Lambic Digest #0846

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· 8 months ago
Date: Thu, 9 May 1996 00:30:10 -0600 
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Subject: Lambic Digest #846 (May 09, 1996) 

 

 

 
Lambic Digest #846                             Thu 09 May 1996 

 

 
        Forum on Lambic Beers (and other Belgian beer styles) 
                Mike Sharp, Digest Coordinator 

 

 
Contents: 
  recipes please (JRathXXX) 
  Re: Lambic Digest #842 (May 03, 1996) (christopher tweedy) 
  Cantillon on the web (Mike Sharp) 
  for those who couldn't be there (SM)" <drbeer at tiac.net> 

 

 
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---------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 
Date: Tue, 07 May 96 21:52:31       
From: rq at mailhost at lysator.liu.se 

 
Hi 

 
Any brewers in Linkoeping, Sweden reading this? 
Since I don't know any brewers here I would like to  
get in touch with a couple. 
Please drop me an e-mail if interested. 
Erik Ronnqvist, rq at lysator.liu.se 

 

 
------------------------------ 

 
Date: 7 May 1996 16:23:57 -0800 
From: "Dave Suurballe" <Dave_Suurballe at quickmail.apple.com> 

 
Mail*Link( SMTP     

 

 
All Is Not Nectar in Peyottenland. 

 

 

 
Last month I went to a friend's wedding in Amsterdam, and that gave me the opportunity for a short visit to Belgium. 

 
I was in the country for 24 hours only, so I didn't do any beer hunting;  I only went to places I already knew, and I only drank and bought beer I already knew.  There didn't seem to be time for any other approach. 

 
This was my second time in Belgium.  The first was last summer, and the draft lambic was wonderful.  This time it was horrible. 

 
At the Oude Beersel, the lambic was only slightly sour and quite hoppy.  The combination made the beer taste like a British Bitter gone off.  I didn't like it.  It didn't stop me from buying some bottles of gueuze, though.  (I haven't tasted one yet). 

 
At de Rare Vos, the lambic wasn't even beer yet; it was still wort.  There was only the slightest hint of fermentation.  In a "normal" sacchromyces ferment, I would guess it was less than a day old, but with spontaneous fermentation, I have no clue.  It definitely was not beer; there was no alcohol, no acid, no brett, and no hop either.  Just wort.  The language incompatability kept me from finding out why this was. 

 
It was a successful trip; I came out with 24 liters of beer.  But I think I've also learned that that wonderful lambic stuff is incredibly more variable than I previously dreamed. 

 
Maybe seasonal, too.  Has anyone heard of "bad" times for lambic in Belgium?  I don't want to plan my next trip during the off-season, if one exists. 

 
Suurballe 

 
------------------------------ 

 
Date: Tue, 7 May 1996 19:28:07 -0400 
From: JRathXXX at aol.com 
Subject: recipes please 

 
Great BB!  How'z about some favorite recipes for the new lambic brewer? 

 
------------------------------ 

 
Date: Wed, 8 May 1996 14:29:35 -0400 
From: tweedy at mail.med.upenn.edu (christopher tweedy) 
Subject: Re: Lambic Digest #842 (May 03, 1996) 

 
I was wondering about whether or not it is possible if lindeman's kriek is 
bottle conditioned.  Has anyone had luck with repropagating this yeast, and 
what strain is it? 

 
Chris 

 

 

 
------------------------------ 

 
Date: Wed, 8 May 96 14:29:32 PDT 
From: msharp at synopsys.com (Mike Sharp) 
Subject: Cantillon on the web 

 

 
There isn't much there, but I'm sure some will be amused: 

 
   http://www.plug-in.be/plugin/museums/list.m.html 

 
        --Mike 

 
------------------------------ 

 
Date: Wed, 8 May 1996 23:07:13 -0400 
From: "Jay Hersh aka Dr. Beer (SM)" <drbeer at tiac.net> 
Subject: for those who couldn't be there 

 
Brewery RODENBACH, Belgium 
brewing Sour Ales 

 

 
Brewery Rodenbach is a brewery who specialized during his 160 years of 
existing in brewing specialty beers and only specialty beers. All of them 
are brown sour ales. Michael Jackson classifies them as the Red Ales of 
Flanders, although this is a name that isn't in use in Belgium it self. In 
Belgium those beers are rather classified as brown-sour ales. Rodenbach had 
a market share in 1994 of 90% of these beers. A brewer can only dream of 
this ! But the whole market of this beer was only around 110.000 Hl. In the 
US, such brewery should be a regional brewer. 

