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Date: Sun, 14 May 1995 00:30:18 -0600
From: lambic-request at lance.colostate.edu (subscription requests only - do not post here)
To: lambic at lance.colostate.edu
Subject: Lambic Digest #603 (May 14, 1995)
Lambic Digest #603 Sun 14 May 1995
Forum on Lambic Beers (and other Belgian beer styles)
Mike Sharp, Digest Coordinator
Contents:
A honeymoon only brewers would go on (Michael Sharp)
Brasserie Cantillon (Michael Sharp)
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Date: Sat, 13 May 95 18:37:45 PDT
From: Michael Sharp <msharp at Synopsys.COM>
Subject: A honeymoon only brewers would go on
A honeymoon only brewers would take.
Not long ago I stepped into the world of wedded bliss. In celebration
of this, to where did my new bride and I travel? Some exotic island?
Some well known resort Mecca? No, since we are both amateur brewers
there was only one answer -- Belgium. Not only just Belgium, but
Belgium with a purpose.
This series of articles will cover our visits in the order in which we
made them. These visits include: Brasserie Cantillon, Brouwerij De
Troch, Brouwerij Belle-Vue, Brouwerij Hoegaarden, Brouwerij Boon,
Brouwerij Rodenbach, and Brasserie Dupont. The final articles in this
series will cover all of the odds and ends of the trip -- a visit to the
Musee de Biere in Lustin, a brewpub in Leuven, and a lot more.
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 13 May 95 18:39:08 PDT
From: Michael Sharp <msharp at Synopsys.COM>
Subject: Brasserie Cantillon
Brasserie Cantillon
When three lambic devotees find themselves in Brussels on a Saturday
where else but Cantillon would they go? Rob Thomas, a Lambic Digest
subscriber who I had just met the day before, Sheri Almeda and I found
ourselves taking everything but a direct path from our hotel to
Cantillon. Even with the "scenic" route we took we still managed to get
to the brewery a mere five minutes late.
Upon arrival we where greeted by Jean Pierre Van Roy, the brewer of
Cantillon products, as well as his wife Claude and his son Jean. After
sampling one of the brewery's gueuze, it was Jean who took us on our
tour.
We where lucky in that it was a quiet day at the brewery. This allowed
for a much longer and more detail packed visit than I had expected.
The brewery itself dates back to 1900. It still contains the original
equipment for the production of a 7.5HL batch size. As of my visit, the
brewery had produced 13 batches of this size and the 13th batch was
probably going to be the last of this year. This places the brewery's
total production for the '94/'95 brewing season at just under 100HL.
The layout of the brewery itself, excluding the bottling line, and
barrel storage, is as follows. The ground floor contains an industrial
boiler for hot water & steam (the kettles are steam heated). This floor
also contains a small room with the mash/lauter tun, a hop back, and the
bottoms of the two kettles. One floor above this is the top of the two
kettles as well as the grain mill. All of the equipment dates back to
the construction of the brewery. Of particular note is the use of a
belt and pulley system to provide power to the mash tun, pumps, and
other brewery equipment.
The wort is produced by a turbid mash of roughly 34% unmalted wheat and
66% malt. This wort is then boiled with aged Kent hops until it has
lost approximately 25% of its volume (from 10,000 liters initially to
7,500L after the boil).
On the Lambic Digest there has been much discussion of the exact
schedule for turbid mashing. As a result of this I took the opportunity
to obtain the full schedule.
Malt - 850Kg
Wheat - 450Kg
|
~8-900 liters |
H2O at 62C -->It takes 15 to 20 min. to
mix all the grain and H2O.
This results in mash
temperature of 45C.
|
mash held at 45C for
10 min.
|
H2O at 100C -->In ~6 min. enough H2O
is added to bring the
mash to 58C
|
In ~5 min. ~300L is
transferred to kettle #2 ---------------->|
| ~300L in kettle #2
H2O at 100C -->In ~10 min. enough H2O is heated. during
is added to bring the the heating it never
mash to 65C reaches 100C
| |
In ~35 min. ~1200L is |
transferred to kettle #2 ---------------->|
| an additional ~1200L
H2O at 100C -->In ~10 min. enough H2O is added to kettle #2
is added to bring the and the heating of this
mash to 72C kettle continues. it
| never reaches 100C
mash held at 72C for |
20 min. |
| |
+----> first runnings (~1500L) |
to kettle #1. begin |
heating of this kettle |
for the boil |
|
transfer the contents
of kettle #2 back to
|<-------------------------the mash tun. At this
| time the contents of
the mash is now this kettle has reached
at ~75C ~80C
|
mash held at 75C for
20 min.
|
recirculate the wort
in the mash tun to
clarify.
|
sparge with 85C H2O
|
split wort between the
two kettles as it runs off.
kettle #1 will contain ~6500L
total (including the 1500L
previously put there) kettle #2
will contain ~3250L total.
|
add 21KG aged hops to kettle #1
only. heat both kettles to boiling
and allow the volume to be reduced
by ~25% to yield a full batch size
of 7500L total between the two
kettles. The contents of the two
kettles are blended together before
cooling overnight.
