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[[Brouwerij_Lindemans|Lindemans]], for example, began sweetening in 1972-1973 because of a shortage of Schaeerbeekse cherries<ref name=GeuzeKriek>Jef Van den Steen, [[Books#Geuze & Kriek: The Secret of Lambic Beer|Geuze & Kriek: The Secret of Lambic Beer]], 2012</ref>. Some lambics are even sweetened artificially with Aspartame or Saccharin<ref name="Oxford">Garrett Oliver, [http://www.amazon.com/Oxford-Companion-Beer-Garrett-Oliver/dp/0195367138 The Oxford Companion to Beer], 2011</ref>, listing 'sugar substitute' as an ingredient on their beer labels. As fruit lambic became more and more popular in the late 1980’s and 1990’s, fruit juices were used to further sweeten lambic. <ref name=LambicLand>Tim Webb, Chris Pollard, Siobhan McGinn, [[Books#LambicLand: A Journey Round the Most Unusual Beers in the World|LambicLand: A Journey Round the Most Unusual Beers in the World]] </ref> [[Brouwerij_De_Troch|De Troch]] uses this process today for their fruit lambics both to satisfy the market for a sweetened product and to introduce more exotic fruit flavors like [[Chapeau_Exotic|pineapple]] and [[Chapeau_Banane|banana]] into the beer that are not readily available in Belgium.
===Section TitleWhat's In A Name?===Significant confusion over unsweetened and sweetened lambic products ensued, and some brewers note that sweetening lambic was squeezing out traditional lambic. Jean-Pierre Van Roy is quoted in [[Books#Wild_Brews:_Culture_and_Craftsmanship_in_the_Belgian_Tradition|''Wild Brews: Culture and Craftsmanship in the Belgian Tradition'']] as saying that “the sweet lambic, the sweet fruit beer, and the sweet gueuze don’t exist. It’s impossible. If it is very sweet there are three possibilities: It is not a lambic, it has aspartame added, or it is pasteurized. Lambic is a natural product.”<ref name=WildBrews>Jeff Sparrow, [[Books#Wild Brews: Culture and Craftsmanship in the Belgian Tradition|Wild Brews: Culture and Craftsmanship in the Belgian Tradition]], 2005</ref> However, history has shown that sweetening has played a significant role in the history, success, and survival, of lambic in general throughout the years. Indeed, Jean Van Roy has agreed on at least one occasion that his father was using saccharine to sweeten beers as a “means to basically save the brewery … because people wanted sweet things.” <ref name=summit9>[[The Lambic Summit 2010#Part 9|The Lambic Summit , part 10 (Shelton Brothers), Jean VanRoy, 2010, Part 9]]</ref> Sweetening lambic was viewed as a normal part of the business.
As lambic brewers and blenders began to recognize the importance of keeping the older traditions alive, some banded together to form [[HORAL]]. This group aims to promote lambic beers, brewing, and culture in Belgium. Their stated goals are "to promote the craft lambic beers and related products, paying attention to the entire process of brewing to serving lambic; denouncing irregularities concerning artisanal lambic beers and related products; take steps to protect the traditional lambic beers and related products".<ref name = HORALAssociation> HORAL - Association, Members, and History, http://www.horal.be/vereniging (Dutch)</ref> HORAL has worked to obtain and maintain current European Protections on traditional lambic beers since the Traditionally Specialty Guaranteed (TSG) label was assigned to them in 1997.<Ref name = Avermaete&Vandermosten> Tessa Avermaete and Gert Vandermosten, Traditional Belgian Beers in a Global Market Economy, 2009 </ref> It guaranteed that any sweetened geuze would simply be called ‘geuze’ and any fully traditionally produced geuze would be called ‘oude geuze’, with the adjective ‘oude’ as a title that guarantees that the beer has been prepared the old, traditional way.
All lambic producers except [[Brasserie_Cantillon|Cantillon]], who is not part of HORAL, have generally followed this terminology. The reason being Van Roy's reasoning is that they feel no need to distinguish their product as such because everything they make is traditional. <ref name = LambicSummit2010> Lambic Summit, part 10 (Shelton Brothers), Jean Van Roy, 2010 </ref> This is not to say, however, that all HORAL members make all traditional products. It is well noted many HORAL members make both unsweetened products as well as sweetened products. Today breweries like [[Brouwerij_Timmermans|Timmermans]] and Lindemans produce both sweetened and unsweetened products. Recently, Lindemans has moved to sweetening their lambics with stevia, a natural product.<refname=LindemansCommunication>Brouwerij Lindemans, Personal Communication, 2014</ref> <refname=LindemansFram> Merchant du Vin, [http://www.merchantduvin.com/brew-lindemans-framboise-lambic.php Lindemans Framboise Description] </ref>
===Conclusion===