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to doin progress===Mashingand Boiling===Lambic grist is composed of a barley malt such as pilsner malt and a large percentage of unmalted wheat (30-40%). This grist is carried through a multi-step, boiling labor intensive multi-step mashing process known as a [[Turbid Mash|turbid mash]]. During turbid mashing, a portion of unconverted starchy wort is removed from the mash and heated to denature the enzymes. This starchy wort is carried to the boil without full conversion and it supplies wild yeasts and coolingbacteria with carbohydrates that Saccharomyces cannot ferment.
FermentationThis starchy wort then goes through a long boil (on the order of 4 hours) where it is heavily hopped with aged hops (~2.5-3g/l).
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==Production Methods==
===Cooling and Fermentation====Lambics are spontaneously fermented, meaning that they do not receive any pitched cultures. hot lambic wort is pumped to a [[coolship]], a shallow vessel with a large surface area to volume ratio, where it cools overnight open to the air. During this time the beer is inoculated with microorganisms from the environment and resident in the brewery. Lambic is only brewed the late fall, winter and early spring when nighttime temperatures are sufficiently low to cool the wort appropriately overnight. The morning after cooling the lambic wort is transfered to barrels or foeders where fermentation occurs slowly over the course of months to years. Lambic fermentation is characterized by distinct phases when different microbes are active. (see the [[Spontaneous Fermentation|spontaneous fermentation]] page for more info on lambic and other spontaneously fermented beers) ===Blending===Lambic is traditionally blended (with other lambic and/or with lambic aged on fruit) before being sold, and it is uncommon to find straight (ublended) lambic for sale.In the lambic producing world, there are both blenders and brewers. Brewers produce lambic wort and all of the current brewers also blend their lambic. Blenders v do not have a brewing facility and buy wort from other producers. This wort has been inoculated in the brewers coolship and is delivered to the blenders on the morning after brewing, where it is aged in the blender's barrels. There are currently 4 main lambic brewerssupplying their wort to blender and all but one of the current lambic blenders buy their wort from more than one producer. Packaged unblended lambic is available from some producers. Notably [[Cantillon]] (Grand Cru Brucsella, noteworthy in that it is an old lambic), Girardin (lambic bag in a box) and Oud Beersel (young lambic bag in a box). Lambic from other producers is available by the glass in select cafes in Belgium.
==Types==