Lindemans Brewery

Lindemans Brewery (Brouwerij Lindemans) is a Belgian family brewery based in Vlezenbeek, a small town in Flemish Brabant, southwestern Brussels. It produces lambics, a style of Belgian ale that uses raw wheat and wild yeast. History The history of Lindemans Brewery began in 1822 when the brewery was founded on a small farm in Vlezenbeek. The brewery's patriarch was Frans Lindemans, the brother of the then-bailiff of Gaasbeek. In 1930, due to the growing success of the brewery, the agricultural activity was stopped definitively to focus on the brewing of Kriek and Gueuze. They produced their first Faro in 1978. Shortly after, in 1980 the brewery started its production of Framboise. Consequently, in 1986 and 1987, Lindemans added Cassis and Pêcheresse to its assortment. Finally, in 2005, Apple was the last beer to be introduced. The brewery, to this day, is still a family company, run by brothers Nestor and Rene for a long time, before their sons, Dirk and Geert, took over the business, each having a 50% interest in the company. Production Lindemans brews its lambic according to the method of spontaneous fermentation. This lambic is then used as the base for all of the fruit beers. In 25 years, the production grew from 5,000 to 50,000 hL (130,000 to 1,320,000 US gal). Over that span, the brewery expanded multiple times. In 1991 a new brewhouse was built next to the old one to increase capacity. In 2013 works for a new expansion, with a new bottling plant, started. Today, the brewery brews 85,000 hL (2,200,000 US gal) per year. 85,000 hL (2,200,000 US gal) of this amount is lambic, the base to which fruit juices are added. Each year 6,000 hL (160,000 US gal) of Lindemans Faro are produced, representing 7,5% of the entire production. Beers Faro Lindemans Faro is a lambic beer. The first Lindemans Faro was brewed in 1978, when the beverage was becoming popular again. At 4% ABV, it is considered a light beer. It is available in 250 mL (8+1⁄2 US fl oz), 375 mL (12+3⁄4 US fl oz) and 750 mL (25 US fl oz) bottles. Fruit beers Lindemans varieties include Lambic Framboise (raspberry), Kriek (sour cherry), Pêcheresse (peach), Cassis (blackcurrant), Pomme (apple), and Strawberry. Because of the limited availability of sour cherries from Schaerbeek, the traditional ingredient for Kriek, Lindemans Kriek is made using unsweetened cherry juice which is added to a mixture of lambics of different ages. The resulting beer is described as less sour and more fruity. It contains 2.5% ABV. Awards Asia Beer Awards 2010, Silver in the category Fruit Lambique: Pecheresse Australian International Beer Awards 2014, Gold Award: Cassis 2014, Silver Award: Kriek 2014, Silver Award: Oude Gueuze Cuvée René 2014, Bronze Award: Pecheresse 2014, Bronze Award: Apple Beer International Recognition Awards 2011, Best Fruitbeer: Kriek 2011, Belgian Grand Award: Kriek Brussels Beer Challenge 2013, Gold Medal in the category Lambique and Gueuze: Oude Gueuze Cuvée René 2013, Gold Medal in the category Fruit Lambique Great International Beer Festival 2011, Gold Award: Faro International Beer Awards 2010, Winner in the category Fruitbeers: Framboise US Open Beer Competition 2011, Golden Award in the category Fruit and Spice: Pecheresse 2014, Golden Award in the category Fruit and Spice: Pecheresse World Beer Awards 2013, World's Best Sour Beer 2013, World's Best Kriek 2013, World's Best Gueuze: Oude Gueuze Cuvée René 2013, Europe's Best Lambique: Apple 2013, Europe's Best Label: Oude Gueuze Cuvée René World Beer Championships 1994, Platinum Medal: Kriek 1994, Gold Medal: Pecheresse World Brewing Congress 1994, Platinum Award: Kriek 1994, Gold Award: Pecheresse 2001, World Champion: Kriek 1985: Michael Jackson named Kriek Lindemans as one of the 5 best beers in the world. Californian Beer Festival 1995, Gold Medal: Framboise 1995, Gold Medal: Gueuze World Beer Cup 1996 & 1997, Lindemans named one of the 10 best breweries in the world. 2000, Gold Medal: Oude Gueuze Cuvée René 2001, Beer-World Champion: Kriek 2002, Bronze Medal: Oude Gueuze Cuvée Hong Kong International Beer Awards 2009, Winner Fruitbeers: Framboise 2010, Winner Fruitbeers: Framboise References External links Official website (in English) RateBeer BeerAdvocate Brouwerij Lindemans (in English) Brewery details from BeerTourism.com