Culture vs. Chemistry: Difference between revisions

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*A blending process involving multiple barrels of lambic, often from multiple years, to create a product that will mature into something great

This process is as much a tradition as a recipe. With the intense physical demands, ~~the~~ constant attention and care required, and ~~the~~ seasonal brewing cycles, being a lambic brewer is not just a job, but a way of life. This is passed down from generation to generation.

This process is as much a tradition as a recipe. With the intense physical demands, constant attention and care required, and seasonal brewing cycles, being a lambic brewer is not just a job, but a way of life This is passed down from generation to generation.

Returning to our question of the viability of a non-Belgian lambic, let’s examine one step in the process of lambic brewing: spontaneous fermentation. A spontaneously fermented beer gets its yeast naturally from the air during the wort cooling process. This is perhaps the best known part of the lambic-brewing process, and every lambic brewer will tell you that if it is not spontaneously fermented, it is not a lambic.

Given the balance of yeasts found in the Senne Valley is a primary creator of lambic’s flavor profile, and that spontaneous fermentation is equally crucial to the proper production of lambic, any attempt to move lambic production elsewhere creates a tension between these two aspects of lambic brewing which were previously in perfect harmony. It forces the brewer to ask which is more important: the biochemical composition/yeast content or the method of brewing. This is not a question that any lambic brewer in Belgium has to ask, or would want to – these two aspects of lambic production work in harmony in the Senne Valley, and elsewhere they would likely be in tension. Which is more important: that lambic tastes like a lambic, or that lambic be made like a lambic? In other words, what prevents someone from replicating all of the above? From a scientific perspective…nothing.

Spontaneously fermented beers can be produced anywhere, following the brewing processes of a traditional lambic. Jeff Sparrow reminisces in [[Books#Wild_Brews:_Culture_and_Craftsmanship_in_the_Belgian_Tradition|''Wild Brews: Culture and Craftsmanship in the Belgian Tradition'']] of a conversation that he had with Jean-Pierre Van Roy:

@@ Line 21: / Line 21: @@
 *A blending process involving multiple barrels of lambic, often from multiple years, to create a product that will mature into something great
-This process is as much a tradition as a recipe.  With the intense physical demands, the constant attention and care required, and the seasonal brewing cycles, being a lambic brewer is not just a job, but a way of life.  This is passed down from generation to generation.
+This process is as much a tradition as a recipe. With the intense physical demands, constant attention and care required, and seasonal brewing cycles, being a lambic brewer is not just a job, but a way of life This is passed down from generation to generation.
-Returning to our question of the viability of a non-Belgian lambic, let’s examine one step in the process of lambic brewing: spontaneous fermentation.  A spontaneously fermented beer gets its yeast naturally from the air during the wort cooling process.  This is perhaps the best known part of the lambic-brewing process, and every lambic brewer will tell you that if it is not spontaneously fermented, it is not a lambic.
+Returning to our question of the viability of a non-Belgian lambic, let’s examine one step in the process of lambic brewing: spontaneous fermentation.  A spontaneously fermented beer gets its yeast naturally from the air during the wort cooling process. This is perhaps the best known part of the lambic-brewing process, and every lambic brewer will tell you that if it is not spontaneously fermented, it is not a lambic.
-Given the balance of yeasts found in the Senne Valley is a primary creator of lambic’s flavor profile, and that spontaneous fermentation is equally crucial to the proper production of lambic, any attempt to move lambic production elsewhere creates a tension between these two aspects of lambic brewing which were previously in perfect harmony.  It forces the brewer to ask which is more important: the biochemical composition/yeast content or the method of brewing.  This is not a question that any lambic brewer in Belgium has to ask, or would want to – these two aspects of lambic production work in harmony in the Senne Valley, and elsewhere they would likely be in tension.  Which is more important: that lambic tastes like a lambic, or that lambic be made like a lambic?  In other words, what prevents someone from replicating all of the above?  From a scientific perspective…nothing.
+Given the balance of yeasts found in the Senne Valley is a primary creator of lambic’s flavor profile, and that spontaneous fermentation is equally crucial to the proper production of lambic, any attempt to move lambic production elsewhere creates a tension between these two aspects of lambic brewing which were previously in perfect harmony. It forces the brewer to ask which is more important: the biochemical composition/yeast content or the method of brewing.  This is not a question that any lambic brewer in Belgium has to ask, or would want to – these two aspects of lambic production work in harmony in the Senne Valley, and elsewhere they would likely be in tension.  Which is more important: that lambic tastes like a lambic, or that lambic be made like a lambic?  In other words, what prevents someone from replicating all of the above?  From a scientific perspective…nothing.
 Spontaneously fermented beers can be produced anywhere, following the brewing processes of a traditional lambic. Jeff Sparrow reminisces in [[Books#Wild_Brews:_Culture_and_Craftsmanship_in_the_Belgian_Tradition|''Wild Brews: Culture and Craftsmanship in the Belgian Tradition'']] of a conversation that he had with Jean-Pierre Van Roy: