Craft breweries and microbreweries Belgium

Gueuze Tilquin à l'ancienne This new gueuzerie (gueuze blender) opened its doors to the public for the first time in May 2011, causing a minor sensation in the world of spontaneously fermented beers. It is the first gueuze blender - or "blendery" - ever to open in Wallonia and is in the village of Bierghe, a few miles from Brussels and a few hundred yards from Flanders. Crucially, it is still in the Senne Valley and thus well placed to exploit the wild yeasts in the valley that are so important to the production of lambic and gueuze. The gueuzerie was founded by Pierre Tilquin, a Walloon. He likes to present his Gueuze Tilquin à l'ancienne as a model of Flemish, Wallonian and Brussels collaboration. As a blender, he doesn't make his own lambic, but he buys wort from Boon, Lindemans, Girardin and Cantillon and lets them ferment and mature into lambic in his 220 oak barrels. He then blends the different lambics to obtain the gueuze he is looking for.The plan is for the gueuzerie to produce on average 500hl of gueuze per year. 30-40% is likely to be sold in Belgium, 40% in the United States and the rest in other export markets. There are ambitions, too, to produce a kriek one day, but Tilquin doesn't rule out working with other fruit before turning to cherries.

Hoftrol, Hofblues A small craft brewery producing a range of beers, many of which are exported to the United States.

Oude Geuze, Oude Kriek, Bersalis Tripel, Bersalis Kadet The Oud Beersel brewery opened in 1882 and continued brewing until 2002. It reopened in 2005 under new management.Its range of beers include Oude Geuze, Oude Kriek, Bersalis Tripel (at 9.5% abv, a strong top-fermentation beer) and Bersalis Kadet. Kadet was launched in 2009 and is a malty, hoppy top-fermentation beer measuring just 4.5% abv. Both Bersalis beers are brewed by Brouwerij Huyghe at Melle.You can visit the brewery between 11.00 and 13.00 on the first Saturday of each month.

Satcheu This brewery in the Kortrijk region specialises in table beers (golden and brown), but also brews a saison beer called Satcheu (6.2%). The name refers to the people who used to pull barges from the towpath.It's a family brewery which dates from 1874 and brews about 4,000 and 5,000 hectolitres per year.

Saison Pipaix, Steamed in Madness, Vapeur Cochonne

It was a brasserie but also a sawmill: it was necessary for benefitting from the driving force delivered by the steam engine which animated the facility since 1896. Typical example of close-brasserie, the brasserie with vapor of Pipaix goes back to 1785. In 1983, Jean-Louis Dits and his wife, thirty year and impassioned teachers local produce, take it again a few years after Gaston Biset hung up again the fourquet at a advanced age.

The business is not simple because equipment and the buildings are more than outdated. After several months of efforts, the first mash tub leaves the venerable tanks miraculously. Jean-Louis brews then old-style local beers, including the venerable Saison Pipaix, of which it adapted the recipe. That does not prevent it from offering many wines with picturesque names and labels often illustrated by his friend Louis-Michel Carpentier, the author of the cartoon who tells the colourful adventures of the owner of bistro of Brussels' Poje”.

In the meantime, the brasserie was partially equipped with modern equipment, to better sticky to date. And it is that the Vapor Makes a mess of comes to give it a boost, to become its reference product in 1992. Also declined in 33 Cl Cochonette., this dark amber 9% alc. flight is now the largest part of the production.

Next door, thus Saison de Pipaix (fair, hair, spicy, 6%), the Steam in Madness (strong of 8%). Very high fermentation, of course. But Jean-Louis offers regularly and in limited quantities of the most amazing mash tubs, including a beer or pumpkin leaves fig trees. It also made a Steamed Aquilon struck a label with lips… Jean-Louis Dits organizes during meal-tasting and public mash tub with restoration all last Saturday of the month. It also made exudes a Spirit of Vapor Makes a mess of, strong alcohol of 40% flight.

Sint-Bernardus used to be called Sint-Sixtus, and was brewed in a brewery not far from the Sint-Sixtus Abbey, which brews the famous Westvleteren (Trappist beer). This common misconception also stems from the fact that the religious community had authorized the brewery to market its name from 1946 to 1992. Are you still following? The fact remains that, for a long time, Sint-Bernardus brewery behaved like a Trappist brewery whose quality had little to envy monastic productions.

Located in the Belgian town of Loker, the BIE microbrewery and craft brewery is a must for beer lovers. With its warm atmosphere and original decor, it offers a friendly welcome to its visitors. Customers can sample a wide selection of craft beers, as well as tasty dishes from the brewery's restaurant.

