The SPONTANEOUS FERMENTATION PROCESS is the unique Belgian method that defines the third and last style of beer.
Spontaneous fermentation takes place without the addition of yeast by the brewer. It depends upon the wild yeasts present in the atmosphere. It is the original way beer was invented, about 30,000 years ago, by women. Women invented beer. This very old method is especially practised around Brussels, in the Zenne Valley. It is the only place in the Western world, where this method to brew beer has been practiced in an uninterrupted line since prehistory. This is unique. The beers produced in this way are of the LAMBIC family or style. In this method the wort goes straight from the kettle, via the hop back, to the open cooler, where it spends several days, eventually reaching about 65° F. During this period, the wort is inoculated by the micro-organisms of the family Brettanomyces Bruxellensis, which are local to the area, and can't be found in any other location of the world. They, along with other wild and lactic yeasts, begin the fermentation. To early brewers, this must have seemed a miracle. That's why legends tell us that beer was a gift from the Gods. That's why the women in these early societies got power and influence as brewsters.

Because the fermentation begins in the cooler, the wort is at this stage already considered by the tax authorities to have become beer. The spontaneous fermentation continues for at least a year in the huge wooden barrels, where the wort is stored, after the exposure to the open air and the start of the fermentation. Only after a year, the liquid is called LAMBIC. To have a consistent taste over the years, the brewer blends one year old, two year old and three year old Lambic. This blending is THE craft and great art of the brewer. He solely relies on his taste. When this blend of several Lambics is bottled, we call the beverage GUEUZE.

Since the component beers contain living yeasts, the Lambic and the blend of Lambics will have its own fermentation in the bottle or keg, and that will continue for a year or more. The fruit-Lambics are made by the addition of fruits and a new aging for months until the fruit has completely dissolved in the Lambic. The most popular of the Fruit-Labics is the Kriek, where whole red cherries, harvested East of Brussels are used. In the USA the Raspberry and the Peach version of the Mort Subite Lambic are the most in demand.

Part VI