 
What is special about the Rodenbach brewery is mainly the fermentation and 
more particular the third fermentation that takes place in huge oaken 
barrels for up to two years I The process of making and selling the 
Rodenbach beers will be discussed in the following text. 

 

 
1.  Raw Materials 

 
The brewing water is gained in a restricted park area, the backyards of the 
Rodenbach castle. In this beautiful park, some wells are collected in an 
artificial lake. This water is adjusted to brewing water. The adjustments of 
the water mainly consist out: desinfection, filtering over sand and active 
carbon, ion exchange and an atmospherical degasser. Calciumhydroxyde is 
added as the last treatment to remove temporary hardness 

 
The brewery had his own malting plant, which stopped in 1974. Beautiful 
parts of this floor malt-house can still be visited, for example the old 
germinating floors. The old kiln (1864) certainly is most special. The kiln 
tower would have been broken down, if English students wouldn't have been 
interested in it. It seemed to be the only still existing kiln typical for 
the northern England region. So better than reconstructing the kiln in 
England, the Rodenbach brewery started to restore the tower herself. 

 
Wondering how this type of kiln was found in Roeselare brought Rodenbach 
back to a member of the family: Eugene Rodenbach. Eugene learned the job of 
brewer around 1860 in northern England. Returning to Rodenbach he copied two 
things he had seen: the kiln construction, but still more important is the 
way of making beer. During the time he was in England, a pub could buy fresh 
beer in a brewery. But there were traders who kept the beer for some years 
stored, and sold it for the double of the price. Visitors to a pub could 
drink the young or the old ale, or ask the bartender to blend both in a 
certain amount. The consumer paid respectively 2, 4 or 3 pence. (Wheeler G, 
1993) 

 
Brewers never have been so stupid and saw that there was a lot more to gain 
when they stored their ales themselves, or even better, blend it their 
selves. These should be the real roots of Porter beer in England. And this 
was what Eugene Rodenbach saw happening when he looked around in these 
English breweries. 

 
So it isn't alone the kiln, who is the only remainder of his type. Maybe 
much more important than that is that Rodenbach should be the remainder of 
the roots of the English Porter ! Worthwhile mentioning here is the Green 
King brewery in Bury-St-Edmonds, England. This brewery still uses these 
large upstanding oaken barrels for blending beer. Green King has still two 
barrels, covered with marl, where a strong alcoholic ale age, without acid 
formation. The classic Rodenbach is really the beer of this blending Porter 
process More about that blending later on, in the third fermentation or  aging. 

 
Three kinds of malt are used to make the Rodenbach beers. All of them are 
colour malts. Two are very slightly heated in a kiln, while one is shortly 
roasted in a drum. Different mixtures of this malts are used to make the two 
kinds of brews. 

 
As starch adjunct corngrits is used in amounts around 10-12% for economical 
and taste aspects. Beer brewed with some starch adjunct gives a lighter, 
more digestable beer Almost all Belgian beers use some corngrits or rice. 

 
The hops used for Rodenbach are Belgian bitter hops. Belgium isn't a big hop 
producing country, but the main hop area, Poperinge, isn't so 
far...Rodenbach, being a sour beer, doesn't need a lot of bitterness: 14-16 
EBU. Varieties of Northern Brewer, Brewers Gold, Target and Yeoman are used. 

 
A first thing in being special is that Rodenbach doesn't use a single 
culture yeast. The yeast added to the Rodenbach wort is a collection of 
yeasts. This collection of yeasts is kept "infected" with a whole range of 
lactobacilli. 

 
Such a collection of yeasts and lactobacilli is difficult to maintain. A 
stock culture of such a mixture would already be a selection. The only thing 
Rodenbach can do is to reuse this mixture over and over again. The only way 
Rodenbach has to keep the yeast "pure" is selection and washing. Selection 
starts by following the fermenting wort, to decide which yeast is going to 
be collected and in which amount. Washing yeast is a strong acidification of 
the yeast shortly before adding it to new wort. With this washing, a 
correction can be made in the number of lactobacilli compared to the number 
of viable yeasts. In Rodenbach we are talking about lactobacilli percentages 
You even can't wish this to a fellow brewer ! 

 
To keep the yeast in a good condition, you have to brew enough This is a 
difficulty for smaller brewers, who are trying to brew a Rodenbach like 
beers. To make sure that beers are good, Rodenbach provides yeast to these 
brewers, for every brew they make. 

 

 
2.The Rodenbach process. 

