Difference between revisions of "Lambiek Fabriek"

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[[File:Logo Lambiek Fabriek - lambiekfabriek vof.png|325px|right]]
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[[File:Logo Lambiek Fabriek - lambiekfabriek vof.png|400px|right]]
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'''Website:''' http://www.lambiekfabriek.be/
 
'''Website:''' http://www.lambiekfabriek.be/
  
'''Contact:''' [mailto:info@lambiekfabriek.be info@lambiekfabriek]
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'''Contact:''' [mailto:info@lambiekfabriek.be info@lambiekfabriek.be]
  
'''Address:''' Georges Wittouckstraat 61 1600 Sint Pieters Leeuw Belgium    
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'''Address:''' Eugène Ghijsstraat 71, 1600 Sint-Pieters-Leeuw   
  
'''Tasting room:''' Fridays 16:00 - ? (could be anytime, party on!)
 
  
 
== Overview ==
 
== Overview ==
Lambiek Fabriek is a lambic blendery located in Sint Pieters Leeuw established in 2016. It is the first new lambic blendery to open since [[Gueuzerie_Tilquin|Gueuzerie Tilquin]] opened in 2011. To date, they have released two bottled products produced from their own lambic that is brewed on-site at Belgoo Brewery.
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Lambiek Fabriek is a lambic producer that was founded by Jo Panneels and Jozef Van Bosstraeten in 2016, and is located in Sint-Pieters-Leeuw. The word “Fabriek” in the name stands for their original brew site in the “Fabriekstraat” in Ruisbroek (Sint-Pieters-Leeuw). The ram skull logo and the round shaped labels were specifically chosen to step away from the classic (paint stripe) labels on the market and thus to give Lambiek Fabriek its own identity. Another feature that represents Lambiek Fabriek’s identity on the market is that all the names of the products in their line-up end by “-Elle”.  
  
 
== History==
 
== History==
[[File:Lambiek Fabriek + Belgoo Tasting Room 3.jpg|Lambiek Fabriek + Belgoo tasting room|thumb|right|Tasting room entrance shared with Belgoo brewery]]
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[[File:Lambiek Fabriek Jozef and Jo.jpg|Jozef Van Bosstraeten & Jo Panneels|thumb|left]]
Lambiek Fabriek is a joint lambic brewing and blending project started by Jo Panneels (blending), Jozef Van Bosstraeten (brewing & blending), and Jo Van Aert (brewing) that officially opened its doors as a company in 2016 alongside the already established Belgoo brewery in the village of Ruisbroek in the Sint-Pieters-Lieuw municipality. Though Lambiek Fabriek officially established itself in 2016, the first experimental lambic blends began nearly 8 years before around 2008. Around that time, the future Lambiek Fabriek founders purchased some wort, young lambic, and old lambic from Lindemans, 3 Fonteinen, Oud Beersel, and Hanssens, and they began to experimenemt making kriek lambiek in small 20L and 60L carboys.  
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Jo Panneels and Jozef Van Bosstraeten raised the idea of starting their own lambic brewery whilst drinking geuze in a café in the Payottenland. Back in the mid-2000s, Jo Panneels worked in the retail business and Jozef Van Bosstraeten worked as a plasterer. Each year the two friends – who have known each other since childhood – went to France to help the winemakers with the grape harvest in the Burgundy region. The winemakers were intrigued when they found out about the lambic project the two friends wanted to set off, and offered some oak barrels of both 400-liter and 220-liter sizes. Lambic wort could relatively easily be sourced around the mid-2000s, because it was not as hyped as it is nowadays. The Lambiek Fabriek founders had not grown up in a brewer’s family, but gained their technical beer knowledge by taking professional classes in COOVI Anderlecht, which is a school specialized in the catering industry.
 +
 
 +
A two stories high garage in the Fabriekstraat in Ruisbroek (Sint-Pieters-Leeuw) was transformed into a warehouse where Jo & Jozef could produce their first lambic around 2006 – 2007. Between 2008 and 2015, the future Lambiek Fabriek founders purchased some wort, young lambic, and old lambic from: [[Brouwerij_Lindemans|Lindemans]], [[Brouwerij_3_Fonteinen|3 Fonteinen]], [[Brouwerij Oud Beersel]], and [[Hanssens Artisanaal bvba]]. They began to experiment making only kriek lambic in small 20 and 60 liter carboys for non-commercial use. While beginning to contemplate the logistics of blending lambic commercially, lambic was at the same time in one of its most popular and rapid upswings in popularity. This made the market for lambic wort from other producers much tighter due to demand at their own breweries and blenderies as well as making any available wort more expensive.
  
