More on spontaneous fermentation

[randy_byers]

I wrote recently in passing about how the Belgian practice of using local wild yeast and microflora in the brewing process has begun to spread to the US. Jeff Alworth at the Portland beer blog Beervana has now written an interesting and informative post about American Lambics in which he talks about the history of the spontaneous fermentation process (as well as the process of trying to protect your beer from wild yeast) and about a couple of American brewers who are experimenting with spontaneously fermented brews that they are calling lambics. reverendjim might appreciate his footnote about the problem with Americans using the Belgian term "lambic", in which he concludes: "I am prepared to risk Belgian terrorists who dispute this use." His description of the Jolly Pumpkin Lambicus Dexterius is also hilarious: "As the beer sloshes around the mouth, it seems funky but not deadly; swallowing it, though, is like taking a hit of acetic acid from a chem lab beaker. Easily the most acidic beer I've ever tasted. We were all left a little shell-shocked afterward."

Alworth is a very interesting beer blogger in general, and a couple of other worthwhile recent posts are "Is Sour the New Hoppy?" and "What Will Become of 'Belgian Beer' If Belgium Divides?"

Comments

[voidampersand.livejournal.com]

I bought some maple syrup in Quebec after the Worldcon. A few weeks later back at home I looked at it and the plastic jug was bulging. I opened it up and it smelled of yeast and was fizzing away like crazy. I boiled it to kill the yeast and put it into a clean jar and am now keeping it in the fridge. Maybe I should have gone for the fermentation experiment, but I don't know about sour maple syrup. I'd rather have the sugar.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Sour fermented maple syrup sounds totally fusion to me. I think you missed a good bet!

On second thought, it sounds awful.