__NOTOC__ The High Council for Artisanal Lambic Beers ( Dutch: ''Hoge Raad voor Ambachtelijke Lambiekbieren'', HORAL) is a non-profit organisation that brings together the

gueuze Gueuze (Dutch ''geuze'', ; French ''gueuze'', ) is a type of lambic, a Belgian beer. It is made by blending young (1-year-old) and old (2- to 3-year-old) lambics, which is bottled for a second fermentation. Because the young lambics are no ...

brewers and blenders of the

Pajottenland The Pajottenland (in English occasionally Payottenland) is a distinct region within the Flemish Brabant province and the south-western part of the Brussels Region of Belgium. The region is located west-southwest of Brussels. The Pajottenland is pre ...

and Zenne Valley in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

.Horal.be. ''The High Council for Artisanal Lambic Beers.''
/ref>

Goals

The stated goals of HORAL are: * To promote artisanal lambic beers and their derivates, with attention to the complete process from brewing process till serving. * To report irregularities with regard to artisanal lambic beers and their derivates. * To take the necessary steps to protect artisanal lambic beers and their derivates.

History

In January 1997, at the invitation of 3 Fonteinen's Armand Debelder, HORAL's founder members met in

Beersel Beersel () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality comprises the towns of Alsemberg, Beersel proper, Dworp, Huizingen and Lot. On 1 January 2018 Beersel had a total population of 25,069. The total a ...

. HORAL was formally established with its original members: 3 Fonteinen, Boon, De Cam, De Troch, Lindemans, and Timmermans. The first ''Toer de Geuze'' was organised on October 19 1997, when HORAL's member producers decided to open their doors to the public. Since then the open brewery day has become a biennial event. Over the past two decades, the ''Toer de Geuze'' has effectively become the largest beer event of

Flemish Brabant Flemish Brabant ( nl, Vlaams-Brabant ; french: Brabant flamand ) is a province of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders on (clockwise from the North) the Belgian provinces of Antwerp, Limburg, Liège, Walloon Brabant, Haina ...

.British Guild of Beer Writers. ''20 YEARS OF TOER DE GEUZE.''
/ref>Het Laatste Nieuws. ''Lambic brewers launch the first bottle of Megablend 2019: The twelfth edition of Toer de Geuze takes place on 4 and 5 May.''
(in Dutch) HORAL successfully campaigned for the creation of a

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

"traditional specialities guaranteed" (TSG) designation for the names "lambic" and "gueuze". This ensures that only products genuinely originating in the region are allowed to be identified as such in commerce. In 2016 HORAL met with representatives of Jester King Brewery to discuss a disagreement over the Americans' use of the term ''Méthode Gueuze.'' It was agreed that the

Texan Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by bo ...

brewers would in future use the designation ''

Méthode Traditionnelle The traditional method is the process used in the Champagne region of France to produce Champagne. It is also the method used in various French regions to produce sparkling wines (not called “Champagne”), in Spain to produce Cava, in Port ...

'' as a style name. HORAL's Megablend Oude Gueuze was first brought to the market in 2009. It is a blend of old and young

lambic 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 beers include gueuze, kriek lambic and framboise. Lambic differs from most other beers ...

s from HORAL's members. A gueuze enthusiast from Great Britain paid 300 EUR for the first bottle in 2015. In 2018 lambic producers Girardin and 3 Fonteinen left HORAL.Goodbeerhunting.com. ''3 Fonteinen and Girardin Part Ways With Lambic-Focused Trade Group, HORAL.''
/ref> Werner Van Obberghen of 3 Fonteinen said: "We decided to leave HORAL because we could no longer agree with its current values. In 2020 Lambiek Fabriek (

Sint-Pieters-Leeuw Sint-Pieters-Leeuw (; french: Leeuw-Saint-Pierre) is a Dutch-speaking municipality of Belgium located in the province of Flemish Brabant (Flemish Region). The municipality comprises the towns of Oudenaken, Ruisbroek, Sint-Laureins-Berchem, Sint ...

) joined HORAL and in 2022 brewery Den Herberg (

Buizingen Buizingen is a village in the municipality of Halle, Belgium. It is around 15 km southwest of the centre of Brussels. On 15 February 2010, 19 people died and 171 were injured in a train collision A train wreck, train collision, train ac ...

Member producers

Boon Boon may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Boon (game), a trick-taking card game * ''Boon'' (novel), a 1915 satirical work by H. G. Wells * ''Boon'' (TV series), a British television series starring Michael Elphick * The Ultimate Boo ...

* De Cam * Den Herberg * De Troch * Hanssens * Lambiek Fabriek * Lindemans *

Mort Subite Alken-Maes is a Belgian brewery created out of the 1988 merger of two small breweries, Maes located at Kontich-Waarloos and Cristal-Alken located at Alken. It was bought by Scottish & Newcastle in 2000, who were taken over by Carlsberg and H ...

Oud Beersel Oud Beersel is a Belgian lambic brewery. It is a member of HORAL, whose main event is ''Toer De Geuze'' every two years. History Oud Beersel is an artisanal lambic brewery, based in Beersel and founded in 1882 by Henri Vandervelden. His so ...

Tilquin 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. Tilquin also is exclu ...

* Timmermans

Gallery of HORAL members in Flemish Brabant

File:BoonBrewery.jpg, File:Decam 03.jpg, File:Timmermans 25.jpg, File:Brouwerij Lindemans 4-05-2006 12-11-37.jpg, File:Oud beersel.jpg, File:Cloth-in-bunghole.jpg,

References

External links

The Brussels Times. ''Lambic craft beer honoured at the 12th "Geuze Toer."''

Méthode Traditionelle. ''On Méthode Gueuze, The Disagreement with HORAL, and A New Way Forward.''
{{DEFAULTSORT:High Council For Artisanal Lambik Style Beers Beer organizations Alcohol in Belgium Beer in Belgium