Some of the yeasts and bacterias that contribute to the flavour and character of lambic are nurtured in a way that is the same as culturing.

Dan Shelton may have gone on to explain himself in more detail, and I’m sure he knows a lot more about lambic than I do - but at that point it felt like I was having an enthusiastic and less than accurate assertion ramned down my throat by someone who was perhaps more passionate than thorough. I can well see why most (all?) of Shelton’s emailed information didn’t make it into the New York Times article. The information is unreliable.

The NYT article was nothing but good (have I ever said this before?) for the craft beer industry. It slams wine drinkers for being stuck up; it tells the reader they can get world-class beer for the same price as cheap wine. It enthusiasticially encourages the reader to try the best and purest lambic beer, but also provides an alternative for those who will be scared away by the sourness, and the significant number of ratebeer users who don’ care for lambic is testament that these are not styles for everyone. I strongly believe that sweet fruits lambic, whether pure or not, are perhaps the best beers to give to someone who doesn’t know there is more to beer than pale lager. I have had many people reject many beers I have offered them, but not one has disliked Lindemann’s framboise.

As for the picture of the chapeau bottle, the person who needs that picture to remember a beer is not the one looking for the ultra-sour gueuze but something more approachable. If you are someone who would enjoy Cantillon, you are probably already someone who knows what Cantillon is and where to get it. I was more disturbed by the overflowing pilsner glass of Cuvee Renee.

Originally posted by Dan Shelton
The only producers of lambic beers that are consistently making authentic, natural products are Cantillon, Drie Fonteinen, and De Cam