Muchas gracias to Gert Christiaens of Oud Beersel Brewery, who posted a comment explaining in detail Josh’s observation that a recent release of Oud Beersel is not the same as previous releases, and explaining the closed/open situation of the brewery. And more. Here’s Gert:

You are absolutely right that our website hasn’t been updated recently and I would like to appologize for that. We have been investing a lot of time in producing lambic and increasing our storage to assure the revival of Oud Beersel.

In 2006, we have launched our first bottles of Oude Geuze and Oude Kriek Oud Beersel. All bottles that expire in 2026 or after are made by the revived Oud Beersel. As a expert in beers, you will probably have noticed the slight change in flavour of the first botteling of Oude Geuze (expiry date in april 2026). This was the first botteling of Oude Geuze and to celebrate this event, Oud Beersel blended the Oude Geuze with 50% of 3 year old lambic and 50% of 1,8 year old lambic. Because of the huge amount of aged beer, we obtain an Oude Geuze compareable with Oude Geuze that has been aged for a couple of years on the bottle. It gives a mild flavour to the beer, with lots of esters and aroma’s.

In 2005 we officially reopened the Oud Beersel brewery. It is not an easy mission to reopen a traditional lambic brewery. It required a lot of preparation and labour. We have been preparing the reopening of Oud Beersel since 2003, and we are very proud now that we are able to conserve part of the almost disappeared Belgian beer culture. For that purpose, we have indeed launched Bersalis, a fully flavoured triple ale. It is normal that you haven’t seen any signs of this beer on the USA market. We are a very small, traditional brewery and we did not have time to study and apply the USA import regulations for Bersalis. But I can assure you that you will be able to enjoy a Bersalis in hte USA before the end of the year.

The lambic of Oud Beersel is aging on the same barrels from 50, even 100 years ago. We use the same production process, meaning spontaneaous fermentation by cooling down the beer at night in an open tank, and we age the beer on wooden barrels up to three years. This method is applied by all lambic brewers to produce an Oude Geuze or Oude Kriek. The production method is protected by Europe, and these products can only be named like that as long as the correct production process is applied.

Make sure to pass by a lambic brewery on your next trip to Belgium. It is a unique experience and you will gain more insight in the traditional lambic brewing process.

Sincere brewing regards,

Gert Christiaens
Oud Beersel brewery

I am excited about visiting Belgium and the revived brewery!

UPDATE: Josh sends me this further correspondence he had with Gert. (I’m assuming that, since they kindly let me post all the original stuff, they don’t mind me posting this. I hope.)

From: J S
Sent: maandag 4 juni 2007 18:06
To: Gert
Subject: RE: Beersel in distress

Thanks for the update. I am glad to hear that you are back in production. When I tried the beer (with the 2026 expiry), I was very surprised at how different it tasted. It was much richer and heavier than the previous versions I had drank so much of. When I tasted the difference, I began asking around and doing what research I could to see why the flavor had changed. I guess I should have tried emailing you first!

One question: while I am aware that lambic breweries will leave their fermentation vessels open, it has always been my understanding that the distinctive character tasted in each lambic is due more to the barrel aging, and the unique blend of wild yeasts that live in a given breweries barrels. Is this not the case?

***

From: Oud Beersel Gert
Date: June 4, 2007 9:28:01 AM PDT
To: ‘J S’
Subject: RE: Beersel in distress

The aging on barrel is of course a very important element for the flavour of the beer. Actually, the cooling of the beer in open barrel is necessary for the infection of the beer with spontaneous ferments. After one night, the beer is put on the wooden barrels. Depending on the temperature and the amount of natural yeast, the beer starts fermenting in the next couple of hours, days or weeks.

The yeasts active in the spontaneous fermentation process ferments the beer during 6 months, each yeast type has its own period and action. Therefore it is very important to age the beer. After the 6 months, the beer creates taste components by aging.

The yeasts are of course everywhere in the brewery: i.e. in the installation, in the barrels, in the walls, even in the clothing.

In the future, we will ship standard blends to the USA again. The beer will be labeled differently in a year or so as well.

If you still have a bottle of Oude Geuze of Oud Beersel from let’s say 2000 or 2001, compare it to the Oude Geuze of 2006 and you’ll understand the quality beer we have put in this bottle.

Sincere brewing regards,

Gert Christiaens

Oud Beersel Brewery
www.oudbeersel.com
BERSALIS, bringing life to the brew!

Thanks both Josh and Gert. With all I’ve learned about Oud Beersel, I’m now a huge supporter of the brewery, the beers, and the efforts of Gert and his crew to revive the old brewery and its traditons. And I can’t think of a better way to support them than by all the Oude Geuze I’m gonna drink.