13,701
edits
Changes
m
added a sentence ot say that some homebrewers call their 100% spontaneously fermented beer "lambic"
Noticeably, homebrewers tend to have a habit of calling any homebrewed blond sour beer a "lambic". This might stem from lack of education about Belgian lambic and why many people respect the wishes of Belgian lambic brewers to not use the label of "lambic" for beer brewed outside of Belgium, as well as the BJCP Guidelines. However, the BJCP makes no claim that protected appellations should not be respected, and clearly states that the style guidelines are strictly for competition purposes only (see section .iv of the [http://bjcp.org/docs/2015_Guidelines_Beer.pdf 2015 BJCP Guidelines]).
As with the naming of commercial beers as "lambic", there are many opinions on whether or not homebrewed sour beer should or should not be labeled as "lambic". While using the label "lambic" is an easy way for homebrewers to communicate what style of beer they have brewed, such labels are often harshly criticized by traditionalists in the sour brewing and fans of lambic communities. Ironically, another sign of this potential misuse of the term "lambic" by homebrewers is that when a homebrewer makes a 100% spontaneously fermented beer, they usually will not call it a "lambic" so as to avoid confusion with the typical sour brewing process which involves pitching lab cultures. Successfully homebrewing a 100% spontaneously fermented sour beer is not an easy feat, and great pride is taken by homebrewers when achieving success with these traditional methods. Other homebrewers choose to call their 100% spontaneously fermented beers "lambic" because they were brewed using the exact same process as the Belgian lambic brewers.
That all said, labeling homebrew as "lambic" has little consequence other than potentially forming a habit that some sour beer producers (and fellow homebrewers) might find disagreeable. We encourage all homebrewers to educate themselves about the production of Belgian lambic beers, as well as the arguments for and against labeling homebrew as "lambic" and deciding for themselves which philosophy to endorse.