The Mout- & Brouwhuis de Snoek is a museum located in Alveringem. It is the only fully preserved 19th-century brewery in Flanders, Wallonia and French Flanders. The museum immerses you in the atmosphere of the era, with its bubbling cauldrons, fermentation vats and gas engines. Learn about the history of the brewers, the workers and even the soldiers who sometimes used the vats as baths during the First World War. After the tour, you can quench your thirst in the museum's tavern, which offers over 130 regional beers.

Ter Dolen (Blond, Donker, Tripel, Kriek); Armand The brewery opened in 1994 in the 16th century Ter Dolen castle in Helchteren in the Flemish province of Limburg (eastern Belgium). The castle was once lived in by the abbots of Sint Truiden. Today Ter Dolen is a "Certified Belgian Abbey Beer". There are four versions: golden, brown, triple and kriek. The brewery also makes Armand, a hoppy golden beer (7.5% abv).There is a pub in the castle where you can taste the beer.

Oerbier, Arabier, Boskeun, Stille Nacht, Dulle Teve, Stout In 1980, the members of a cycling club from Westhoek in Flanders - close to the Belgian coast and the historic town of Ypres (Ieper in Dutch) - decided to buy a brewery that had been in nearby Esen since 1835. The Crazy Trotters ("Dolle Dravers") thus became the Crazy Brewers ("Dolle Brouwers").In the thirty years since then, they have specialised in unfiltered, unpasteurised beers high in alcohol. Look particularly for two seasonal beers, Boskeun (Easter) and Stille Nacht (Christmas).

Reinaert (Amber, Tripel, Grand Cru) The Proef brewery dates from 1996 but as most of its business consists of brewing to order for third parties (individuals, breweries which need extra production capacity or new start-up breweries), neither it nor its brewer, Dirk Naudts, are household names in Belgium. In fact, the one range of beers that it sells under its own name, Reinaert, accounts for only 0.2% of its total production, which, in 2010, was 36,000hl. The company is better known abroad. In the United States, they work together with other breweries, spreading the word about hoppy beers. In Denmark, they supply the restaurant recently voted the best in the world: Noma, in Copenhagen. Noma has been selling Noma Novel since spring 2011.

Founded in 1850, the brewery now produces a wide range of beers that combine contemporary and traditional tastes. In 1975, the small family business took over an old brewery in Enghien, owned since 1858 by the Tennstedt-De Croës family, and relaunched its production of Double Enghien Brune. The Double Enghien Blondewas added in 1986. As early as 1950, the family began producing a pilsner. From the 1990s onwards, the brewery expanded its range to appeal to a wider public, and now even offers an excellent organic beer.

Achel Blonde and Brune 8°, Achel Extra brune 9.5°.The origins of the abbey go back to 1687, but the current buildings straddling the Belgian/Dutch border were built in 1946. It seems that beer production started in the abbey in 1852 but the German occupier dismantled the brewery during the first world war. It wasn't until 1998 that the monks started producing what became the sixth genuine Trappist beer. They sold part of their land to invest in new brewing equipment and began to brew beer under the guidance of a monk from Westmalle and then another from Rochefort.The current range of Achel beers consists of Achel Blond (8% abv) and Achel Bruin(8%) in 33cl bottles, an Achel Extra bruin(9.5%) in 75cl bottles and an Achel Extra blondwhich is available only at the abbey.The abbey tavern, situated in the old stables, serves a golden and brown beer (both 5%) on draught.

Bavik Pils, Ezel, Petrus, Pilaarbijter, Wittekerke Bavik brewery opened in 1894. Situated in in Bavikhove near Harelbeke in Flanders, it is one of the oldest breweries still trading in Belgium. It is also one of the few of any size to have stayed independent. The current generation of family members in charge is the fourth since the brewery was founded.It is well known for its Bavik pils, a distinctive beer quite different from the big-name pils on the market. It won an award recently from Test-Achats (the Belgian consumers' association) and the Flemish newspaper, Het Nieuwsblad.It also brews special beers including its Petrus range (see below) and the more recent Pilaarbijter blond and bruin. And there is a range of white beers too: Wittekerke, Wittekerke spéciale and Wittekerke rosé. The canned version of these was awarded a gold medal in Reno in the United States.A more recent addition to the company's range is a golden Kwaremont, a top-fermented beer that is sweet, spicy, full-bodied and 6.6% abv.Finally, it still produces a series of table beers, including a Faro and a Pony-Stout, and sells water and soft drinks branded as Bon-Val and Eaumega.Bavik has invested €3 million in its brewery since 2007 (a new brew-house, fermentation tanks and a racking line for kegs). All this has doubled brewing capacity to about 400,000hl.

