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==Brewing==
===Raw Ingredients / Preparation===
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. 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.
===Turbid Mashing===
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 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.
Lambic undergoes what is known as a turbid mash. A turbid mash is a time-consuming method of conversion but that involves removing the liquid portion of the mash, boiling it, and then reintroducing it into the whole mash. It is necessary to break down larger proteins, providing yeasts and bacterias with more food. This will result in a beer that is perceived to be drier in taste. Freeing the wheat of its amino acids will result in a higher dextrin content, giving the final product a fuller mouth feel. Different organisms will feed on different materials at different rates, providing another layer of complexity. This is opposed to a single-step mashing schedule where the grain rests at one temperature for an extended period of time. Single-step infusion results in less complex materials for organisms to break down.<ref name=MakingLambicStyle>Making Lambic Style Ale, http://bergsman.org/jeremy/lambic/making.html</ref>
An example of a turbid mash schedule is as follows:
===Sparging===
Sparging is a process of rinsing remaining sugar from the grain after the initial runnings of wort. This is done with near boiling water (165°F-190°F) which will halt the enzymatic conversion process. These second runnings are then combined with the first runnings into one batch. This helps extract dextrins and unconverted starches from the mash. These components are needed to support the long fermentation process and will ultimately be utilized by the yeast and bacteria. Without these usually undesirable products the lambic organisms will not thrive and produce an optimal product.
===Boiling===
Lambic boils can last upwards of five hours. Historically some boils have lasted days but modern practices run anywhere between 2 hours and 5 hours. Boiling serves a few purposes. One is sterilization These include:*Sterilization of the wort. Other purposes are caramelization *Extraction of hop antibacterial compounds*Reduction of hop aromatics*Caramelization of the wort thanks to maillard reactions and also a reduction *Extraction of volume which the excess proteins from the wheat*Reduction in liquid collected during extensive sparging to provide a higher sugar content and thus increased alcohol content.
===Hopping===
Boiling is also when hops are added. The brewer will make a hop addition as the kettles are being filled, before the wort actually begins to boil. Other than being aged, the hops are usually Belgian, Czech, or German grown hops typically of the Hallertauer variety. It is important to use hops with low alpha acid content as brewers are not looking for bitterness or acid contents; only the antimicrobial properties contained within the hop. This will prevent undesired molds and bacterias such as Acetobacter acetobacter from inhabiting the wort.
===Cooling/Inoculation===