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There Eventually, anyone who ventures into the realm of sour brewing comes across the passionately defended appellation of Belgian lambic. While Belgian lambic brewers make hold claim that lambic can only be brewed in Belgium, there is no question that good spontaneously fermented beer can be made outside of Belgium. Similarly, production methods employed in lambic (e.g. turbid mashing, using aged hops, etc.) are not inherently tied to a region. However not all spontaneously fermented beers are true lambics, according to the tradition of Belgian brewers. And turbid mashing or using aged hops does not inherently lead to mixed fermentation. So this section deals with the ethical, personal, and legal considerations that brewers may need to factor in when determining whether or not to call their beers lambic.
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==Lambic outside of Belgium?==
In the EU, lambic has some [http://www.horal.be/lambiek-geuze-kriek/juridische-bescherming legal protections] <ref>[http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/quality/door/registeredName.html?denominationId=739 European Commission. Agriculture and Rural Development. Legal protections for Lambic Beers. 1997. Retrieved 03/16/2016.]</ref> ([https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.horal.be%2Flambiek-geuze-kriek%2Fjuridische-bescherming&edit-text= English translation]). for example it must be a spontaneously fermented product. That means that any beer receiving any pitched microbes (from lab cultures or bottle dregs) cannot be called lambic. Although this has no legal binding outside the EU, this is a fundamental characteristic of lambic and any brewer who decides to call their beer lambic should follow spontaneous fermentation. Some lambic brewers claim that the microbial terroir within Belgium is what gives Belgian lambic it's unique flavor profile, and this is another reason that lambic can only be brewed in Belgium. However, one study has shown that American coolship beers brewed at Allagash in Maine, USA, contain a very similar set of microbial players (see [http://www.lambic.info/Culture_vs._Chemistry#Terroir lambic.info for more information]). Lambic producers have made it clear that while they encourage others to spontaneously ferment, they do not approve of the use of the term lambic for beers made outside of Belgium <ref>[http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/membersarchive/sourhour2015_05_wildfriendship.mp3 The Sour Hour Episode 11 with Rob Tod and Jason Perkins from Allagash, Jean Van Roy from Cantillon, and Vinnie Cilurzo from Russian River]</ref>(~20 min in). While lambic has no legal protection outside of the EU and EU laws do not give lambic a regional designation (unlike other alcoholic products such as Champagne and Kölsch), many brewers outside of Belgium chose not to call their spontaneous beers lambic out of respect for the Belgian lambic tradition. Some brewers choose names alluding to lambic such as Sonambic (Russian River) or label their spontaneously fermented beers with the term Coolship (Allagash) to convey to consumers that their lambic-inspired beers are spontaneously fermented and follow parts of the lambic tradition without actually using the terms lambic or gueuze <ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUa0QH6niiQ Sour Beer Panel, Firestone Walker International Beer Fest] </ref> (~6 min in). See also [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jNgc5Nu46Q Dan's youtube video discussing using the term lambic].