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The Royal Decrees of May 20, 1965 and March 31, 1993 required that lambic brewers use at least 30% wheat.<ref name=“GeuzeKriek”>Jef Van den Steen, [[Books#Geuze & Kriek: The Secret of Lambic Beer|Geuze & Kriek: The Secret of Lambic Beer]], 2012</ref> Today's modern lambic is brewed using a grain bill of roughly 30-40% raw (ungerminated) wheat and 60-70% malted barley (2-row or a combination of 2-row and 6-row). In most cases, both the wheat and the barley are coming from Belgian or German farms. The goal is to create wort that is rich in protein, amino acids and dextrins in order to provide nourishment to the microorganisms for months and years of fermentation.
Aged hops also play an important role in lambic. Hops are necessary because of their bacteriostatic properties and to curb the growth of bacteria. This is why hops over a year old are used; they have lost the majority of their bitteringproperites, but not their bacteriostatic, properties.<ref name=PalmBoon>Boon Brewery, Brewing Process http://palmbreweries.com/en/boon</ref> Traditionally, hops containing low amounts of alpha acids are aged for anywhere between a year and three years; although some bales of hops wind up aging much longer. The hops are typically stored in an environment where they are susceptible to drastic temperature changes, such as an attic.
<font size="3">'''Turbid Mashing'''</font>
In order to mash, the grain must be crushed to expose the inside of the kernel. This is achieved by a grain mill which will pulverize the grain to a powder while leaving the husk in tact intact which will aid with sparging and draining.
The grains are sent to a vessel called a mash tun and mixed with water of varying degrees of temperature. The mash tun will serve as a place to convert the starches from the grain into sugars.
The mash tun is a kettle shaped vessel usually containing multiple rakes made of metal that rotate around the tun and are powered mechanically. This aids in mixing of the mash as well as draining excess liquid after the mash is complete.
*Extraction of hop antibacterial compounds
*Reduction of hop aromatics
*Caramelization of the wort thanks to maillard Maillard reactions
*Extraction of the excess proteins from the wheat
*Reduction in liquid collected during extensive sparging to provide higher sugar content and thus increased alcohol content.