Cantillon
Cantillon Brewery (Brasserie-Brouwerij Cantillon) is a small Belgian traditional family brewery based in Anderlecht, Brussels and founded in 1900, notable for its lambic beers.
Lambic and the spontaneous fermentation according to Cantillon
Traditional Lambic is made according to the following rules:
Ingredients:
- raw wheat 35%
- malted barley 65%
- dried hops (three years old) : 5 g per liter of beer
Process:
- brewing (from 45°c up to 72°c)
- collecting the wort by filtering
- boiling and hopping in the boilers
- cooling down in the cooling tun, in contact with the open air
- natural infection of the wort by wild ferments (bacteria and yeasts)
- pumping the wort at a temperature of 18°c into oakwood or chestnutwood barrels
- spontaneous fermentation, visible in the beginning, slow afterwards
- transformation of all the sugars within three years
Looks of Lambic:
Still beer, cereals wine. During the fermentation, the carbon dioxide escapes through the wood and as a result does not saturate the beer.
Gravity
Original Gravity
It is estimated that the original gravity of Cantillon Lambic is between ~1.045 and ~1.050. This information is based on known ABV% and final gravity reaching low as ~1.005 in 3 year old lambic.
Blended Gravity
Final blend of 1, 2, and 3 year old lambic in order to make a gueuze is no more than 3.5 plato or 1.014 sg.
Fruit Ratios
| Name | Fruit | Quantity | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kriek | cherry | 240 grams per liter = 2 pounds per US gallon | frozen whole fruits |
| Saint Laminus | merlot and cabernet-franc grapes | 240 grams per liter = 2 pounds per US gallon | Fresh, whole, and no longer than 8 weeks or acidity from the skins develop. |
| Rosé de Gambrinus | raspberry | 300 (grams per liter) = 2.5 pounds per US gallon | frozen whole fruits |
| Vigneronne | white italian grapes | 240 grams per liter = 2 pounds per US gallon | Fresh, whole, and no longer than 8 weeks or acidity from the skins develop. |
| Fou' Foune | Bergeron apricot | 240 grams per liter = 2 pounds per US gallon | half pitted, half not pitted but sliced in half for 3 weeks. Any longer and it becomes too tannic |
| Lou Pepe | cherry or raspberry | 300 (grams per liter) = 2.5 pounds per US gallon | 2 year old lambic, whole fresh fruits, in the barrel |
| Blåbær Lambik | blueberry | 240 grams per liter = 2 pounds per US gallon | young/early/tart whole fresh in the barrel, 6 weeks |
Lambic Variations
Gueuze 100% Lambic
Blending Ratio
The Cantillon Classic Gueuze standard ratio is 17% / 33% / 50% of 3yr / 2yr / 1yr lambic.
About
In the 18th century, a Benedictine monk, dom Pérignon, discovers the champagne method by blending different non sparkling white wines. One century later, a Brabant brewer blends different lambics and brings about a spontaneous fermentation in the bottle. The Gueuze was born.
Until the 19th century, the people from Brussels and Brabant mostly drank two beers, Lambic and Faro. The glass bottle and the discovery of Dom Perignon will bring about a revolution in the small world of the Brussels brewers. The Gueuze became the icon of the Brussels beers
Lambic, which is the base for the making of Gueuze, is a spontaneous fermentation beer. All beers made with Lambic are naturally sour, but some will be more sour, more bitter or "softer" than the others. The Gueuze is the result of a well-considered blending of Lambics of different ages and with different tastes. The Lambic beers from the Cantillon brewery, which are conserved in oakwood barrels, are called "young" after one year, but they will reach their full maturity after three years. The young beers contain the sugars which are necessary for the second fermentation in the bottle. The three years old beers will contribute their taste and their flavour. The main task for the brewer, however, is tasting. He will taste about ten Lambics from different barrels in order to select five or six which will be used for the Gueuze 100% Lambic presenting the typical characteristics of the beers from the Cantillon brewery. The bottles are closed with a cork, capped with a crown-cork. They will remain horizontally in a cellar for a year on average, in order to allow the sugars to be converted into carbon dioxide (second fermentation in the bottle). The saturation of the beer is slow and natural. When the Lambic becomes sparkling, it is called Gueuze. At that moment, this crown-jewel of the Cantillon brewery will leave the cellar of the brewery and find its way to the cellars of the lovers of the traditional Gueuze. Every blending will produce a different Gueuze. Since we work according to a natural process, it is impossible to make a standard beer. This beer is not only unique because of its brewing process, but also because it can be conserved for a long time. When kept in a good cellar, a Cantillon Gueuze will still have an exceptional taste and flavour after 20 years. The Gueuze 100% Lambic Cantillon represents half of the production of the brewery. The Gueuze 100% Lambic is available in 37,5 cl (1/2) or 75 cl (1/1) bottles.
