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The history of what eventually became the Mort Subite brand name starts in 1869 when Johanna Philipina Bastaerts married Jan Fransiscus De Keersmaeker, a farmer. Johanna had inherited what was previously a brewery from her brother, and Jan soon became a part of it. The Bastaerts-De Keersmaeker family had five children, including three sons. One son, Felix Jan De Keersmaeker (1840 – 1912) eventually inherited the brewery. Felix, who married twice, had one son named Hubert (1896 – 1945) who took over the brewery at a young age after the death of his father.
After the end of the First World War Hubert was called to complete his compulsory military service as a solider stationed in Germany. There he learned about German brewing methods and styles. Upon his return Hubert returned to brewing both lambic as well as top-fermented beers. His top fermented beers eventually became popular under the name Hert Ale, and he decided to sell his geuze under the name Geuze de [[Brasserie De Keersmaecker | Gueuze Den Hert ]] which lasted until 1971.
Throughout the middle part of the 20th century the [[Brasserie De Keersmaeker | De Keersmaeker]] family both farmed and brewed. In 1936 a completely new brewing system was ordered. By the time it was ready, World War II had broken out and the Hubert managed to hide the as of yet uninstalled kettles under piles of straw when the Germans invaded in the spring of 1940. As was common in many of the small villages, the brewer also became the mayor. Hubert was elected Mayor of Kobbegem in 1932 and remained in office until his accidental death in 1945.
Despite this tragedy, Hubert’s widow along with their four children, decided to continue the expansion that was planned before Hubert’s death. Construction began in 1950 and a new brewing hall was ready for use in 1952 which is still in use during the winter months today. Of Hubert’s four sons, his oldest son Paul went to work at the brewery. His brother André joined him in 1958 after he finished his military service. The start of Paul’s political career came in 1958 after being elected mayor of Kobbegem. The demands of his political career would later compel him to sell his shares in the brewery completely. Though the De Keersmaeker Pils beer ballooned to 60% of the overall production by 1960, its popularity eventually fell, and by 1972 André was back to producing just lambic.
In [[Books#Geuze_.26_Kriek:_The_Secret_of_Lambic_Beern|''Geuze & Kriek: The Secret of Lambic'']], Van den Steen, “the Mort Subite named appeared two years previously in 1970, when a well-known Brussels café and geuze blending business A la Mort Subite was taken over from the Vossen brothers”, some of which was purchased from De Keersmaeker brewery. Eventually, De Keersmaeker took over the name and the Geuze Den Hert becamse became Geuze Mort Subite. Mort Subite made its appearance in Belgium and France, and as early as 1984 in the United States.<ref name=GeuzeKriek>Jef Van den Steen, [[Books#Geuze & Kriek: The Secret of Lambic Beer|Geuze & Kriek: The Secret of Lambic Beer]], 2012</ref>
In 1985 De Keersmaeker hired a new brewer, Bruno Reinders, who was only twenty years old at the time. By 1989, De Keersmaeker was looking to acquire other breweries. De Keersmaeker eventually acquired {Brasserie Eylenbosch |Eylenbosch]] in Schepdaal not for brewing, but for storage. Additionally in 1989, Paul De Keersmaeker sold his half of the brewery to the Alken-Maes group. At this point, overall quality began to suffer and numerous infections plagued the brewery. To combat this a new production manager, Marcel Lebeau (previously of [[Brasserie_Belle_Vue|Belle Vue]]) was appointed.<ref name=GeuzeKriek>Jef Van den Steen, [[Books#Geuze & Kriek: The Secret of Lambic Beer|Geuze & Kriek: The Secret of Lambic Beer]], 2012</ref>
Lebeau ascertained that the problem was originating in the coolship which was too small and too deep, and that it could not handle the amount of wort being pumped into it. To combat this problem, he began to divide the batches in two and pump half into a steel tank which was filled with environmental air. When analysis showed that the batches pumped into the tank picked up as much wild yeast to initiate fermentation, the coolship was eventually retired all together.<ref name=GeuzeKriek>Jef Van den Steen, [[Books#Geuze & Kriek: The Secret of Lambic Beer|Geuze & Kriek: The Secret of Lambic Beer]], 2012</ref>