Brasserie Cantillon, which is certainly the most visited and perhaps the best-loved lambic brewery in the world, started a long-term beer cellar project several years ago in Brussels. The facility where about 10,000 bottles of their treasured brews are stored is called “The Bomb Shelter Beer Cellar. ” Yes. It’s in an old bomb shelter.
The conditions in the bomb shelter—generally not too cold in winter, or too hot in summer—are ideal for the long-term aging of lambic beers. The brewery has a 30-year lease on the cellar, at no charge from the city. By the time the lease is up there may be as many as 80,000 bottles aging there.
