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→Historical use
Pitchers were the primary vessel for serving lambic from the cask at [[Home#Lambic_Bars_and_Caf.C3.A9s|lambic cafés]] throughout Belgium. Before bottling lambics was prominent, many cafés served their own blends and straight lambics directly from wooden casks behind the bar. To facilitate larger groups and quicker serving times many bars and cafés had these large pitchers.<ref name=JefLambic>Jef Lambic, [[Books#Les_Memoirs_de_Jef_Lambic| Les Memoirs de Jef Lambic]], ~1955 </ref> Many believe that the first historical depiction of this stoneware being used for lambic (more specifically Faro) is in Pieter Bruegel's painting ''The Peasant Wedding'' (''Le Repas de noce'', French, ''De boerenbruiloft'', Dutch).<ref name=GeuzeFaroEtKriek>Raymond Buren, [[Books#Gueuze.2C_Faro_et_Kriek|Gueuze, Faro, et Kriek]], 1992</ref> Completed ca. 1567-68, the painting depicts a wedding ceremony in which stone pitchers are used for serving beer to guests. The painting is also the used for the label of the U.S import version of Cantillon's [[Cantillon_Grand_Cru_Bruocsella|Grand Cru Bruocsella]]
Today, [[A_La_Bécasse|Café A La Bécasse]] still serves lambics in these pitchers. Breweries like Cantillon, Timmermans, and 3 Fonteinen also still serve lambic in these pitchers. Though the evidence is only anecdotal, some believe that the use of pitchers as a decanter for highly aromatic beers like Cantillon's [[Cantillon_Mamouche|Mamouche]] helps to open the beer up in much the same way as a wine decanter.
==Origins==