Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck: Difference between revisions

'''Address:''' Brouwerijstraat 1, 8870 Emelgem (Izegem)

Van Honsebrouck is a producer of spontaneously fermented beers as well as ales and lagers. The brewery began producing spontaneously fermented beers based on the the success of [[Brasserie_Belle_Vue|Belle-Vue]] in the 1950s. By the early 1970's they were brewing their own spontaneously fermented products using a [[koelschip]] and foeders for aging.

In early 1950, Van Honsebrouck began distributing [[Brasserie_Belle_Vue | Belle Vue]] and observed the increasing demand for the beer.<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 1953, Luc Van Honsebrouck, the son of Paul, went to brewery school and completed apprenticeships in Wallonia and Germany. He then took over the brewery and renamed it Brewery Van Honsebrouck. By 1955, Luc Van Honsebrouck decided to stop brewing lagers and focus on his own Oud Bruin recipe which was named Bacchus.  In 1958, the brewery began buying wort from [[Brasserie_Van_Haelen-Coche | Van Haelen Fréres]] in Uccle to produce what they called a gueuze and later a kriek.<ref name=GeuzeFaroEtKriek>Raymond Buren, [[Books#Gueuze.2C_Faro_et_Kriek|Gueuze, Faro, et Kriek]], 1992</ref>

Wort was transferred into oak foeders that held Bacchus and blended with a house-brewed wort. This eventually inoculated the yeast culture into the foeders which lead to in-house production of spontaneously fermented ale after their wort supplier ceased production. In an attempt to replicate the environment in the Pajottendland the brewery experimented with trucking their wort into the region for cooling. The experiment was ultimately unsuccessful, and all spontaneous fermentation is done in-house today.<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 1969, Van Honsebrouck became the second largest "gueuze" producer in Belgium behind Belle-Vue using 700,000 kg of malt.<ref name=HonseHistory> Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck, [http://www.vanhonsebrouck.be/en/brouwerij/geschiedenis# Brewery History]</ref>

In 1986, Van Honsebrouck introduced the Kasteel line of beers which are not spontaneously fermented.

<ref name=HonseHistory> Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck, [http://www.vanhonsebrouck.be/en/brouwerij/geschiedenis# Brewery History]</ref> Since 1997, Van Honsebrouck has produced what they call a traditional product, Gueuze Fond Tradition. Wood shavings and oak bars were used from 2008 until 2012 when new foeders were set up for the beers.<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 2009, Xavier Van Honsebrouck took over the brewery as the 5th generation owner.  As of 2010, 45% of the annual production is dedicated to spontaneous fermentation beers.<ref name=GeuzeKriek>Jef Van den Steen, [[Books#Geuze & Kriek: The Secret of Lambic Beer|Geuze & Kriek: The Secret of Lambic Beer]], 2012</ref>

The brewery moved to a 7.5-acre site of a former furniture factory in Izegem, which opened in 2016 after a €30 million expansion. The new brewery has a capacity of 200,000 hectoliters, doubling that of the previous brewery site in Inglemunster.<ref name=HonseHistory> Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck, [http://www.vanhonsebrouck.be/en/brouwerij/geschiedenis# Brewery History]</ref>

When Van Honesbrouck began making what they view as lambic around 1958 they were indeed bringing in wort from a ''bona fide'' lambic producer in the Pajottenland and maturing it in their own barrels.  Capitalizing on the popularity of [[Sweetened_Lambic|sweetened lambic]], Luc Van Honsebrouck saw a business opportunity.  What he did not see, according to Raymond Buren, was the uniqueness of the product to the Senne Valley. Buren quotes Van Honsebrouck: "The Senne, he says, is the sewer of Brussels." Van Honsebrouck goes on to wonder who created the geographic border typically recognized by lambic producers anyhow: "Kobbegem isn’t in the Pajottenland”, he notes (refering to [[Brasserie_Mort_Subite|Mort Subite]]). “My gueuze conforms to the taste of the times, it’s refreshing and sells well in France, it’s from that perspective that I’ve named it St. Louis.”<ref name=GeuzeFaroEtKriek>Raymond Buren, [[Books#Gueuze.2C_Faro_et_Kriek|Gueuze, Faro, et Kriek]], 1992</ref>

Luc Van Honsebrouck also took issue with the Royal Decree of 1965 which sought to protect lambic against counterfeiting. It stated a geographical boundary of 20km around Brussels as the defined area for lambic production. He learned of this almost by accident, after a visit from lambic brewer Edgar Winderickx, whom he knew from his brewing school days. He appealed against the Royal Decree and won, arguing "If Brussels says people can't make geuze in Ingelmunster, then it simply would not work there". <ref name=GeuzeKriek>Jef Van den Steen, [[Books#Geuze & Kriek: The Secret of Lambic Beer|Geuze & Kriek: The Secret of Lambic Beer]], 2012</ref>

Presently, the Van Honsebrouck brewery uses a coolship to spontaneously ferment their Saint Louis line of beers and uses aged hops while continuing to sweeten their fruited versions.<ref name=HonseBrewing> Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck, [http://www.vanhonsebrouck.be/en/brouwproces Brewing Process]</ref>

* [[Saint Louis Cassis]]

* [[Saint Louis Gueuze Fond Tradition]]

* [[Saint Louis Kriek Fond Tradition]]

* [[Saint Louis Premium Faro]]

* [[Saint Louis Premium Gueuze]]

* [[Saint Louis Premium Framboise]]

* [[Saint Louis Premium Kriek]]