 
The brewhouse dates back to 1920. This is remarkable because many breweries 
had to stop during the second world war because of the German need for 
copper. Rodenbach was one of the breweries who could continue brewing, 
because soldiers had to be fed. The wartime beer wasn't that much because of 
the lack of raw material. Older brewer tell stories of Belgian brewers who 
came to Rodenbach to drink beer brewed before the war, with the usual raw 
materials. Thanks to the large stock of beers in oaken barrels Belgian 
brewers could survive the war. It was easy to mislead the Germans in this 
labyrinth of barrels. 

 
Brewing isn't so special. Two kinds of brews are made: an 11=B0 Plato and a 
13.5=B0 Plato wort. There is little difference in the way of brewing and 
fermenting, only the recipe for the malts and corn is slightly different. A 
brew starts with corngrits that is cooked up in a cereal cooker with some 
milled malt to provide the enzymes. Meanwhile the mash is started at 
50=B0C(122=B0F) and heated to 63=B0(145=B0F) and 72=B0(162=B0F) with the  cooked corn and 
a steam jacket (something between decoction and infusion method). The mash 
is filtered in a classical lautertun and cooked during 1h30 with hop 
addition. Until 1992 a large coolship was used, but better trub separation 
and less infection risk are now reached with a centrifuge and heatexchanger. 
The wort is cooled to 17=B0C(63=B0F) and aerated with sterile air. One brew is 
250 to 280 Hl. Every four hours a brew can be started. 

 
The first or main fermentation is done in cilindro-conical fermenters since 
the beginning of 1995. Before this period, fermentation took place in 110 Hl 
flat-bottom rectangle tanks. Changing over to large cilindro-conical 
fermenters is a difficulty for every brewer due to the changing ester 
formation. But for Rodenbach the even more difficult part was the behaviour 
of our mixed culture, more specified, the lactobacilli. 

 
Three brews are collected in one fermenter within 10 hours. The mixed 
Rodenbach yeast culture is added. Temperature rises to 21.5=B0C(71=B0F) and is 
then hold constant by cooling. When 75% of the apparent extract is 
fermented, the beer is cooled to 15=B0C(59=B0F). Yeast settles down and is 
collected before beer is transferred to the lagering or second fermentation. 

 
The second fermentation or lagering is continued at an ambient temperature 
of 15=B0C(59=B0F) in epoxy coated metal vessels. The 11=B0 Plato beer is hold for 
4-5 weeks in horizontal tanks. The 13.5=B0 Plato beer stays a bit longer in 
vertical tanks: 7-8 weeks. Most of the ale type of yeasts settle down. The 
aim of this warm lagering is to give the lactobacilli some time to softly 
acidify the wort by producing lactic acid. 

 
Only the 13.5=B0 Plato wort is transferred after the lagering to oaken barrels 
for an aging of two years. During these two years the beers change a lot. 
The huge ageing cellars are the soul of Rodenbach. 294 vessels with a volume 
of 100 up to 660 Hl are spread in 9 cellars. Every beer that has "Rodenbach" 
in his name contains at least partly (classic Rodenbach) or 100% (Rodenbach 
Grand Cru and Alexander Rodenbach) beer out of these cellars. 

 
The main thing that happens within this aging periode is further 
acidification of the beer, and that in two ways: aerobic and anaerobic. 
Lactobacilli continue on an anaerobic manner in the inner part of the 
vessel. The lactobacilli seem to be more sensitive for ethanol formation and 
their own lactic acid. Within 12-16 months lactic acid formation seems to 
stop. This period is variable from vessel to vessel, and doesn't seem to be 
constant for one vessel during repeated fermentations. On the other hand 
oxygen is provided by diffusion through the oak. This is the main reason for 
using oaken barrels. A whole range of micro organisms can live thanks to 
this oxygen supply. This micro organisms lives in the beer near the walls or 
even more likely in the wood itself. They don't seem to be inhibited by acid 
formation and are difficult to monitor. 

 
The formation of the different components by these micro organisms, lead to 
derivate formation of components such as esters. The two most important 
ester that are found are ethyl lactate and ethyl acetate, the ester 
formation of the two acids and the alcohol that are present in the highest 
concentrations. These esters are very important for the final taste pattern 
of the Rodenbach beers. For more details I refer to the study who has been 
made on Rodenbach beers (Martens H, 1996). 

 
In the oaken aging vessels, yeast can also be found. The yeast cells 
continue to live in the beer, and they still can produce a considerable 
amount of alcohol. The ale type of yeast slowly disappears during lagering, 
but different Brettanomyces (mainly lambicus and bruxellensis, but several 
others) yeast cells starts to grow. Brettanomyces is a very slow developing 
yeast, that is mainly known due to the geuze. 

