St. Louis
In 1958 the City of Brussels hosted the World Exhibition. In the shadow of the Atomium, Luc Van Honsebrouck launched the Saint Louis Gueuze and the Kriek and followed up with other fruit beers. The Saint Louis Fond Tradition oude gueuze and kriek hark back to the pure tradition of lambic beers. These two are spontaneously fermented beers; no yeast is added during the brewing process. ‘Spontaneous’ or ‘wild’ fermentation indicates that the wort starts fermenting on its own as soon as it comes in contact with specific microflora that are present in the air. This ‘spontaneous’ fermentation takes place in the open basin that is used to cool down the hot wort overnight. The lambic will spend several months fermenting and turns sour in the process. Its acidity is characteristic of the unmalted wheat in the beer. Lambic starts off as a flat beer. It will only start to sparkle and produce a froth once it has re-fermented in the bottle. In that case, we are talking about a gueuze. All of the Saint Louis fruit beers are based on lambic, blended either with fruit juice or entire krieken cherries. The brewery initially made its name with its lambic and fruit beers that were very easy to drink. In recent years Belgian specialty beers have gained in popularity both at home and abroad. This success prompted the brewery to create a number of genuine niche beers with a more pronounced taste, going back to the pure basics. And this is how the Fond Tradition Oude Gueuze and Kriek were born. Both come in 37.5cl bottles with a cork stopper.
