Drinking Beer: Cuvee Rene

One type of beer that I love to drink but don't brew myself is lambic. Not because it takes several years to do it right; I make my own wine and that takes years too. I don't do it because it takes lots of wild organisms that get loose and wreck havoc with my other potables. Cry havoc and let loose the brettanomyces of wort!

In fact brettanomyces bruxellensis, scourge of wine and critical component of this beer, is named after the city in Belgium where in the suburbs lambic is brewed. I have visited lambic breweries and can attest to the fervor with which they do not clean up in fear of disturbing the melange of microbeasties critical for the flavor of the beer. When I taste gueuze, I am instantly teleported in my mind back to the barrel room. Most other people smell horse blanket or gym socks that have recently resurfaced after a long hibernation in the closet.

Not too many lambics make it to the states, and only a few of those in great condition. Always expensive here, though pretty cheap in Belgium, it is a treat to myself to open one as I did the other night. I divided the 750 ml bottle into two classes carefully reserving the sediment so as not to cloud the beer in the glass. However, I swigged the dregs before tossing the bottle---I'm hard core, I know.

After enjoying my portion, my wife brought me hers, saying that she'd had enough. Hmm, with lambic I can be generous and greedy! Careful, the funk'llgetcha.

This beer is imported by Merchant du Vin along with some other nice foreign beers. Check around their website and look for them at an upscale market or bottle store near you.