Cantillon

Why it matters

Maintained traditional spontaneous fermentation without concession through the period when the style was least commercially viable.

Details

Reference beers

• Cantillon Classic Gueuze5% ABV

  A Brussels gueuze made entirely from spontaneously fermented lambic and left unsweetened.

• Cantillon Rosé de Gambrinus5% ABV

  A raspberry lambic with no added sugar, and the clearest demonstration that fruit beer need not be sweet.

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Styles it is associated with

• Lambic — Spontaneously fermented Belgian wheat beer, matured in oak for years — funky, acidic, dry and unlike any other beer.
• Gueuze — A blend of young and old lambic, refermented in bottle — intensely complex, bone dry and Champagne-like in its carbonation.
• Fruit lambic — Lambic refermented on whole fruit — traditionally sour cherry or raspberry — producing a dry, tart, intensely fruity beer.

Traditions

• Belgian spontaneous fermentation — Lambic brewing in the Senne valley: inoculation from ambient air, years in wood, and blending to produce gueuze.