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→Hot side equipment
===Hot side equipment===
[[File:Cantillon-Brewing-2.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Cantillon's mash tun]]
While some specialized equipment is used in the ‘hot side’ of lambic production, much of the equipment used in modern lambic breweries resembles the sort of equipment you would see in contemporaneous Belgian non-lambic breweries. The typical hot side equipment found in lambic breweries includes a mash tun with internal rakes, one or two boiling kettles, and a coolship. Additional necessary brewing equipment which may be more or less visible, depending on the brewery, includes a grain mill, access to hot water through either a dedicated vessel (termed a hot liquor tank) or through on-demand hot water, and pump(s) which are either belt-driven (e.g. [[Cantillon]]) or directly electrically powered (e.g. [[3 Fonteinen]]). Significant variability exists between different producers in the specifics of this equipment based on size and when the brewery was built, but their function and general characteristics are basically the same.
The mash tuns used in lambic production deserve specific discussion before dealing with brewing process. A mash tun is the vessel that holds the mixture of grain and water (the mash) as enzymes in the grain are active to convert components of the grain into fermentable sugars and accessible nutrients for yeast and bacteria. Mash tuns have a false bottom made of a perforated or slotted screen which allows liquid to pass below while retaining the grain. Historically wooden baskets (called stuykmanden in Flemish) were also used to extract liquid from the mash. These baskets were pressed into the mash and turbid wort was withdrawn and transfered to a boil kettle<ref name=Lacambre/><ref name='Johnson 1918'>G.M. Johnson, 1918. A Belgian mashing system suitable for light beers. Journal of the Institute of Brewing. 24(6) 237-251.</ref>. Mash tuns have internal rakes which aid in mixing the mash as well as draining the sweet wort after the mash is complete. Along with the rakes, some lambic breweries (e.g. [[Timmermans]]) have perforated copper disks called extractors inside the tun which were used to help withdraw liquid from the mash.<ref name=Lacambre/><ref name='Johnson 1895'>G.M. Johnson, 1895. Brewing in Belgium and Belgian Beers. Journal of the Federated Institutes of Brewing. 1(5) 450-470.</ref>.