A Word from the Brewer
Lambics produced at Cantillon Brewery are referred to as “young” after one year of ageing and are considered as fully matured after three years. Young beers contain the natural sugars that are necessary for secondary fermentation in the bottle while beers that have matured for three years contribute their taste and refined flavours.
Cantillon Classic Gueuze is the ultimate result of a complex blend of lambics of different ages and with different tastes kept in oak barrels. The brewer’s main task involves tasting and he or she will have to try around a dozen lambics from different barrels, finally selecting five or six. It is by this method that gueuze 100% lambic, presenting the typical characteristics of Cantillon Brewery’s beers, is produced. Each blended batch of Cantillon Classic Gueuze yields a slightly different flavor because the natural elements at the heart of the beer make it impossible to produce a standardized product.
History
In the 18th century, a Benedictine monk named Dom Pérignon discovered the champagnisation process while blending different non-sparkling white wines. Around a hundred years later a brewer in Belgian Brabant blended various lambics, resulting in secondary fermentation in the bottle. Gueuze was born. Up until the 19th century, people living in Brussels and surrounding Brabant mostly drank two types of beer: lambic and faro. However, the introduction of glass bottles and Dom Pérignon’s discovery would bring about a revolution in the small world of Brussels brewers. In a short period of time, gueuze became the iconic beer of Brussels.
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