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One of the most unique aspects of lambic in Belgium is its attendant culture – both that in which it has grown up, and that which has grown up around it. Lambic is both a reflection of Belgian terroir and culture and a contributor to that same culture. From a cultural perspective, can lambic be replicated? Lambic represents hundreds of years of history. It represents a culture that identified the unique natural characteristics of a region and leveraged this terrior to produce a product unlike any other. It represents a completely unique localized brewing style where each step was developed specifically to capture and enhance the effects of the region. It represents hundreds of years of family history, breweries that have come and gone, and a culture where bars and restaurants would buy wort and create their own lambic. It represents the annual pilgrimage of beer geeks worldwide who journey to Belgium to experience lambic.
Brewers are ingenious. They have and will continue to brew wild ales in other regions, either through the use of that region’s local terrior or through chemistry and microbiology. They will follow many of the steps described above that are unique to lambic. But beyond that, they experiment and make their own beers, changing the process to create their own unique beverages. Experimentation is good and should be encouraged. We do hope however, that brewers truly attempting to create a Belgian style lambic respect this amazing style, that they create a product that can stand the test of time, and that they create strive to brew a complex beer that’s much more than just “sour” or “funky”. We hope that they respect the regional history of the Belgian Lambic itself, and instead make their own wild ales, indigenous to their own region, brewery and history.
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