Fruited Spontanée

In order to understand the history of fruited Lambics, one must first understand the long, rich history of Lambic itself. A beer that we would likely recognize as Lambic was being lovingly produced in Belgium as early as the 12th century. In order to do so, the brewer, who was often also a farmer, built a mash consisting of 60% malted barley and 40% wheat. A minimum volume of aged hops was added to the boil solely for their preservative properties. Next the wort was transferred to a coolship, a long, wide and shallow vessel, designed, as the name implies, to cool the wort. In through the open windows, along with the chilly Belgian breeze, came magic. Soon, the wort began to bubble and foam, the result (we now know) of a mixed culture fermentation beginning. Finally, the slowly fermenting elixir was moved to oak barrels for maturation.

Adding fruit to traditionally produced Lambic is a significantly more recent development in brewing history, and likely began as a cottage industry. In fact, the first explicit mention we find of a cherry addition lies in the 1878 manuscript of a tenant farmer named Josse De Pauw from Schepdaal, Belgium. The fact that this tradition blossomed around the village of Schaarbeek outside Brussels is no accident as the cherries of the same name were once abundant in the area. And while cherries were likely the first fruit to be combined with Lambic, they were certainly not the last. The resultant beers have traditionally been named simply for the fruit included.     

pFriem’s 2026 Fruited Spontanée is a continuation of our mission to create a beer with a sense of place. There is no greater way to honor the tradition of these beers than to utilize local ingredients grown in your backyard. We utilize local heirloom malts, hops aged in house and wild microbes captured in our koelschip here in Cascade Locks. After aging in barrels, we blended 1 and 2 year old casks into a tank containing Gorge grown gamay noir wine grapes and black cap raspberries to further age and infuse. The result is a deeply jammy and brightly floral beer, tart and complex, with lively carbonation.