Industry | Alcoholic beverage |
---|---|
Founded | 2009 |
Founder | Pierre Tilquin |
Headquarters | , Belgium |
Products | Beer |
Website | www |
Tilquin (or Gueuzerie Tilquin) is a Belgian lambic beer blendery based in Bierghes, Brussels, founded in 2009 by Pierre Tilquin. Tilquin is the only lambic blendery in the mainly French-speaking, southern region of Wallonia. In addition, Tilquin is the only blendery that is allowed to blend one, two, and three-year-old lambics with wort acquired from Boon, Lindemans, Girardin, and Cantillon breweries. [1]
The brewery was founded in 2009 by Pierre Tilquin, a bioengineer and holder of a PhD in statistical genetics. Prior to opening the blendery, he studied brewing science in Leuven, apprenticed at some of the major breweries in Belgium, including Huyghe Brewery, 3 Fonteinen and Cantillon. [2]
Tilquin produces blends of one, two, and three-year-old lambics with wort acquired from Boon, Lindemans, Girardin, and Cantillon for the Oude Gueuze Tilquin à L'Ancienne. While the first 2010–2011 labeled release of Oude Gueuze was reportedly a blend of just one and two-year-old lambics, all subsequent batches have been blends of one, two, and three-year-old lambics. The first known bottling of the gueuze occurred in December 2010 and was labelled as "1ier soutirage" ("1st racking"). Tilquin has consistently produced lambic blends in 750ml and 375ml bottles for export every year since its opening. [3]
In February 2012, Tilquin introduced its first fruited lambic with the release of a very limited batch of Oude Quetsche Tilquin à L'Ancienne, sold in 750ml bottles. The initial batch was limited to purchases at the brewery, but a second batch produced in January 2013 saw widespread release in Europe and North America later the same year. It was debuted to coincide with the 2013 Toer de Geuze.
In 2012, Gueuzerie Tilquin joined HORAL, the High Council for Artisanal Lambic Beers. Tilquin is the first HORAL member outside of Flanders and lies just 200 metres (660 ft) past the language border in the French-speaking municipality of Rebecq.
In March 2015, the Belgian daily newspaper La Capitale reported that 75% of Gueuzerie Tilquin's production was reserved for export, with 40% of that being sent solely to the United States. Tilquin also participated in the 10th anniversary Toer de Geuze in 2015. The weekend also saw the release of Tilquin's second fruited lambic, Oude Mûre Tilquin à l'Ancienne, a lambic fruited with blackberries. In addition to the Toer de Geuze, Tilquin also hosted an English beer festival. [4]
In 2017, Tilquin began to expand their capacity with several more stainless steel tanks. These tanks will be used to continue larger scale production of fruited lambics following the first experimental fruit series.
There are three core blends, with several other limited release gueuze blends, and fruited or wine grape Lambics. Distribution began in the United States in 2017. [5]
Kriek lambic is a style of Belgian beer, made by fermenting lambic with sour Morello cherries. Traditionally "Schaarbeekse krieken" from the area around Brussels are used. As the Schaarbeek type cherries have become more difficult to find, some brewers have replaced these with other varieties of sour cherries, sometimes imported.
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 beer include gueuze, kriek lambic, and framboise. Lambic differs from most other beers in that it is fermented through exposure to wild yeasts and bacteria native to the Zenne valley, as opposed to exposure to carefully cultivated strains of brewer's yeast. This process gives the beer its distinctive flavour: dry, vinous, and cidery, often with a tart aftertaste.
Mourvèdre is a red wine grape variety grown in many regions around the world including the Rhône and Provence regions of France, the Valencia and Jumilla, Bullas and Yecla denominaciones de origen (DOs) of Spain, as well as the Balearic Islands, California and Washington and the Australian regions of South Australia and New South Wales, plus South Africa. In addition to making red varietal wines, Mourvèdre is a prominent component in "GSM" blends. The variety is also used to make rosé and port-style fortified wines.
Framboise is a Belgian lambic beer fermented with raspberry.
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Beer in Belgium includes pale ales, lambics, Flemish red ales, sour brown ales, strong ales and stouts. In 2018, there were 304 breweries in Belgium, including international companies, such as AB InBev, and traditional breweries, such as Trappist monasteries. On average, Belgians drink 68 litres of beer each year, down from around 200 each year in 1900. Most beers are bought or served in bottles, rather than cans, and almost every beer has its own branded, sometimes uniquely shaped, glass. In 2016, UNESCO inscribed Belgian beer culture on their list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity.
Gueuze is a type of lambic, a Belgian beer. It is made by blending young (1-year-old) and old lambics, which is bottled for a second fermentation. Because the young lambics are not fully fermented, the blended beer contains fermentable sugars, which allow a second fermentation to occur.
Lindemans Brewery is a Belgian family brewery based in Vlezenbeek, a small town in Flemish Brabant, southwestern Brussels. It produces lambics, a style of Belgian ale that uses raw wheat and wild yeast.
Cuvée is a French wine term that derives from cuve, meaning vat or tank. Wine makers use the term cuvée with several meanings, more or less based on the concept of a tank of wine put to some purpose.
Brettanomyces bruxellensis is a yeast associated with the Senne valley near Brussels, Belgium. Despite its Latin species name, B. bruxellensis is found all over the globe. In the wild, it is often found on the skins of fruit.
Oud Beersel is a Belgian lambic brewery. It is a member of HORAL, whose main event is Toer De Geuze every two years.
3 Fonteinen is a Belgian brewery, specialized in geuze and kriek. The brewery is situated in Beersel, near Brussels and produces classic versions of both kriek and geuze.
The High Council for Artisanal Lambic Beers is a non-profit organisation that brings together the gueuze brewers and blenders of the Pajottenland and Zenne Valley in Belgium.
Flanders red ale or Flemish red-brown, is a style of sour ale brewed in West Flanders, Belgium.
Sour beer is beer which has an intentionally acidic, tart, or sour taste. Sour beer styles include Belgian lambics and Flanders red ale and German Gose and Berliner Weisse.
The Bruery is an American brewing company based in Placentia, California, founded by Patrick Rue and named as a portmanteau of his family name and the word "brewery". It opened in 2008 and has produced an average of 2,500 barrels of beer annually in their 15-barrel brewhouse.
Alexandria Nicole Cellars is a Washington winery that specializes in making estate wine from its Destiny Ridge Vineyard located in the Horse Heaven Hills AVA. Founded in 2001 by Jarrod and Ali Boyle, the winery expanded to include tasting rooms in Prosser, Washington and Woodinville wine country where it is housed in the historic Hollywood Schoolhouse that was built in 1912 and designated as a King County, Washington landmark in 1992. In 2011, Alexandria Nicole was named the Washington Winery of the Year by ″Wine Press Northwest″, the wine publication arm of the Tri-City Herald.
A barrel-aged beer is a beer that has been aged for a period of time in a wooden barrel. Typically, these barrels once housed bourbon, whisky, wine, or, to a lesser extent, brandy, sherry, or port. There is a particular tradition of barrel ageing beer in Belgium, notably of lambic beers. The first bourbon barrel-aged beers were produced in the United States in the early 1990s.