Lambic does not mean fruit beer. What it actually means is an entirely spontaneously-fermented beer, hailing from Belgium. Theories vary as to where the term "lambic" came from, but most beer scholars agree it probably originated from the town name, Lembeek, in Belgium. Any "lambic" made in the United States is only, in truth, a lambic-style ale, because, like champagne of France, true lambic can only originate from Belgium.

The confusion with fruit beer is due in large part to Lindeman's, whose sweetened fruit-forward lambics are the only contact many Americans have had with the word. But lambic in its most basic form, before sweetening and fruit, is called "straight" lambic. There are no examples of straight lambic available here, but there are several examples of Gueuze, which is a blend of straight lambics, unsweetened, and bulk aged.

Gueuzes are traditionally a blend of "old" and "young" lambic, one-year-old, two-year-old, and three-year-old, blended to the taste of the maker and aged together for at least six months in oaken barrels. Gueuze offers some of the most complex flavors in all of the beer world, and can vary from funky to enormously sour. There are usually a myriad of microorganisms in Gueuze, consisting of brettanomyces, lactobacillus, pediococcus, saccharomyces, and other bugs and bacteria.

It may sound strange, but the bacteria in Gueuze are actually probiotic, and indeed can contribute significantly to colon health. As a matter of fact, for much of lambic's history the health benefits of drinking lambic have been touted as an excellent reason to purchase it. Of course, in the United States, lambic tends to be one of the more expensive styles of beer to purchase, largely because of the fact that it is all imported from Belgium, but also because it is so labor and time intensive to make.

Belgian Tripel is an estery and spicy strong golden Belgian style. No one really knows where the term Tripel itself came from, though speculation has been that it refers loosely to the strength of the beer - they generally range from 7.5-11% ABV. Westmalle trappist brewery was the first to popularize the style, first brewed by Hendrik Verlinden of the Drie Linden brewery in the early 1930s. Westmalle coined the name Tripel in 1956, and the style has been referred to as a Belgian-style Tripel ever since.

Tripels are very malty in flavor, but are generally quite dry in the finish. They are brewed with a majority of pilsner malt, and invert sugar or white sugar is often added to increase the ABV. The ABV is quite high but the beer style does not usually taste boozy. The vast majority of the flavor profile itself comes from the yeast, and the beer is often fermented at warm temperatures (70 degrees F or above) to drastically increase the spicy phenolics that the Belgian yeast strains give off, which are peppery, clove-like and even some notes of banana.