 
A lot is happening in Rodenbach's large oaken barrels. But as a practical 
brewer, Rodenbach doesn't has many impact on the process. Tasting and pH 
control from time to time is the most important things. Control of 
temperature and time are to parametres to keep an eye on. Inspection of an 
empty vessel is important, and sometimes beer is transferred from one vessel 
to another, partly or the whole of it. The inspection of an empty vessel 
leads to decision on the maintenance of it. 

 
3.maintenance of the oaken barrel 

 
There are three kinds of maintenance on the barrels. Rodenbach has still 
three coopers, who have to learn the job within the brewery (where else ?). 
One of the coopers has to make a daily tour and has a look to all the 
barrels. Mainly in periods with temperature differences, leakages can 
happen.  Small leakages are treated with cotton wire to be pressed between 
two staves. Bee-wax is being put on it afterwards. More difficult and larger 
leakages are stopped by hammering the rings of the barrels down. The barrels 
are slightly conical and pressure on the staves can be increased by doing 
so. It happens that a leakage can't be stopped. Then the barrel is emptied 
and it will be broken down as discribed further on.=20 

 
Beer stone forms at the inner side of the oak barrel. It is only partly the 
beer stone (Calcium-oxalate) as brewers see in their tanks. This beer stone 
can lead to a partial or total blocking of the oxygen diffusion. So on an 
average of two filling times, decided by visual inspection, the inner 
surface of the barrel is scraped. The vessel is cleaned and sulfur is burned 
in it. For refilling the barrel, 10% of beer of two years old is added as an 
inoculum, to restart the vessel. 

 
Approximately every 20 years a barrel is, stave by stave, complete taken 
into pieces. All of them are transported to the cooperage. The staves are 
shaved at all sides, taking into account the round shape of the barrel. The 
inner side is shaved concave, the outer side convex. While all the sides are 
shaved, the total diameter of the oaken barrel gets smaller, so mostly one 
new stave has to be made. Sometimes it happens the diameter of the rings is 
reduced by replacing the clinch-bolt. 

 
The barrel is reconstructed without one nail, only pinhole constructions are 
used. Between the staves, the coopers place new rush or reed. A difficult 
thing is hanging the ceiling of the reconstructed barrel. The ceiling has to 
fit within a spared place in the staves. This whole process takes an average 
of three weeks. 

 
Now the barrel has to be refilled. Therefore, the barrel is first filled 
with water. The wood and the rush swells and makes the barrel watertight. 
This can last for weeks. Then, the barrel has to be refilled. This happens 
just like the end of the second level of maintenance: cleaning, sulfur 
burning, 10% old beer and finally refilling. This barrel can contain 
Rodenbach again for some 20 years. 

 
4.The three Rodenbach beers 

 
The tricky thing about Rodenbach is making three beers out of two worts. The 
11=B0 Plato wort isn't even sold as such, but only used for blending. The 
13.5=B0 Plato wort, that passes over the oaken barrels is used for all three 
the beers ! The oaken barrels are the soul of Rodenbach. The soul is to be 
found in every beer ! 

 
The Rodenbach Grand Cru is the easiest story. After an average of 20 months 
the beers from the oaken barrels are tasted by our tasting panel. The times 
of tasting can be earlier or later. It all depends on the size and wall 
thickness of the barrel. Smaller barrels have relatively more surface 
compared to the contents. So the ageing goes faster, the 100 Hl barrels are 
tasted after 16 months. Until now, these smaller vessels were not chosen for 
Rodenbach Grand Cru or Alexander Rodenbach. A faster aging, by thinner wood 
or smaller vessels doesn't seem to be appreciated by our tasting panel. The 
thicker the wood, the slower the oxygen diffusion happens, so the slower the 
ageing. The thickness of the wood can be up to 7-8 cm. 

 
The tasting panel has to choose one vessel out of all the vessels that are 
ready. Rodenbach has 294 barrels, what means that there are 294 beers. When 
a barrel is chosen for Rodenbach Grand Cru, then 120 Hl is taken from that 
barrel and cooled to 1=B0C. The beer is then stored cool for at least a  week. 
The final clarification is done only by a centrifuge to bright beer. We have 
to add CO2 to the beer because we can't keep pressure on an oaken barrel. 
The beer is then ready for bottling. 