While beginning to contemplate the logistics of blending lambic commercially, lambic was at the same time in one of its most popular and rapid upswings in popularity. This made the market for lambic wort from other producers much tighter due to demand at their own breweries and blenderies as well as making any available wort more expensive.
+
By 2015, the decision had been made to start a new commercial-sized lambic brewery. Their tasks were quickly defined because the two friends know each other for over 30 years and know how to work complementary.  They agreed on Jozef Van Bosstraeten taking on the role of master brewer, and Jo Panneels as zythologist assisting in blending and responsible for all non-production tasks such as: finance, sales & marketing distribution,... Given the fact that they were not able to purchase wort from the bigger lambic brewers at the time, Jo Paneels approached a clean top fermentation brewery in Zuun (Sint-Pieters-Leeuw) to let Lambiek Fabriek brew lambic on-premises. In the beginning of the brewing sessions, the coolship was not present at the brewery. Instead, it was located at their original warehouse in Ruisbroek, approximately 3 kilometers away from the brewery. The first two seasons (2015-2016 and 2016-2017), freshly brewed wort was transported approximately 4.5 kilometers away from the brewery to another warehouse where it was pumped into the coolship to cool overnight. Logistically, this was a strain. To solve the problem of having spontaneous fermentation alongside a clean brewery, a separate warehouse was chosen on-site to house the barrels and all of the necessary pumps and hoses. Eventually, it was decided that the coolship should be moved to the brewery for logistical reasons, and it was installed under a roof outside of the brewery in the fall of 2017 so as to not interfere with the clean fermentation at the brewery.  
  
By 2015, the decision had been made to start a new commercial-sized lambic blendery. Given the fact that they were not able to purchase wort from the bigger lambic brewers at the time, Paneels approached Belgoo Brewery (which opened in 2015) in Ruisbroek about the possibility of brewing a traditional lambic recipe on their equipment. Belgoo is a clean top fermentation brewery mostly brewing traditional Belgian ales. Jo Van Aert, brewer at Belgoo, agreed to let Lambiek Fabriek brew lambic on-premesis.
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[[File:Lambiek Fabriek barrel room Ruisbroek.jpg|Lambiek Fabriek’s barrel room in Ruisbroek|thumb|right]]
[[File:Lambiek Fabriek Barrels1.jpg|Lambiek Fabriek barrels|thumb|left]]
 
In the beginning of the brewing of the brewing sessions at Belgoo, the coolship was not present at the brewery. Instead, it was located at another warehouse approximately a kilometer away from the brewery. For two seasons (2015-2016, and 2016-2017), freshly brewed wort was transported approximately 4.5 kilometers away from the brewery to another warehouse where it was pumped into the [[koelschip|koelschip]] to cool overnight. Logistically, this was a strain. The goal was to eventually have the two operations working side-by-side. To solve the problem of having spontaneous fermentation alongside a clean brewery, a separate warehouse was chosen on-site to house the barrels and all of the necessary pumps and hoses. The warehouse also has a separate bottling line for both 75cl and 37,5cl bottles.  Eventually, it was decided that the koelschip should be moved to the brewery for logistical reasons, and it was installed under a roof outside of the brewery in the fall of 2017 so as to not interfere with the clean fermentation at the brewery.
 
  
Currently, Lambiek Fabriek and Belgoo Brewery work side-by-side in the same location, which was an old beer distributor before its current incarnation.
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In 2020, Lambiek Fabriek also joined [[HORAL|HORAL]], a non-profit organization that groups the lambic producers in the Payottenland and the Valley of the Senne. The [[HORAL|HORAL]] Megablend 2021 and 2022 both contain lambic brewed by Lambiek Fabriek. A relocation to a new and bigger warehouse became necessary, and Lambiek Fabriek’s main site is once again in Ruisbroek since 2022. The main site serves for storage and bottling, whereas the garage warehouse where it all started over a decade ago is still used to store barrels. The fruit and bottles are stored in their warehouse in Lot (Beersel). For the 2021 – 2022 season, Jozef Van Bosstraeten brewed Lambiek Fabriek's lambic by making use of other lambic producers' brewing equipment at their brew sites, being: [[Brouwerij_De_Troch|De Troch]], [[Brouwerij_3_Fonteinen|3 Fonteinen]], [[Den_Herberg|Den Herberg]] and [[Brouwerij_Lindemans|Lindemans]]. The products in the lineup are all blends from the aforementioned 4 lambic breweries, as well as Lambiek Fabriek's own brewed lambic that was produced at their previous brew site in Zuun.
  
