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A Brief History of Lambic in Belgium

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Postwar Lambic
===Postwar Lambic===
The immediate postwar lambic scene in and around Brussels saw both boom and bust. Large breweries like [[Brasserie_Belle_Vue|Belle Vue]] had remained prosperous during wartime by purchasing other smaller breweries, while other breweries struggled to remain relevant while continuing to deal with a poor economy and rationed food and supplies. The solution to some of the problems came in the form of sweetened, commercialized lambic.
Though already in existence before World War II, the success of colas and soft drinks inspired a new drinking trend in Belgium and across Europe.<ref name=GeuzeKriek>Jef Van den Steen, [[Books#Geuze & Kriek: The Secret of Lambic Beer|Geuze & Kriek: The Secret of Lambic Beer]], 2012</ref> The sweetened lambic became extremely popular. During World War II, those brewers who were still able to brew were severely restricted in terms of the quality and quantity of their ingredients. In order to continue producing kriek, many brewers added extra flavorings and colorings to combat the lack of available fruits.
A similar situation arose with geuze as well. This ''capsulekengeuze'', which was generally comprised of a blend of lambic and top-fermented beer, was filtered, pasteurized, sweetened, pressurized with CO2 and bottled into 25cl bottles. Many breweries at the time adopted this model as a means to survive. This created some confusion in labeling, and in 1965 a royal order began to regulate terms like geuze and how they would be used. The tradition of sweetening lambic continued to grow immensely through the latter half of the 20th century with breweries like [[Brouwerij_Lindemans|Lindemans]], [[Brouwerij_De_Troch|De Troch]], and [[Brasserie_Belle_Vue|Belle-Vue ]] producing massive quantities of sweetened lambic. Very few producers were still following the old ways of production.
===Lambic ca.1970 – 1999===
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