Cantillon

Cantillon Classic Gueuze

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.

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 champaign 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 is born.

Up to 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.

notes to parse

• Classic Gueuze
  • golden ratio = 17/33/50 3 year/2 year/1 year

• Iris only one to be 100% Pale Malt w/ 50% aged and 50% new hops

• all lambics brewed with 35% raw wheat and 65% malted barley