 
==Brewing and Blending Process==
 
==Brewing and Blending Process==
The lambic brewed on the Belgoo side of the brewery is a traditional lambic recipe that consists of approximately  +/- 35% wheat and +/- 65% malted barley and uses aged pellet hops. The brewhouse at Belgoo has a capacity of 24 hectoliters.  The stainless steel koelschip was fabricated locally and is divided into two equal halves of 1,200 liters each; thus, a full brew at Belgoo will fill the koelship. The wort is then pumped over to the Lambiek Fabriek side at approximately 95 degrees Celsius and left to cool until it is transferred over to barrels at around 22 to 23 degrees Celsius.  
+
The lambic which Lambiek Fabriek brews is based on a traditional lambic recipe that consists of approximately  +/- 35% wheat and +/- 65% malted barley and uses aged pellet hops. The stainless steel coolship that Lambiek Fabriek used in Zuun during the seasons 2016 – 2021 was fabricated locally and is divided into two equal halves of 1,200 liters each, thus a full brew filled the coolship. The wort is then pumped over at approximately 95 degrees Celsius and left to cool until it is transferred over to barrels at around 22 to 23 degrees Celsius. Jo Panneels assists master brewer Jozef Van Bosstraeten with blending, and each bottling contains 5,000 liter. Bottling is done semi-automatically on-site in Ruisbroek at a rate of 1,300 bottles per hour. Putting capsules on the bottles is the only manual labor in the bottling process.
 
 
The blendery started off with oak barrels of both 400-liter and 220-liter sizes, of which approximately 90% of them are of French oak and an 10% are of American oak. In June of 2019, the blendery received 8 Italian foeders with a capacity of around 46 to 47 hectoliters each. As of 2019, there are more than 280 total barrels and foeders across two warehouses. Many of the French oak barrels are first- fill barrels coming from the Burgundy region in France where the blendery has a connection to some winemakers.  
 
  
The current barrel count as of July 2019 is: <br>
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Jozef Van Bosstraeten is not only Lambiek Fabriek’s master brewer, but he is also a cooper. Lambiek Fabriek finds it important to have an in-house cooper, in order to maintain the barrels and foeders without needing to rely on an external party. Many of the French oak barrels are first-fill barrels coming from the Burgundy region in France where Lambiek Fabriek has a connection to some winemakers. In 2022, there are about 210 barrels (180 x 400 liter and 30 x 220 liter sizes) across the two warehouses, as well as 12 foeders which originate from Italy and Austria. All foeders were between 30 and 40 years old at the time of purchase. The 8 smallest foeders have a capacity of 47 hectoliters each, one of 65 hectoliters, and the 3 biggest foeders can contain 70 hectoliters each. The geuze is a blend of lambic aged in 400 liter barrels, whereas the fruit lambics are a combination of lambic aged in barrels (of different sizes) and foeders. Some barrels are marked with a capital “B” to indicate that the lambic inside has been made from organic grains. The 100% organic lambic is for instance used in “Natur-Elle” and “Organic & Wild Black-Belle”.
 
 
8 x 47 HL foeders <br>
 
50 x 220L barrels <br>
 
230 x 400L barels <br>
 
 
 
Blends are done in a 3,200 liter stainless steel blending tank and left to rest for 24 hours before being bottled. Each blend yields approximately 4,000 75cl bottles or 8,000 37,5cl bottles.  
 
 
 
When touring the blendery, some barrels are marked with a capital “B” to indicate that they lambic inside has been made from organic grains.
 
  
 
== Beers ==
 
== Beers ==
Line 42: Line 32:
 
*[[Brett-Elle Oude Geuze]]
 
*[[Brett-Elle Oude Geuze]]
 
*[[Fontan-Elle Young & Wild]]
 
*[[Fontan-Elle Young & Wild]]
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*[[Natur-Elle Organic Geuze]]
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*[[Bord-Elle Oude Geuze]]
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*[[Colon-Elle Single & Wild]]
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 +
===Fruit===
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*[[Oude Kriek Jart-Elle]]
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*[[Oude Kriek Schar-Elle]]
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*[[Juicy & Wild Black-Belle]]
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*[[Organic & Wild Black-Belle]]
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*[[Juicy & Wild Muri-Elle]]
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*[[Juicy & Wild Muscar-Elle]]
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*[[Juicy & Wild Pluri-Elle]]
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*[[Juicy & Wild Gross-Elle]]
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*[[Juicy & Wild Rhub-Elle]]
  
