Lindemans Brewery (Brouwerij Lindemans) is a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

family

brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of bee ...

based in

Vlezenbeek Vlezenbeek is a small town of 3,324 in the Flemish Brabant southwest of Brussels, Belgium. It is part of the municipality Sint-Pieters-Leeuw. It is the home of Neuhaus, an international exporter of fine Belgian chocolate, as well as Lindemans Br ...

, a small town in

Flemish Brabant Flemish Brabant ( nl, Vlaams-Brabant ; french: Brabant flamand ) is a province of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders on (clockwise from the North) the Belgian provinces of Antwerp, Limburg, Liège, Walloon Brabant, Hai ...

, southwestern

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

. It produces

lambic Lambic () is a type of beer brewed in the Pajottenland region of Belgium southwest of Brussels and in Brussels itself since the 13th century. Types of lambic beers include gueuze, kriek lambic and framboise. Lambic differs from most other be ...

s, 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 Gaasbeek is a village in the Belgian municipality of Lennik in Flemish Brabant. It is most known for Gaasbeek Castle Gaasbeek Castle ( nl, Kasteel van Gaasbeek, french: Château de Gaesbeek) is a castle located in Lennik, Flemish Brabant, Bel ...

. 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 Gueuze (Dutch ''geuze'', ; French ''gueuze'', ) is a type of lambic, a Belgian beer. It is made by blending young (1-year-old) and old (2- to 3-year-old) lambics, which is bottled for a second fermentation. Because the young lambics are no ...

. They produced their first Faro in 1978. Shortly after, in 1980 the brewery started its production of

Framboise Framboise () is a Belgian lambic beer fermented with raspberry (''framboise'' is the French word for raspberry). Beer In English, ''framboise'' is used primarily in reference to a Belgian lambic beer that is fermented using raspberries. It is ...

. Consequently, in 1986 and 1987, Lindemans added

Cassis Cassis (; Occitan: ''Cassís'') is a commune situated east of Marseille in the department of Bouches-du-Rhône in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, whose coastline is known in English as the French Riviera, in Southern France. In 2016, ...

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. 7716lindemansBrewery

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 hectoliters. 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 hectoliters per year. 60.000 hectoliters of this amount is lambic, the base to which fruit juices are added. Each year 6.000 hectoliters 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 Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as ABV, abv, or alc/vol) is a standard measure of how much alcohol (ethanol) is contained in a given volume of an alcoholic beverage (expressed as a volume percent). It is defined as the number of millilitres (mL) o ...

, it is considered a light beer. It is available in 250 ml, 375 ml and 750 ml bottles.

Fruit beers

Lindemans varieties include Lambic

(raspberry), Kriek (sour cherry), Pêcheresse (peach),

(

blackcurrant The blackcurrant (''Ribes nigrum''), also known as black currant or cassis, is a deciduous shrub in the family Grossulariaceae grown for its edible berries. It is native to temperate parts of central and northern Europe and northern Asia, ...

), Pomme (

apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus '' Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ances ...

), and Strawberry. Because of the limited availability of sour cherries from

Schaerbeek ( French and archaic Dutch, ) or (contemporary Dutch, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the north-eastern part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Etterbeek, Evere and ...

, the traditional ingredient for Kriek, Lindemans Kriek is made using unsweetened

cherry juice Cherry juice is a fruit juice consisting of the juice of cherries. It is consumed as a beverage and used as an ingredient in various foods, processed foods and beverages. It is also marketed as a health supplement. It is produced by hot- or cold ...

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 Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

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

*
RateBeerBeerAdvocateBrouwerij Lindemans
Brewery details from ''BeerTourism.com'' {{Coord, 50.81579, N, 4.21229, E, region:BE_type:landmark, display=title Breweries of Flanders Companies based in Flemish Brabant