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== History ==
Though the strand that connects Brouwerij Boon to the brewing world dates back to the 17th century, the modern history of Brouwerij Boon as a lambic producer starts around 1978 when founder and current owner Frank Boon purchased the [[Brasserie R. De Vits | De Vits brewery, café, and geuzestekerij]] when Rene De Vits and his sister Jeanne decided to retire.<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]], 2010</ref> <ref name=GeuzeKriek>Jef Van den Steen, [[Books#Geuze & Kriek: The Secret of Lambic Beer|Geuze & Kriek: The Secret of Lambic Beer]], 2012</ref> Previously, Frank had been receiving deliveries of De Vits lambic for a local youth club to which he belonged and where he began experimenting with creating faro and blending the various lambics into geuze. After taking over the De Vits name, Boon moved the business from Halle to the Hondzocht district of Lembeek. <ref name=GeuzeKriek>Jef Van den Steen, [[Books#Geuze & Kriek: The Secret of Lambic Beer|Geuze & Kriek: The Secret of Lambic Beer]], 2012</ref>
In order to continue blending lambics, Frank Boon also became a beer distributor for local brands. By 1981, Boon purchased a bankrupted factory in the center of Lembeek and moved the distributorship onto the site leaving more room for the blending business at the Hondzocht location. By 1986, the site in the center of Lembeek had become home to an automatic bottling plant, a boiling kettle, and a bottle cellar.
[[File:BoonSign2.jpg|left|thumb|Sign to Boon]]
In 1988, Frank Boon purchased a mash tun and kettle from the Rubbens brewery and a second kettle from the Lemaire brewery, thus completing the original Boon brewhouse. The new brewing setup initially acted as a pilot brewery for Brouwerij De Gouden Boom (owned by Frank Boon and Paul Vanneste since 1983) However, to avoid excise tax issues, the first batch of Boon lambic was brewed in fall 1990.<ref name=GeuzeKriek>Jef Van den Steen, [[Books#Geuze & Kriek: The Secret of Lambic Beer|Geuze & Kriek: The Secret of Lambic Beer]], 2012</ref> <ref name=HoralBoon> Horal - Boon (Dutch), http://www.horal.be/vereniging/boon-lembeek</ref>
Frank Boon eventually left the distribution business due to losing exclusive rights on many of the local beers. To distribute his new lambic, Boon initially signed a deal with the Belgian wine and spirits distributor Fourcroy. The deal, which resulted in Fourcroy buying a 50% share in the new brewery, did not produce the results that Frank had hoped for. Eventually, Boon was able to buy back all of the shares of the brewery. In 1994 he also sold his stake in the De Gouden Boom brewery, which would also become part of the Palm Brewing group in 2003.<ref name=PalmDeGoudenBoom>Palm Brewery - De Gouden Boom (Dutch), http://www.palm.be/nl/degoudenboom</ref> Around the same time, Frank Boon resold a 50% stake in the Boon brewery to the Palm Brewing group. Today, Palm offers logistical and distribution support under this partnership, as well as the freedom for Boon to operate independently.
To that end, Frank Boon has acquired the name rights to many old lambic breweries and blenders including Moriau, Dekoninck, and Vandervelden<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]], 2010</ref> and continues to produce beer under the Moriau and Dekoninck names. In 2011, Boon brought an entirely new brewhouse online with tanks designed specifically for 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]], 2010</ref> <ref name=GeuzeKriek>Jef Van den Steen, [[Books#Geuze & Kriek: The Secret of Lambic Beer|Geuze & Kriek: The Secret of Lambic Beer]], 2012</ref>
[[File:BrouwerijBoon-1.jpg|thumb|right|Boon's brewhouse]]
The importance of Brouwerij Boon and Frank Boon in the lambic community in Belgium cannot be understated. The size of Boon’s infrastructure means that Frank has been able to help smaller lambic brewers and blenders in many ways. Boon sources approximately 180,000 to 190,000 kilograms of cherries per year from Galicia, a region that spans the border between Poland and Ukraine. Some of these cherries go to other brewers and blenders including [[Brouwerij_3_Fonteinen|3 Fonteinen]]. Boon also sources approximately 28,000 kilograms of raspberries from the same area.<ref name=Summit12>Frank Boon, 2010, [[The_Lambic_Summit_2010#Part_12|The Lambic Summit, Part 12 (Shelton Brothers)]]</ref> In addition to providing other lambic brewers and blenders with fruit, Boon has also bottled for 3 Fonteinen, Oud Beersel, and [[Brasserie_Mort_Subite|Mort Subite]]. <ref name=GeuzeKriek>Jef Van den Steen, [[Books#Geuze & Kriek: The Secret of Lambic Beer|Geuze & Kriek: The Secret of Lambic Beer]], 2012</ref> Boon lambic is also a principle component in many gueuze blends.
Frank Boon has also been instrumental in keeping the [[Brouwerij_Oud_Beersel|Oud Beersel]] brewery alive. Boon had previously supplied the brewery with malt and hops. In 1996, the bottling line (still in use from 1938) at the Oud Beersel failed and Boon began bottling for them. Starting in 1997, Boon supplied cherries to Oud Beersel for the kriek, and when the Oud Beersel closed in 2002, Boon bought the remaining stock and sold it under the Oud Beersel name. By 2005, Oud Beersel had reopened with lambic brewed at Boon with an old Vandervelden recipe. [[File:BrouwerijBoon-3.jpg|left|thumb|Boon crates]] Today, Oud Beersel lambic is still brewed at Boon, barreled at Oud Beersel, and blended with other lambics including Boon.<ref name=BoonOudBeersel>Frank Boon, 2004, [http://www.babblebelt.com/bbb_classic/readarc.html?id=1098553776#null|Re: Boon's involvement in Oud Beersel...how long?]</ref> Boon, along with ten other brewers and blenders make up [[HORAL]].<ref name=HoralBoon>Horal - Boon (Dutch), http://www.horal.be/vereniging/boon-lembeek</ref>
* Boon lambic uses real fruit such as cherries and raspberries as opposed to juices, extracts, or flavorings<ref name=PalmBoon>Brouwerij Boon, Brewing Process http://palmbreweries.com/en/boon</ref>
* Boon has its own Cherry Orchard where many cherry varieties are grown and tested.<ref name=BoonOrchard>Brouwerij Boon, Cherry Orchard http://www.boon.be/en/cherry-grove</ref> However a majority of Boon's cherries and raspberries are hand-picked in the Galicia region of Poland. <ref name=LambicSummit13>[[The Lambic Summit 2010#Part 13|The Lambic Summit 2010, Part 13]]</ref>
* Under a Belgian law as amended in 1993, geuze must be made based on spontaneous fermentation only, without specifying what percentage of spontaneous-fermentation beer must be present. Hence, geuze beers and their fruit varieties that are not prefixed with “oude” are not produced by spontaneous fermentation alone, or in some cases only to a very limited extent.<ref name=PalmBoon>Boon Brewery, Brewing Process http://palmbreweries.com/en/boon</ref>