Bellegems Bruin, Bockor, Jacobins, Framboise Max, Kriek Max, Omer Traditional Blond, Passion Max, Rosé Max.The Bockor brewery was founded in 1892 in Bellegem, a typical West Flanders village close to the French border. Its founder, Omer Vander Ghinste, brewed a brown beer called Ouden Tripel. This beer is still brewed today under the name of Bellegems Bruin and is a sour beer typical of its region. There is still an Omer Vander Ghinste running Bockor today. It is said that the founder passed his name on to his son to save money on advertising costs and the current Omer is the fifth generation to carry the name.Much of Bockor's reputation rests on its excellent pils, but there are many other beers too. La Blauw is an export version of the pils. The top-fermentation golden Omer traditional blond won a gold medal at the 2010 World Beer Cup in America and Rosé Max was created in 2009.The Jacobins gueuze first appeared in 1970 and takes its name from a local religious order. It was joined in 1983 by a kriek and in 1986 by a framboise. More recent additions to the range are Kriek Max, Framboise Max and even Passion Max (made with the juice of passion fruit) which are sweetened beers catering for a younger market. Kriek Max is available both in 25cl and 37.5cl bottles.The gueuze beers are unusual for being made outside the Senne Valley - a fact that has provoked lively debate (to put it mildly) among traditionalists.

Angélus (Blonde, Brune, Spéciale Noël), La Sambresse This brewery was set up ten years ago by Alain Brootcoorens at Erquelinnes, a small town close to the French border in the Walloon province of Hainaut. Run by Alain and a team of volunteers from the local area, the brewery produces about 150 hectolitres of beer per year. Its main beers are Angélus Blonde and Angélus Brune,with more limited quantities of Angélus Spéciale Noël (a Christmas beer) and Sambresse Blonde also being produced. In addition, the brewery produces a number of specially commissioned beers for other organisations and individuals.The brewery grows its own hops in a hopfield across the road. (According to Alain Brootcoorens, this is the only "educational hopfield in Wallonia".) It also organises the Sambre Valley hop festival every September. This includes a contest to find the best hop-picker.Meanwhile, an association called the "Jurande d'Angélus" has been set up by the brewery to promote the region through local products, tourism and, of course, the local beer. The association's logo depicts a boat hook and a brewer's mashing rake.

Den Tseut, Den Bras, Den Drupneuze, Den Bi3r, Belle Cies This brewery in north-western Flanders made its first beers in June 2008. It now produces a range of five, including the winter beer, Den Drupneuze.

Contrapils, Tonneke, Especial Mars, Valeir (Blond; Donker; Divers; Extra) René Contreras took over the Latte brewery in Gavere (East Flanders) in 1898. The business has stayed in the family ever since.Of its beers, Tonneke is a Belgian special beer that was first made in 1818 and predates the Contreras family. Contreras Especial Mars is a "saison" beer and the years since 2000 have seen the arrival of the Valeir range: the blond dates from 2004, the donker (brown) and a golden triple (Divers) from 2005. Extra, an IPA first appeared in 2008.

Corsendonk Agnus, Corsendonk Pater, Corsendonk Blonde, Corsendonk Brune The first Corsendonk brewery was built at Corsendonk Priory, in what is now Oud Turnhout, soon after the priory opened at the end of the 14th century. With the closure of the priory in 1784 by Joseph II of Austria, all brewing ceased.Two hundred years later at the start of the 20th century, a Turnhout brewer, Antonius Keersmaekers, went back to the old beer recipe and started selling his Patersbier, a beer very similar to today's Corsendonk Pater.Brewing stopped again in 1953 when the business became a beer retailer only. However, it restarted in 1982 when Joseph Keersmaekers launched two very different beers, now known as Corsendonk Agnus Tripel and Corsendonk Pater Dubbel respectively. Pater is a mellow, dark beerwhich is matured for about 20 days at a temperature of 22ºC. These two beers have now been joined by two others known simply as Corsendonk Blond (golden) and Corsendonk Bruin (brown) and which are about 1º abv lighter. There is also a Corsendonk Christmas Ale which is treat for those who love roasted malts.

The Brasserie de Brunehaut was founded in 1891 in Guignies, a neighbouring village, under the leadership of the Allard-Groetembril family. Brunehaut and Extra Vieille Guignies are brewed here, whose nostalgic memories remain moving. But a century later, the brewery closed its doors. After several years of international peregrinations, a couple of brewers, Guy and Marie-Christine Valschaerts, bought it back but it was too old. They are now rebuilding a new one. The Brunehaut beers then regained their strength and a Bière du Mont Saint-Aubert was already created. After fifteen years at the head of "his" baby, Guy Valschaerts hands over to Marc-Antoine de Mees. Traditional brewing methods led to a complete range of beers, including gold or silver medals brought back from Chicago, which are certainly proof of excellence. Today, all production is certified organic and the Brunehaut range does not contain gluten. Marc-Antoine de Mees has refreshed the brewery's image with new bottles and redesigned labels, while the Abbey of Saint-Martin has become a fully-fledged range.

