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Best Brussels Beverage Types
Lambic is a traditional beer style that has its roots in Brussels and the region of Pajottenland. This style must be made with a minimum of 30% wheat, and the wort is always spontaneously fermented with local and naturally occurring wild yeasts.
Because of different local microorganisms, these beers always have a unique and frequently unpredictable character. Due to its wild nature, many batches of lambic are sometimes blended, a style known as gueuze or geuze, to produce a more palatable version.
VARIATIONS OF Lambic
THE BEST Lambic Ales
Traditionally produced in Brussels and Pajottenland, these fruit beers are made with the addition of cherries. Initially, they were made with Schaarbeekse cherries, but nowadays, other Morello cherries may be used as well. Whole, macerated, or crushed cherries (including the pits) are added to aged lambics, and the beer then continues maturation.
It typically undergoes the second fermentation in the bottle. Like other types of lambic beers, kriek is also spontaneously fermented. Kriek lambics may differ in character, but they are usually refreshing and crisp, with a typical dry and tart finish.
VARIATIONS OF Kriek lambic
Kriek is a beer with a tart and sharp taste. It a made by blending different lambics and adding sour cherries. The difference between a Kriek and Vieille Kriek is that Vieille Kriek has to undergo a secondary fermentation in bottles. The term oude refers to aged lambic that has aged in wooden barrels after it was spontaneusly fermented while exposed to the air.
This Belgian beer style falls in the category of lambics—traditional beers made with spontaneous fermentation. As evident from the name, fruit lambics are made with the addition of fruit. Traditional and the most popular version is the cherry-flavored kriek.
However, several other varieties are also produced, including peach-flavored pêche, raspberry framboise, black currant cassis, and several other variations. Fruit lambics are made with aged lambics in which the whole fruit is then added and macerated before the base is filtered and bottled.
VARIATIONS OF Fruit lambic
Faro is a beer style that belongs to the Belgian family of spontaneously fermented lambic beers. The drink was traditionally made by adding candi sugar, sucrose, or saccharin to lambic and sometimes by blending lambic with bière de mars—weak, low-alcohol lambic.
The origins of faro date back to the 18th century, when the drink was considered a cheap and much lighter alternative to regular beer or lambic. Sometimes, the flavor was improved with the addition of herbs. Nowadays, faro has a slightly different character.
Gueuze is a Belgian lambic-style that is made by blending young and old lambic beers—traditional Belgian brews that are fermented with wild yeasts. The blends then undergo secondary fermentation in the bottle. The combination is made by brewer’s preference, and the final character of gueuze is often unpredictable.
They are typically very effervescent, crisp, and refreshing with unique earthy aromas reminiscent of hay and leather. Usually, they will display moderate sour and malt character, and they will sometimes have nuances of citrus fruit as well as hints of vanilla and oak.
MAIN INGREDIENTS
Black Russian was created in 1949 in Brussels by a Belgian bartender named Gustav Tops, who made it in honor of the U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg. The cocktail consists of vodka and Kahlua coffee liqueur. The word Russian in its name refers to the use of vodka, a typical Russian spirit.
The cocktail is traditionally prepared by shaking vodka and Kahlua, and it is then served on the rocks in an old-fashioned glass without garnishes. If the cocktail is served in a highball glass and topped with cola, it becomes Dirty Black Russian, also known as Tall Black Russian, Australian Black Russian, or Colorado Bulldog.
Types of Belgian beers, Gueuze and Vieille Gueuze, are blends of different lambics, in which the oldest have been matured for a minimum of three years in wooden barrels. In Vieille Gueuze, the average age of lambics must be greater or equal to one year and it must undergo the second fermentation after it is bottled.
Lambic beer is a beer that is produced by spontaneous fermentation during which it is exposed to air and wild bacteria and yeast.
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