Editing Lambic (section)

== Types of lambic and derived beers ==
Lambic is usually a blend of at least two different beers; many producers are blenders who buy beer from other brewers and blend them together to create the desired result. A [[gueuze]] may have occupied space in several different cellars over six years or more. While those outside Belgium are likely to find bottled gueuze and fruited versions, a wider variety of styles is available to local drinkers. Beers are often blended again or sweetened with sugar or flavoured [[syrups]] before drinking, as some can be extremely tart.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Glaser |first=Gregg |date=1 July 2001 |title=In Search of Lambic |language=en-US |work=All About Beer |url=http://allaboutbeer.com/article/in-search-of-lambic/ |access-date=10 September 2018}}</ref> Most, if not all, of the varieties listed below, have [[Traditional specialty guaranteed|Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG)]] status. This status does not specify that a product has a link to a specific geographical area.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Eddings |first=Bryce |date=16 April 2020 |title=Lambic Beers: The Tart Brews You Need for Dinner |url=https://www.thespruceeats.com/lambic-beer-profile-352848 |access-date=3 September 2020 |website=The Spruce Eats |language=en}}</ref>
=== Unblended lambic ===
Unblended lambic is a cloudy, uncarbonated, bracingly sour beverage that is rarely available on tap. Draught releases are generally regarded as either ''jonge'' (young) or ''oude'' (old), depending on the age and discretion of the brewer. Bottled offerings from [[Cantillon Brewery|Cantillon]] and De Cam can be found outside Belgium.

=== Gueuze ===
{{main|Gueuze}}
A mixture of young (one-year-old) and old (two- and three-year-old) lambics have been bottled. Because the young lambics are not yet fully fermented, they undergo secondary fermentation in the bottle and produce carbon dioxide. A gueuze is given at least a year to carbonate in the bottle, but can be kept for 10–20 years.

=== Mars ===
Mars traditionally referred to a weaker beer made from the second runnings of a lambic brewing.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|last=Oliver|first=Garrett|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ga4MYyZq-RMC&q=mars+lambic+beer+no+longer+produced&pg=PA128|title=The Oxford Companion to Beer|date=2012|publisher=Oxford University Press, USA|isbn=978-0-19-536713-3|pages=128|language=en}}</ref> It is no longer commercially produced. In the 1990s, [[Boon Brewery]] made a modern Mars beer called Lembeek's 2% (the 2% referring to the alcohol content),<ref name=":2" /> but it is now only produced for use of [[Tilquin]] as a component of their keg beers.

=== Faro ===
[[File:Lindemans - Faro + bottle.png|thumb|A glass and bottle of Lindemans Faro]]

Historically, {{Ill|Faro (beer)|lt=faro|wa|Faro (bire)}} is a low-alcohol, sweetened beer made from a blend of lambic and a much lighter, freshly brewed beer to which [[brown sugar]] (or sometimes [[caramel]] or [[molasses]]) was added. The fresh beer was referred to as ''meertsbier'', and was not necessarily a lambic.<ref>{{cite book| title= Michael Jackson's Beer Companion| first= Michael |last= Jackson| publisher= Mitchell Beazley|year=1993 |isbn= 9781857321814}}</ref> Sometimes herbs were added as well. The use of ''meertsbier'' (or water) and of substandard lambic in the blend made this a cheap, light, sweet drink for everyday consumption. The 19th-century French poet [[Charles Baudelaire]] commented on faro's disagreeable aftertaste in saying, "It's beer that you drink twice", believing that the faro in [[Brussels]] was brewed from the waters of a river (the [[Senne River|Senne]] or [[Zenne]]) that was also used as a [[sanitary sewer|sewer]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p8i33BpBn0oC&q=Charles+Baudelaire+faro&pg=PA382|title=The Flowers of Evil |page=382 |first= Charles| last= Baudelaire |year=1993 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn= 978-0-19-283545-1}}</ref>

The sugar was originally added shortly before serving, so does not add carbonation or alcohol to the beverage, as the sugar did not have the time to ferment. Modern faro beer is still characterized by the use of brown sugar and lambic, but is not always a light beer. The use of'' meertsbier'' has disappeared, and modern faro is not viewed as cheap or light. Today, faro is bottled, sweetened, and pasteurized to prevent refermentation in the bottle. Examples are produced by [[Cantillon Brewery|Cantillon]], [[Boon Brewery|Boon]], [[Oud Beersel]], [[Lindemans Brewery|Lindemans]] or [[Mort Subite]].

=== Kriek ===
{{main|Kriek lambic}}
Lambic refermented in the presence of [[sour cherry|sour cherries]] (usually the ''morello'' variety, or a bitter variety known as the Schaarbeek cherry) and with secondary fermentation in the bottle results in [[Kriek lambic|kriek]].<ref name="autogenerated1991"/><ref name=":0" /> Traditional versions of kriek are dry and sour, just as with traditional [[gueuze]].

=== Fruit ===
[[File:Lindemans Framboise Lambic.jpg|thumb|left|upright|A bottle of Belgian raspberry lambic as sold in the United States]]
[[File:Raspberry and peach lambic.jpg|thumb|Raspberry and peach lambic]]

Lambic may be made with the addition of [[raspberry]] ([[framboise]]), [[peach]] ([[Pêcheresse|pêche]]), [[blackcurrant]] (cassis), grape (druif), or [[strawberry]] (aardbei), as either whole fruit or syrup. Other, rarer fruit lambic flavorings include apple (pomme), banana (banane), [[pineapple]] (ananas), [[apricot]] (abricot), [[plum]] (prune), [[cloudberry]] (plaquebière), lemon (citron), and [[blueberry]] (myrtille). Fruit lambics are usually bottled with secondary fermentation. Although fruit lambics are among the most famous Belgian fruit beers, the use of names such as kriek, framboise or frambozen, cassis, etc. does not necessarily imply that the beer is made from lambic. The fruit beers produced by the [[Liefmans Brewery]], for example, use an [[oud bruin]], rather than a lambic, as a base.

Many of the non-traditional fruit beers derived from lambic that was commercialized in the last decades are considered to be low-quality products by many beer enthusiasts.<ref name="autogenerated1991"/> These products are typically artificially sweetened, artificially carbonated, sterilized, and based on the juice of the fruit instead of the whole fruit.