The Lambic Summit 2010

On June 9, 2010, Frank Boon, Jean van Roy, and Armand Debelder came together for the first time ever in a public panel to discuss lambic. The event lasted approximately 3 hours. The videos below, provided by the The Shelton Brothers, cover a majority of the event.

Part 1

Dan Shelton introduces the Lambic Summit and talks about it coming together. He provides an overview of spontaneous fermentation, the payottenland, and lambic.

Part 2

Armand discusses meeting Michael Jackson. He introduces the 1999 Drie Fonteinen / De Cam Oude Geuze blend that is served. He then introduces himself and discusses growing up in a lambic brewery. He discusses history of the brewery, his start as a blender, and the future of being involved in lambic.

Part 3

Dan Shelton introduces Frank Boon and talks about how they met, their relationship including their early disagreements, and Boon’s strong scientific study of lambic. Boon introduces the Boon brewery, discusses it’s history and brewing capacity and introduces the Boon Oude Geuze that they are currently drinking.

Part 4

Dan Shelton introduces the room to HORAL and it’s members. He discusses the difference between Geuze and Oude Geuze. He also discusses koelships and explains how Armand Debelder and similar blenders will take wort the day after the beer spends the night in a koelship and then age it in their own barrels. Shelton mentions that Debelder is no longer sourcing lambic from Girardin.

Part 5

Jean Van Roy provides a history of the Brewery Cantillon, the museum and it’s 40,000+ visitors annually, and explains what goes into creating gueuze. He explains the three things needed for quality lambic, quality ingredients, time, and patience.

Part 6

Shelton discusses bottle fermentation and why brewing is done only during the colder months. Van Roy and Boon discuss fermentation process and the process the beer goes in between years one and three and the beer's role at various ages.

Part 7

Shelton and Boon discuss the history of lambic, including Faro, the village of Lembeek, and the relationship of brewers and distillers when product restrictions were in place.

Part 8

Armand Debelder discusses how and why J&J Blauw came to be. Jean Van Roy discusses HORAL and why Cantillon is not a part of the organization.

Part 9

Frank Boon explains the history of sweetened lambic and the sweeteners used in his product. Jean Van Roy and Armand Debelder discuss the use of sweeteners used in their breweries and the movement back toward traditional products.

Part 10

The discussion continues about drinking sweetened and traditional lambic as well as the ways in which the brewers have leveraged varying business models to make money and survive when traditional products could not single-handedly pay the bills. This includes the restaurant at Drie Fonteinen, the museum at Cantillon, and sweetened beers at Boon.

Part 11

Jean Van Roy discusses the Cantillon brewery from his father's time to the present, and what the lambic revival has enabled him to accomplish at Cantillon.

Part 12

Armand Debelder explains Schaerbeekse Cherries, their origin and their characteristics. He discusses Drie Fonteinen's Schaerbeekse Kriek, Oude Kriek, and Kriekenlambic.

Part 13

Frank Boon discusses the raspberries used in Framboise as well as the use of young lambic to help protect the fruit flavor. Boon and Van Roy discuss the impacts of age on fruit lambics. Boon explains some history around the EU's Traditional Speciality Guaranteed protections of some lambics. Van Roy briefly discusses some of the other fruits used in Cantillon beers.

Part 14

Shelton and Van Roy discuss Rose de Gambrinus, and the effects of age on fruit beers. Van Roy introduces Pinot d’Aunis and talks about the grapes that are used and the goals of the experimental batch.

Part 15

Audience Q&A. Boon and Van Roy answer some additional questions about schaerbeekse cherries. The panel (primarily Debelder) discusses the "Oude" designation.

Part 16

Jean Van Roy discusses the origins of Framboise. Armand Debelder introduces Malvasia Rosso.

Part 17

Frank Boon discusses the different lambics his brewery produces. He explains further on the "Oude" designation, and talks about Oude Geuze Marriage Parfait. Based on an audience question, further discussion occurs around Boon's sweetened products.

Part 18

Shelton and Van Roy discuss American brewers that are making spontaneously fermented beers.

Part 19

Jean Van Roy introduces LH12 and discusses some of his creative experiments. In particular he focuses on Zwanze '09 / Mamouche.

Part 20

Armand Debelder tells the story of the thermostat incident, it's impact on Drie Fonteinen, the help that he received from Frank to stay alive, the creation of Armand's Spirit, and the future of of Drie Fonteinen.