Copyright 2006: B. United International Inc., All rights reserved.
Note that the words lambic or geuze are not yet used. This will now be explained. Mention also that from now on the work of a geuze brewer and a geuze blender continues in a parallel way. The inoculated wort is pumped into old oaken barrels where the fermentation can start. The microenvironment of the se barrels contributes to the specific flavour of the lambic.
Hanssens Artisanaal still uses the barrels originating from the first generation.
After a few days, depending on the weather, the spontaneous fermentation starts. The principle fermentation of the wort is passing to a cascade of other smaller fermentations and finally there is the maturation of lambic, which can take up to 3 years. The spontaneous fermentation by altogether some eighty-six different micro organisms, followed by the maturation in oaken barrels, give the se beers their unique taste and flavour.
A regulation of the European Community, dating ninety-seven, defines a difference between geuze and old geuze. The name old refers to the way of making a geuze and is synonym for traditional. It has nothing to do with age. The blending of old and young pure lambic is the traditional way of making Geuze. Old geuze is made of one hundred percent lambic beer, which undergoes an additional fermentation in the bottle resulting in the natural formation of foam and carbon dioxide.