 
== Photos ==
 
== Photos ==
 
<gallery>
 
<gallery>
File:Lambiek Fabriek + Belgoo Tasting Room 3.jpg|Lambiek Fabriek + Belgoo tasting room
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File:Lambiek Fabriek entrance.jpg|Entrance in Ruisbroek
File:Lambiek Fabriek + Belgoo Tasting Room.jpg|Lambiek Fabriek + Belgoo tasting room
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File:Lambiek Fabriek warehouse Ruisbroek.jpg|Barrel room in Ruisbroek
File:Lambiek Fabriek + Belgoo Tasting Room 2.jpg|Lambiek Fabriek + Belkgoo tasting room
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File:Lambiek Fabriek barrel room Ruisbroek2.jpg|Barrel room in Ruisbroek
File:Lambiek Fabriek Barrels1.jpg|Lambiek Fabriek barrels
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File:Lambiek Fabriek tank in warehouse.jpg|Warehouse
File:Coolship Lambiek Fabriek Panorama.jpg|Lambiek Fabriek coolship (panorama view)
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File:Lambiek Fabriek foeder.jpg|Foeder
File:Lambiek Fabriek Foeders.jpg|Newly placed Italian foeders, June 2019
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File:Lambiek Fabriek barrel maintenance.jpg|Barrel maintenance
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File:Lambiek Fabriek fermentation.JPG|Fermentation
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File:Lambiek Fabriek fermentation2.jpg|Fermentation
 
File:Lambiek Fabriek Organic Lambic.jpg|Barrel of organic lambic
 
File:Lambiek Fabriek Organic Lambic.jpg|Barrel of organic lambic
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File:Lambiek Fabriek tasting blends.jpg|Lambic blends
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File:Lambiek Fabriek ram skull.jpg|Ram skull
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File:Lambiek Fabriek dart board.jpg|Dart board
 
</gallery>
 
</gallery>

Latest revision as of 11:41, 17 October 2022

Logo Lambiek Fabriek - lambiekfabriek vof.png

Website: http://www.lambiekfabriek.be/

Contact: info@lambiekfabriek.be

Address: Eugène Ghijsstraat 71, 1600 Sint-Pieters-Leeuw


Overview

Lambiek Fabriek is a lambic producer that was founded by Jo Panneels and Jozef Van Bosstraeten in 2016, and is located in Sint-Pieters-Leeuw. The word “Fabriek” in the name stands for their original brew site in the “Fabriekstraat” in Ruisbroek (Sint-Pieters-Leeuw). The ram skull logo and the round shaped labels were specifically chosen to step away from the classic (paint stripe) labels on the market and thus to give Lambiek Fabriek its own identity. Another feature that represents Lambiek Fabriek’s identity on the market is that all the names of the products in their line-up end by “-Elle”.

History

Jozef Van Bosstraeten & Jo Panneels

Jo Panneels and Jozef Van Bosstraeten raised the idea of starting their own lambic brewery whilst drinking geuze in a café in the Payottenland. Back in the mid-2000s, Jo Panneels worked in the retail business and Jozef Van Bosstraeten worked as a plasterer. Each year the two friends – who have known each other since childhood – went to France to help the winemakers with the grape harvest in the Burgundy region. The winemakers were intrigued when they found out about the lambic project the two friends wanted to set off, and offered some oak barrels of both 400-liter and 220-liter sizes. Lambic wort could relatively easily be sourced around the mid-2000s, because it was not as hyped as it is nowadays. The Lambiek Fabriek founders had not grown up in a brewer’s family, but gained their technical beer knowledge by taking professional classes in COOVI Anderlecht, which is a school specialized in the catering industry.

A two stories high garage in the Fabriekstraat in Ruisbroek (Sint-Pieters-Leeuw) was transformed into a warehouse where Jo & Jozef could produce their first lambic around 2006 – 2007. Between 2008 and 2015, the future Lambiek Fabriek founders purchased some wort, young lambic, and old lambic from: Lindemans, 3 Fonteinen, Brouwerij Oud Beersel, and Hanssens Artisanaal bvba. They began to experiment making only kriek lambic in small 20 and 60 liter carboys for non-commercial use. While beginning to contemplate the logistics of blending lambic commercially, lambic was at the same time in one of its most popular and rapid upswings in popularity. This made the market for lambic wort from other producers much tighter due to demand at their own breweries and blenderies as well as making any available wort more expensive.

