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→Barrels
Lambic breweries do not like fresh barrels. Used red or white wine barrels are preferred. Most of the oak character has been stripped from the barrel, so not much will come through in the final lambic taste. Larger barrels or foudres are preferred over smaller barrels. These barrels are typically made from oak, chestnut, or cedar.
===Initial Fermentation===
The wort is transferred via hose into the barrels through the top bung hole. Barrels are completely filled and loosely capped with a silicon or wooden cork. In some cases a tubing system will serve as an overflow into buckets for when initial fermentation begins; making it easier to clean up after the barrels. Fermentation will typically occur within a few days, but can take up to a couple of weeks to begin. Factors involving that can affect when fermentation begins include the temperatures during inoculation or the temperatures during those first few days in the barrel. Organisms work more quickly at higher temperatures.
===Resting===
Lambic will develop and rest in the barrels for between a year and three years in most cases. Some experiments have led to lambic resting for upwards of five years though. As lambic ages in the barrel, it matures. It takes on a more complex profile as different yeasts and bacterias interact, die off, rearrange esters and fermentation byproducts, etc. The lambic's sugar content is decreased over time and it becomes drier. It will also take on more of the barrels character due to longer exposure time and will oxidize.