San Diego, CA (2)

Curt, my main contact person for breweries in SD, took me to Vista (San Diego County) for a brewing event of his home brewing club 'Society of Barley Engineers'. This event takes place once a year and many members gather on one day to brew a Belgian Lambic (wild fermented sour beer). Each person brings their own brewing equipment and after 6-12 months, they get as much beer as they brewed. That's why some members in the club start brewing at 6 in the morning and make 3 batches until late at night. The recipe and ingredients are provided by the club. The brewed wort is then transferred through a filter into a container, from which it is pumped into the fermentation vessel and two wooden barrels. The fermentation vessels were only rinsed with water before, in order to preserve as many yeasts and bacteria as possible. Furthermore, Curt made two yeast starters from a top-fermenting yeast (London Ale Yeast) and (the remains of the previous)+Brettanomyces, and if possible, sediments from Lambics from around the world are added. Since it is a wild fermented sour beer, hygiene is not that important. In total, over 1300 liters came together, which will stay on site for fermentation. Each of the approximately 35 participants also brought their own homebrewed beer or interesting commercial beer, which made it an even more fun event. There, I met not only hobby brewers, but also some professional brewers from the area. The resulting beer is always submitted to competitions under the name Societé du Lambic (often also with a secondary fermentation with fruits or berries) and has been winning awards for over 10 years. In addition, a collection of old batches is kept and blended after different years. A 'Solera', a Lambic that has been topped up with wort for 7 years, was also available for tasting. Although it may sound disgusting at first, it was a very special and interesting experience for me.