Kriek
About
The most famous among the fruit beers is without doubt the Kriek.
On a warm summer day, a lorry coming from the auction at Sint-Truiden delivers 4.000 kgs of fresh Kellery cherries to the brewery. The brewery staff will then put about 150 kgs of fruits in oakwood or chestnutwood barrels which can contain 650 litres of lambic and which have been cleaned some days before.
These barrels are filled with healthy lambics which are more or less one and a half year old. These are not so easy to find, because many beers are still ill at that age. These "oily" beers will have to mature for some months in the main barrel. When the Kriek barrels are filled with the fruits and with the lambic (about 500 litres), the hole in the barrel is closed with a sheet of paper in order to avoid contact with impurities.
Five days later, the fermentation starts. The sugars from the lambic and from the fruits bring about the activity of the yeasts which are concentrated in the wood and in the skin of the fruits. A marvelous pink or red foam decorates the old barrels in the cellar.
Normally, the fermentation stops around the 10th of August. The barrels are then closed and the acid lambic begins to extract the taste and the colour from the fruits. Flies and mosquitoes haunt the cellars and are likely to provoke bad infections. Due to the presence of the home spider, however, a natural predator which is more efficient than any insecticide, the Cantillon Brewery presents a natural equilibrium which enables us to produce our beers.
The fermentation of the Kriek in the bottle generally starts in the beginning of October. Two barrels of Kriek from the first extraction and two from the second are pumped into a huge barrel. (The second extraction is obtained by filling the barrel for a second time in order to extract as much from the fruits as possible). It is also possible to blend a certain quantity of young lambic with the Kriek in order to obtain a second fermentation in the bottle. The Kriek goes through a natural saturation, normally after three to five months in the bottle. We recommend to drink the Kriek within one year after the bottling.
The fermentation will change the primary taste of the product and the Kriek will be dominated by the character of the lambic. The red colour will change into more oily shades. This is, however, a personal point of view. Some customers conserve their Kriek for a long time and like it that way. Kriek is a traditional summer beer. It is a very thirst-quenching beer which tastes deliciously with a big slice of brown bread with white cheese, radishes, onions and chives.
Years ago, people who drank Kriek in a pub were also given two lumps of sugar and a "stoemper" on a small plate. With the "stoemper", the customer could crush the sugar on the bottom of his glass and sweeten it in a natural way in order to eliminate the sour taste.
The Kriek 100% Lambic is available in 37, 5cl (1/2) and 75 cl (1/1) bottles.
Rosé de Gambrinus
Grand Cru Bruocsella
Vigneronne
St Lamvinus
Fou' Foune
Lou Pepe
Other
Iris
Ingredients
- 100% pale malt
- 50% fresh hops
- 50% aged hops
About
The Cantillon brewery is closely linked to Brussels, a city which has the iris as its symbol. As the name indicates, the "marsh iris" is a plant growing in humid areas. The historical center of Brussels is built on swamps where this flower used to grow abundantly.
In 1998, the Brussels Museum of the Gueuze celebrated its 20th anniversary. The Cantillon brewery decided to make a new spontaneous fermentation beer for this occasion, named after this symbolic flower. It is a completely original beer which, contrary to the other products of the Brewery, is not brewed with 35% of wheat. The Iris, which is only made with malt of the pale ale type (giving a more amber colour to the beer) conserves the typical flavour of the spontaneous fermentation, the complex aromas and the vinous taste. The hopping is different too. Lambic is made with 100% dried hops, for the Iris we use 50% of dried hops and 50% of fresh hops. The latter cause a superb acidity, the former, due to their tannins, enable to conserve the beer while preserving all its qualities.
After two years in the barrel, the Iris undergoes a second fresh hopping two weeks before the bottling. A linen bag, filled with hops, is soaked in the beer for two weeks. This technique, called "cold hopping", gives the beer a more intense savour and makes the smell and the taste more bitter.
Iris is brewed only once every season and all the beers come from the same brewing. This is why the beer is dated. The second fermentation is obtained by adding liquor. Although it is a spontaneous fermentation beer, the Iris is very different from the Lambic. The amber colour and the bitter and slightly caramelized taste make it a complex beer. Iris Cantillon is available in 75 cl (1/1) bottles.