By 2015, the decision had been made to start a new commercial-sized lambic brewery. Their tasks were quickly defined because the two friends know each other for over 30 years and know how to work complementary. They agreed on Jozef Van Bosstraeten taking on the role of master brewer, and Jo Panneels as zythologist assisting in blending and responsible for all non-production tasks such as: finance, sales & marketing distribution,... Given the fact that they were not able to purchase wort from the bigger lambic brewers at the time, Jo Paneels approached a clean top fermentation brewery in Zuun (Sint-Pieters-Leeuw) to let Lambiek Fabriek brew lambic on-premises. In the beginning of the brewing sessions, the coolship was not present at the brewery. Instead, it was located at their original warehouse in Ruisbroek, approximately 3 kilometers away from the brewery. The first two seasons (2015-2016 and 2016-2017), freshly brewed wort was transported approximately 4.5 kilometers away from the brewery to another warehouse where it was pumped into the coolship to cool overnight. Logistically, this was a strain. To solve the problem of having spontaneous fermentation alongside a clean brewery, a separate warehouse was chosen on-site to house the barrels and all of the necessary pumps and hoses. Eventually, it was decided that the coolship should be moved to the brewery for logistical reasons, and it was installed under a roof outside of the brewery in the fall of 2017 so as to not interfere with the clean fermentation at the brewery.

Lambiek Fabriek’s barrel room in Ruisbroek

In 2020, Lambiek Fabriek also joined HORAL, a non-profit organization that groups the lambic producers in the Payottenland and the Valley of the Senne. The HORAL Megablend 2021 and 2022 both contain lambic brewed by Lambiek Fabriek. A relocation to a new and bigger warehouse became necessary, and Lambiek Fabriek’s main site is once again in Ruisbroek since 2022. The main site serves for storage and bottling, whereas the garage warehouse where it all started over a decade ago is still used to store barrels. The fruit and bottles are stored in their warehouse in Lot (Beersel). For the 2021 – 2022 season, Jozef Van Bosstraeten brewed Lambiek Fabriek's lambic by making use of other lambic producers' brewing equipment at their brew sites, being: De Troch, 3 Fonteinen, Den Herberg and Lindemans. The products in the lineup are all blends from the aforementioned 4 lambic breweries, as well as Lambiek Fabriek's own brewed lambic that was produced at their previous brew site in Zuun.

Brewing and Blending Process

The lambic which Lambiek Fabriek brews is based on a traditional lambic recipe that consists of approximately +/- 35% wheat and +/- 65% malted barley and uses aged pellet hops. The stainless steel coolship that Lambiek Fabriek used in Zuun during the seasons 2016 – 2021 was fabricated locally and is divided into two equal halves of 1,200 liters each, thus a full brew filled the coolship. The wort is then pumped over at approximately 95 degrees Celsius and left to cool until it is transferred over to barrels at around 22 to 23 degrees Celsius. Jo Panneels assists master brewer Jozef Van Bosstraeten with blending, and each bottling contains 5,000 liter. Bottling is done semi-automatically on-site in Ruisbroek at a rate of 1,300 bottles per hour. Putting capsules on the bottles is the only manual labor in the bottling process.

Jozef Van Bosstraeten is not only Lambiek Fabriek’s master brewer, but he is also a cooper. Lambiek Fabriek finds it important to have an in-house cooper, in order to maintain the barrels and foeders without needing to rely on an external party. Many of the French oak barrels are first-fill barrels coming from the Burgundy region in France where Lambiek Fabriek has a connection to some winemakers. In 2022, there are about 210 barrels (180 x 400 liter and 30 x 220 liter sizes) across the two warehouses, as well as 12 foeders which originate from Italy and Austria. All foeders were between 30 and 40 years old at the time of purchase. The 8 smallest foeders have a capacity of 47 hectoliters each, one of 65 hectoliters, and the 3 biggest foeders can contain 70 hectoliters each. The geuze is a blend of lambic aged in 400 liter barrels, whereas the fruit lambics are a combination of lambic aged in barrels (of different sizes) and foeders. Some barrels are marked with a capital “B” to indicate that the lambic inside has been made from organic grains. The 100% organic lambic is for instance used in “Natur-Elle” and “Organic & Wild Black-Belle”.

Beers

Geuze

Fruit

Photos