Blondje, Bruintje, Bruin 12, Paasbier, Kerstbier, Kriek, Zingende Blondine, Koerseklakske Produces a wide range of top-fermentation beers, some of which, such as Extra (12% abv) are particularly appreciated in export markets. One beer, Bitter Sweet Symphony, was created in collaboration with an American brewer.The brewery has been run by Bruno Delrue and Gudrun Vandoorne (who is also the brewer) since October 2007.

Wieze (Tripel Blond, Tripel Zoet Bruin, Christmas) Brouwerij Wieze is a new craft brewery run by Ronny De Wolf at Wieze, in the valley of the river Dender north-west of Brussels. It started in 2009 and currently produces three beers: the golden Wieze Tripel Blond, the brown Wieze Tripel Zoet Bruin and an amber (and hoppy) Christmas beer, Wieze Christmas Tripel Hop. The Wieze brand used to belong to Brasserie Haacht, who acquired it when the Van Roy brewery folded in 1997. De Wolf acquired the rights to the brand and its logo after successful negotiations with Haacht.

They were already brewing at the Saint-Gérard de Brogne abbey in the 10th century, but the tradition was lost during the French Revolution, reports Bruno Deghorain, who has reinstalled a micro-brewery there. In addition to the production of the brewery La Binchoise that he manages, he brews a blonde Brogneand a Spéciale Noël, both organic. The abbey has a hotel-restaurant, reception rooms and a vineyard. The Barley wine is a triple, organic like the rest of the range. In limited quantities (3,000 copies), it is only available on site and in a few shops.

On the borders of Laeken, across from the Byrrh building, this microbrewery born in the Marolles in 2015 had to move to accommodate its growth. The two partners had previously made test brews of their Curieuse Neus in confidential quantities. This triple (7% vol. alc.) smells slightly of banana and is the head of their assortment with a strong Brussels character (Tanteke, Papy Van De Pils...). En Stoem' has become a sure value, so don't hesitate to venture to the brewery to buy directly from them.

Super des Fagnes Blonde, Brown, Cherry, Food

The Brasserie des Fagnes as we see it today, with its imposing tavern and the curious roof flanked by a windmill, opened its doors in April 1998. After a series of péripéties, it succeeded a certain Brewery Lauvaux, installed in Couvin in 1903 by Constant Lauvaux, also… world champion champion in 1901 and 1902. The Super des Fagnes Blonde and Brown are the most famous beers of the house, with their version Super des Fagnes Cherries.

But, the limited capacity of the mariembourgeoise micro-brewery, they are prepared by the Brasserie brewery in Purnode. On the other hand, the fagnard brewer gives himself a joy to develop in His walls a rich range of brassins, often inspired by ancient recipes. This goes from wise season, White, four cereals or even Type Munich, to more astonishing Cuvée Vigneronne, Cuvée Junior, Cuvée Guillaume to apples or even Mint and Lemon beer, dirt, heather flower…

Three other vintages are constantly being developed: the Super des Fagnes Noël and Scotch, and La, born of a partnership with the provincial domain. All these beers can be tasted in the tavern, which also offers the free visit of a small beer museum. It brings together equipment of a century and a half, but well preserved, from the defunct brewery Degauquier, which had installed its vats in Chimay.

Wipers Times (Blond, Dubbel, Tripel), Tremist, Grotten Santé, Epica

In the spring of 2014, the Sint-Bernardus brewery in Watou, in association with other professionals in the brewing world, set up a tavern and a brand new microbrewery in the historic setting of the Ypres Casemates, built in 1680 to Vauban's plans. The Wipers Times is brewed on the basis of four grains and four spices. It evokes the presence of English soldiers in the city during the First World War. The constant temperature of the casemates is used to mature the Grottenbier, renamed Grotten Santé. This beer was originally created by Pierre Celis. The famous brewer from Hoegaarden wanted to mature his new creation in a cave in order to guarantee a constant temperature for the beverage.

Since 1821, the Rodenbach brewery has gone from strength to strength, and its reputation has spread far and wide. You'll be welcomed into the "Het Foederhuis" visitors' center, a perfect blend of industrial archaeology and contemporary design. Here you'll learn the fabulous secrets behind the making of Rodenbach beer. You'll be amazed by the tour of the touraille and the Rodenbach tuns cathedral. And, of course, the tour ends with a tasting! Don't hesitate to grab a bite to eat in the brewery and browse around the store, both of which are brand-new!