The Naked Pint (18 page)

Lambics are brewed with a good amount (30% to 40%) of unmalted wheat and have the hazy look of other wheat beers. Lambic brewers use aged hops instead of the fresh hops used in all other styles. These aged hops impart none of the typical bitterness. Brewers use them for their tannic and preservative qualities. To ferment wildly, Lambic wort (the liquid extracted during the brewing process) is poured into “cool ships,” which are large vessels designed to cool down the wort before the yeast is added. Though brewers in olden times making other styles of beer hoped none of the airborne yeast would get into their wort and make the beer sour and funky, Lambic brewers desired the opposite. Everyone is welcome into the fermentation process, even dust and cobwebs. Nothing should be too clean because it might upset the life of the natural yeast.

After the fermentation is in full swing, Lambics are put into wooden casks (or barrels), usually left over from port or sherry production, and left to make it happen. Here, even more little friends can get into the ale, such as bacteria in the wood—anything to funk it up, just like Lambic likes it. The Lambic is left to age for months, even years, depending on the brewer’s choice. Lambic brewing embraces the wildness in nature, lets go of the control and lab-like process of many brews, and appreciates whatever may come.

Once in the casks, Lambics are then blended, because each cask has something different to offer. A newer Lambic—bright, sour, and acidic—may be blended with an older one to balance it out. Most Lambics are a blend (called
gueuze
, pronounced GOOZE or GER-ZER; see Chapter 6), though straight, unblended Lambic can be found if one looks hard enough.

Sour-tasting Lambics are often softened by the addition of sweet macerated fruit. The sugar in the fruit gives the yeast something else to eat and creates a complex drink full of fruit character. Because Lambics can be quite funky, the fruit sweetens up the brew, making it approachable and almost dessert-like. Cherries, raspberries, peaches, black currants, and apples have all been used in Lambics. Note that the fruit is usually written in French or Flemish on the label—for example, peach =
pêche
, cherries =
kriek
. Like a good fresh fruit, fruited Lambics should be both sweet and tart. Some tend toward the sweet side, some are drier. This may be due to the blend or the age of the brew. Most are served in a flute type glass and are, in fact, reminiscent of Champagne. That’s right, we said
Champagne
. You ladies who think you know beer and hate it, don’t quit. Try a Lambic and allow your mind to be blown and your palate to be pleased. We are big fans of these Lambics:

S
ometimes a beer is more than just one beer. It is two beers. Well, maybe not, but some beers dance between the definitions of lager and ale. This is because they are either fermented with lager yeast at high ale temperatures or vice versa. The “hybrid brews,” as we like to call them, can be hard to pin down in the beer world, but they help remind us that a beer should ultimately be judged by flavor, not by name alone. These are great gateway beers to the bigger styles in the following chapters. They still have a fairly light and delicate profile but begin to introduce darker malts and slightly bigger flavors of fruit and nuts. Here are some hybrid styles that may cross your path and please your palate.

Not many people have heard of Kölsch beer, but if you aren’t ready for the more bitter, bigger brews or if you have staunchly decided that you want something a bit softer than a German Pils, then Kölsch may be your baby. Kölsch is a hybrid beer made using top-fermenting yeast (making it an ale), but it then undergoes a cold fermentation, or lagering, which creates a beer that is super clean and light in body but with slight fruity and vinous undertones. Kölsch beers traditionally used a bit of wheat in the malt, but today, they’re one of Germany’s only all-barley pale beers, using mostly light Pilsner-style malts. They are sparkly clear with a frothy head and are known to have a pale straw color and low alcohol (between 4% and 6%). They should be clean and dry on the finish. Because these beers are lagered, a Kölsch has very slight but perceivable aromatics of biscuit and sourdough on the nose.

Despite its hybrid status, Kölsch is called the German Pale Ale by some and is another one of those beer styles that is named after its place of origin: Koln, in the Rhineland of Germany (Cologne to us Americans), just northwest of Bavaria. As a matter of fact, just like the French AOC denominations in wine—by which geographic regions govern and certify the quality of wine, cheeses, and other products—a Kölsch can be officially and legally labeled “Kölsch” only if it has been brewed by a member of the Koln Brewers Union in the city of Koln. Considered a female-friendly beer in Germany (that doesn’t mean that dudes don’t drink it!), Kölsch is traditionally served in a tall, skinny, cylindrical, 6.75-ounce glass called a
Kolner Stangen
, or
Stange
, German for “stick” (we were told by a leering drunken German ex-pat that it means “pole” or “rod,” to which we did not comment).

Kölsch beers are often overlooked, discounted as run-of-the-mill light beer. But because a Kölsch is so soft and delicate, it is essential that the brewer have great craft and skill; there are no powerful flavors to cover a mistake or an inferior ingredient. This style has a smallish distribution in the United States, but if you happen to see it in a store or bar, we strongly encourage you to try one! Try to grab one of the following: