Cool! A lambic grows in Portland.

"I'll have a gueuze, " I said. The waiter had no idea what I was saying. "A what?"

"A grr-zuh," I repeated, much slower this time. A blank stare.

I tried once more."Do you have this goose in stock?" I asked, pointing to Lindemans Cuvee René gueuze on the list. "Oh ya. Be right back."

Gueuze-lambic: spontaneously fermented beer only commercially produced in the Payottenland near Brussels. But ...

It appears that the Portland, Maine brewery Allagash Brewing Company has installed a coolship specifically for what may be the first-ever commercially produced spontaneously fermented lambic in the US. And, Allagash is fermenting that lambic right now.

A coolship is a large, shallow, open fermenter, in which wort is inoculated by organisms that happen to be floating by in the air. After the initial fermentation — which occurred at Allagash in November — the wort is usually racked into wooden barrels. This is a long process and, obviously, fraught with the danger of uncontrolled spoilage.

So, more power to owner Rob Todd and his brewer Jason Perkins. I can't wait — but will have to! Lambic can take two to three years.

I learned of this on Stan Hieronymous' blog, where he embedded this YouTube video of the event. Look closely: I think that's Tom Peters of Monks Café watching and snapping photos.

A gueuze, by the way, is a blend of older and newer lambics — the younger, lively, beer giving the older, still, beer a good sparkle in the bottle.