This particular mash technique is unique to lambic breweries. No other
style of beer involves this particular mashing process. Though it is
not used by all of the lambic brewers, it is in use at the majority of
the remaining lambic breweries. Among the brewers there are mixed
feelings as to the need for this process. At Brasserie Cantillon,
Brouwerij De Troch, and Brouwerij Boon it is used because that is the
way it has always been done. At Brouwerij Belle-Vue they use a
substantially different technique which I will cover in my article on
that brewery. Much later in my trip, during a discussion with Professor
Verachtert of the Katholieke Universiteit du Leuven, it was suggested
that this particular process lends little to the brewing of lambic and
the results of the Belle-Vue process would tend to support this.
Returning to the brewery tour, after the wort is boiled it is cooled
overnight in a large coolship. This coolship is located in the eaves of
the brewery in a room designed to allow the winds of the area to blow
across the coolship. This is not only where the wort is cooled, but it
is also where the wort is inoculated by the wild yeasts and bacteria
carried by the winds. This is undoubtedly the most important step in
the brewing of lambic. Without the inoculation of the wort by these
wild organisms the lambic would not have its characteristic flavors and
aromas.
After cooling, the freshly inoculated wort is pumped into oak barrels
where it is allowed to ferment and develop for no less than a full year
and sometimes significantly longer. The barrels themselves will also
lend to the inoculation of the wort with microorganisms resident in the
wood.
After lengthy fermentations comes the complex task of deciding what each
barrel will be used for, as well as blending the contents of barrels
into a consistent product. Fruits, particularly raspberry and cherry,
may be added to the year old lambic and allowed to referment to produce
the base for the two lambic based fruit beers. Other young barrels may
be left untouched for years to provide a basis for the very complex
gueuze.
When it comes time to blend the final product, regardless of it is to be
a gueuze, framboise, or kriek, there are a number of difficulties.
First, the contents of each barrel is unique. Some barrels may be very
sour, some may have a strong aroma, and so on. All of these have to be
blended together with an understanding of how the final product will
change as it ages in the bottle. In addition to the goal of obtaining a
consistent character, there is also the goal of needing enough residual
sugar to allow the final product to bottle condition. This is not a
skill which can be described. It can only be understood through years
of experience.
After the tour of the brewery itself we where allowed to taste lambic of
various ages directly from the barrels. It is at this point in the
article that I really appreciate Rob Thomas' presence. While I have my
own notes on the various beers we tasted, Rob's notes on the barrel
tasting are much better than mine. I have taken the liberty of using
Rob's notes as a reference in writing some of the tasting impressions.
The first barrel we tasted from was 3 weeks old. There was an evident,
but low, hop bitterness without the accompanying hop aroma. This was a
very yeasty tasting beer with a sweet flavor from the sugars still to be
fermented. It was obvious that the beer was still fermenting strongly
though the primary fermentation seemed to have subsided since the barrel
was tightly bunged. This would seem to imply that either the primary
organisms in this barrel where not very attenuative or that the turbid
mash resulted in a very large amount of sugars which could not be
assimilated by the primary fermenting organisms. This is, however,
nothing but a supposition on my part.
The next two barrels we tasted from where rather similar. The first
barrel was one year old and the second was two years old. Neither had the
signature sourness of the final product. I would say that these where
rather soft in character with the sweetness present in the 3 week old
barrel significantly diminished in the one year old and further reduced in
the two year old. Neither of these barrels alone could match the balance
and complexity of the bottled product. Both where still lacking in some
of the character that is the signature of Cantillon's products.
The fourth barrel we tasted from contained a one year old lambic. What
was unique about this barrel was that this was the first batch in it since
it was bought by the brewery. Previously this barrel had contained port.
The lambic was, of what we tasted from the barrels, most identifiable as a
Cantillon product. Its acidity was very much in evidence and it had a
complexity that wasn't as obviously present in the other barrels. The
taste also showed the presence of a grape tannin influence as well as a
mild but evident port taste. The color was much darker than the very
light straw colors of the other barrel samples.
With the barrel tasting concluded we where invited into the brewery's
tasting area to try some of the bottled products. It was here that a
rather long tasting was accompanied by the opportunity to have a
detailed discussion with Jean Pierre Van Roy.
One of the first things I realized upon entering the tasting area was
what was done with leaking barrels. Since Cantillon does not have
access to a cooper, the leaking barrels are taken out of service and
eventually cut up and used in the wood stoves that heat the tasting
area. Had I been thinking I would have arranged to ship some old
barrels to a cooper in Napa, California, not far from where I live, but
this would probably have been less than ideal when I received the
shipping and repair bills.