 
The second beer is Alexander Rodenbach. Alexander Rodenbach was the founder 
of the brewery. In 1821 he bought a small existing brewery from a certain 
sir David. There isn't known more about the history of this brewery before 
that date. 15 years later Alexander and his brother Pedro start a 
corporation: the brewery Rodenbach. It is therefore that 1836 is considered 
as the founding date of the brewery. (De Bruyne, 1986) 

 
This Alexander Rodenbach was a very remarkable person. He got blind at the 
age of 11. He started a school for blinds in the Netherlands, owned a 
brewery and a distillery, was mayor and a member of parliament for 37 years, 
from the beginning of the Belgian parliament, with the independence of 
Belgium in 1830. But he didn't had any children. Still, the owners of the 
brewery are the ancestors of Pedro Rodenbach. 

 
The new beer, Alexander Rodenbach, was created for the 150th anniversary of 
the brewery and was named after this remarkable person. The beer is also for 
100 % old beer with a slightly different taste pattern. Again 120 Hl beer is 
cooled to 1=B0C and placed on a tank with cherries. At least a week later  the 
beer is clarified for the first time with a centrifuge. The beer is then 
kept again for one week with sugar before the final clarification. The beer 
has the same pH as Rodenbach Grand Cru, but has a sweet-sour 
taste, with the flavour of the cherries. 

 
The classic Rodenbach is drunk in a higher amount in the brewery region and 
at the Belgian coast. In summer sales triple because of the very thirst 
quenching properties. The taste is much better known, so taste difference 
may not be so big for that beer. Although we have to start with the old 
beer, where there are as much differences as Rodenbach has barrels. 

 
Therefore the old beer is first blended with other old beer as decided on 
tasting. Then this beer is blended, just before cooling, in a ratio of 30% 
old beer. The rest of the beer is the young or the 11=B0 Plato beer. Again, 
the beer is kept cold for a week and then clarified. This beer is then ready 
for bottling. 

 

 
5.Selling Sour Beer 

 
Beer isn't sour. People don't recognise sour beers as beer. That is why we 
get even phone calls from people living 40 kilometre far from the brewery 
Rodenbach. The best thing we can do is invite these people to the brewery to 
show them that being sour is normal for a Rodenbach. For Belgian people, who 
are used to a very rich beer culture and a wide variety of beers tastes, it 
is easier to accept a sour beer. The Rodenbach brewery mainly produces for 
the nearby region. Around the brewery, the classic Rodenbach is drunk as a 
pils is drunk in other regions. 

 
The brewery is producing only sour ales. Therefore Rodenbach is very fashion 
dependent. When Belgian people turn over on sour beer, Rodenbach has 
difficulties to follow the demand. We see that on that moment a lot of 
ersatz beers come on the market. While on moments where these type of beers 
aren't fashionable, they disappear are go in a latent faze. Rodenbach has 
survived fashion by producing constantly the same beer type. 

 
But a quite recent development is that Rodenbach, and other Belgian 
breweries are asked to deliver their beer in a much wider region. The rich 
Belgian beer culture was Belgium's best kept secret. Brewers see a world 
wide growing interest in beers, with maybe 99% pilseners in volume. Other 
countries develop an interest in specialty beers. Doing so, they have to 
arrive in Belgium. But within this wide variety of beers produced in 
Belgium, there are some types difficult to copy. Rodenbach certainly is such 
a kind of beer. So Rodenbach started to export because their was a demand. 

 
Japan is now the country abroad Belgium where we sell the most Alexander 
Rodenbach. We also see a rising interest in the US. In the US, we remark a 
special interest for Rodenbach Grand Cru, after a hesitating start with the 
classic Rodenbach. 

 

 
4.Conclusion 

 
Personally, I think the most interesting part of Rodenbach is the way the 
brewery continues. A way that is special. This gives a unique beer that 
seems to be appreciated worldwide. Rodenbach tries to give a surplus to the 
richness of the Belgian beer culture. Try to give your brewery its own 
surplus and you'll be rewarded for it. 

 

 
For brewery Rodenbach 
Bouckaert Peter=20 
April 1996 

 
References: 

 
DE BRUYNE Michiel, 1986, "de Rodenbachs van Roeselare", Edicon edition,  Belgium. 

 
MARTENS Hilde, January 1996, "Microbiology and Biochemistry of The Acid 
Ales of Roeselare", doctoraatsproefschrift nr 294 faculteit Landbouwkundige 
en Toegepaste Biologische Wetenschappen Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. 

 
WHEELER Graham, March 1993, "Dark mystery of Porter", What's Brewing, 
newspaper of CAMRA, England. 

 

 

 

 
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Hopfen und Malz, Gott erhalt's 

 
This is a key free document, no keyboards were harmed in its creation. 
(The DragonDictate speech recognition system, the CIC handwriting 
recognizer, or some combination was used.  Send e-mail to drbeer at tiac.net to 
find out more) 

 

 
------------------------------ 

 

 
End of Lambic Digest 
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