The brew kettle at Lindemans
Not enough spontaneity in your beer life? Typical brews can’t match wits with your wild side? Well, the yeast will be wild and the fermentation spontaneous this Saturday with the Lambic Beer Festival at Delilah’s, 2771 North Lincoln. Lambic is a Belgian variety of beer specific to a region near Brussels made by a process of spontaneous fermentation where wild yeast within the brewing environment makes a beer a lambic. “It’s one of the oldest types of beer in the world, and it’s fundamentally still brewed the same way it always has been,” says Mike Miller of Delilah’s. Lambic beer uses the wild yeast and bacteria of its native Belgium and is often aged for three years, mixed with other ingredients, and then aged another year in bottles. Miller says the festival is designed to please both seasoned beer intellectuals and inquisitive beer novices open to trying this complex tasting beer. “There’s a high acidity in these beers,” Miller says. “Some are on the sweeter side, and some are bone dry… basically, this event is meant to be an educational beer study.” Miller and other beer experts will be on hand Saturday to discuss the sixty Lambics that will be available. Delilah’s had to save up its Lambic beer varieties for this festival because they are mostly produced in small Belgian breweries. Miller says that even for Chicago craft beer fans, “it’s hard to get a handle on what a lambic beer is because of the availability and cost.” The Lambic Beer Festival at Delilah’s will last from noon to 5pm on Saturday May 15. (Andrew Rhoades)