The Cantillon brewery regularly produces a gueuze, kriek, and a
framboise called Rose de Gambrinus. In addition to this line of
products there are also special beers which are produced from time to
time. One of the specialty beers produce in the past include a gueuze
with some very port-like character as a result of fermentation in
barrels previously use for port. Another very rare specialty that you
will not likely see outside of the brewery is a lambic which was
fermented with St. Emillion grapes. Only two barrels of this was made.
The first two bottled beers we tasted where krieks. One was made
exclusively with Shaarbeek cherries while the other was a blend of
different cherries. Both where excellent in their own right, but
tasting these side by side really helped identify the characteristic
flavor of the Shaarbeek cherry. The flavor was very strong and I found
it to be quite tart and astringent. It was unlike any other cherry I
have tasted. With any other cherry I don't believe the intensity of the
flavor could be duplicated, even with a much larger quantity of fruit.
In making these krieks, 150kg of cherries are used per pipe. The
cherries arrive fresh from the orchard and are held at 2-3C until they
have enough for a pipe. The cherries need to be added quickly since
they will begin to rot otherwise.
The next two beers we tasted where of great interest to everyone. We
sampled a bottle of Cantillon framboise side by side with a framboise I
had bottled in 1994. My framboise was made using as close to
traditional techniques as possible, with the only major change being the
use of pure cultures. While there was certainly no doubt as to which
was superior, the reaction to my pure culture framboise was very
positive. It was obviously within the realm of the style even with the
flaws it showed. Rob did a very good job summarizing this part of the
tasting and I have taken the liberty of including that summary here.
I have a preference here, that is neither instructive or in obvious.
Firstly, J-P liked it. There is a political reason why he should even
give a beer from so far from Payottenland a chance, but he also had
comments and questions. His first and continual question was "is it
spontaneously fermented?". We covered the logistical difficulties, as
well as the natural advantages he has. His comments on our attempts (and
Mike's framboise) were very positive. His major negative comment was the
tannin. This he attributed to too much fruit. The rational being that
the pips would add the tannin. In retrospect it is most likely the
barrel Mike was using. I personally felt there was a presence in the
nose and mouth of what I can only describe as "Strawberry pit". This had
the effect of cutting the flavour development short. Just as the flavour
was beginning to develop in the mouth, it stopped.
The next beer we tasted was a very unique experiment with St. Emillion
grapes. 50Kg of these grapes where added to 175 liters of lambic in two
barrels. The result of this unique combination when cold, was very much
like the standard Cantillon. As it warmed slowly it became more and
more wine like with the flavor and aroma from the grapes slowly
increasing until it balanced and eventually slightly dominated. Only
two barrels of this where made as a joint experiment between Cantillon
and a winery in France. After this was bottled the barrels where burned
to avoid the possibility of contaminating the winery.
The final beer was even more of a surprise. We where asked what the
oldest lambic was that we had tasted. At the time the oldest we had
tasted was a bottle of 1983 Boon Mariage Parfait kriek. After that one
question Jean Pierre disappeared. While Sheri, Rob and I wondered what
was to happen next, Jean Pierre was apparently in the cellar looking for
something special. He returned with a bottle of seventeen year old
gueuze -- a 1977 bottling. This was a surprisingly well carbonated beer
for its age. Upon pouring it had a very dense, almost creamy, white
head which did not dissipate as quickly as many other younger gueuze
I've had. The palate was definitely of Cantillon origin, but the
acidity had softened and the flavors blended together even more. This
was certainly a superior product. Unfortunately I find it difficult to
capture the essence of its differences between this and its younger
relatives.
During this tasting there was a continual conversion, as well as
reference to a French/English dictionary. It was then that I obtained
the mash schedule presented earlier. There was also a discussion of how
to ensure good bottle carbonation. We where told that for a gueuze they
use a mix of 70% old lambic with 30% young lambic and that they have 90%
attenuation in order to properly condition and carbonate the finished
gueuze.
Our conversion also drifted to many unexpected topics. In discussing 't
Spinnekopke, a very popular restaurant which Cantillon supplies, we soon
found ourselves with a reservation for that evening booked in the name
of brewery by Jean Pierre's wife Claude. I have little doubt that we
would not have been able to get in had Claude not made the reservation
for us. Dinner at 't Spinnekopke was an event suitable for a short
article of its own.
This was an extremely enjoyable and informative afternoon. I feel
honored to have been able to spend so much time talking with Jean
Pierre, Claude, Jean and the rest of the Van Roy family. Also, I would
like to thank Yvan de Baets, a student of Louvain-la-neuve and a friend
of the Van Roy's, for acting as interpreter when necessary. Through his
efforts the discussion was a lot more productive than it would have been
otherwise.
Cantillon products are imported to the U.S. by World Wide Imports of
Deale, MD. World Wide Imports distributes these products in the
Washington D.C, Maryland, and Boston markets.
------------------------------
End of Lambic Digest
************************
-------
