Video: Johan Madalijns, president/chairman of De Lambikstoempers tells us what the club is all about and the special lambics and gueuzes available on Dag van de Oude Geuze 2019 in Halle, Belgium.
I often joke that Johan Madalijns’ impressive beard is probably the most photographed one in the Belgian beer world. Over the past decade of living in Belgium I seem to spot him in articles on beer in newspapers, magazines and online, either alone or in a group. And there he is, dressed as a brewer of old in period costume as part of the annual procession in September when the Knighthood of the Brewers Paddle celebrate Saint Arnould, the patron saint of brewers.
It’s all part of his love of Belgian beer culture, working tirelessly with other club members to keep alive the Belgian tradition of making lambics and gueuzes. That may seem a strange task today, when this Belgian style of spontaneously fermented beer has a cult following worldwide.
But this was not so when Madalijns and others formed De Lambikstoempers in 1999 in the heart of the Pajottenland it was a tradition on the verge of becoming less well known among the Belgians and worldwide. The Lambikstoempers did their part, along with the brewers, to help bring it to the beer’s current fame. The Beer Idiots interviewed Madalijns on 23 November 2019, the start of the club’s 14th edition of Dag van de Oude Geuze.
The two-day festival brings together all Belgian beers of spontaneous fermentation based on 100% lambic from the Pajottenland region. See the amazing list of beers here.
