Maceration of fresh hops of the Hallertau Mittelfrüh type in a two-year-old Lambic.
The natural acidity of Lambic and the fine bitterness of Hallertau hops find a perfect balance here.
A Work From The Brewer:
In order to preserve the delicacy of the hops, the lambics chosen for the production of the Cuvée Saint-Gilloise are elegant and full of finesse in order to preserve the acidity/bitterness balance.
Since there is no blending with young Lambic as for Gueuze and no fructose addition as for fruit beers, the second fermentation in the bottle of the Cuvée Saint-Gilloise is due to a of liquid sucrose.
Like all beers from the Cantillon brewery, Cuvée Saint-Gilloise is a beer with a very long shelf life, but like all hopped beers, it is advisable to drink it young to rediscover the floral side of hops.
History:
The Van Roy family are great supporters of the Royale Union Saint-Gilloise, a legendary football club in the city of Brussels. The Union was the most popular and successful club in Belgium until the 1960s.
Although the club has left the first division for several decades, its popularity in Brussels is still very important and the Van Roy family is the fifth generation frequenting the bleachers of the old Marïen stadium.
In 2004, the management of the club asked us to create a special beer to commemorate the centenary of the first title of Belgian Champion obtained by the club in 1904. The Cuvée 1904 was born. It will be followed by the Cuvée des Champions to celebrate the title of Champion of the club reaching division 2 during the 2004/2005 championship.
Since then, the team not always playing as true champions… it was decided to change the name of the beer for a third and final time to Cuvée Saint-Gilloise.