Mort Subite - Alken Maes

The Mort Subite farm brewery is first mentioned in 1604 and the first mentioned brewer was Joris Van Der Hasselt in 1686, who is said to have also brewed the first beer. Many generations later, in 1869, Felix Jan De Keersmaeker took over the brewery from Jan Baptist Bastaerts.

In 1970, grandson De Keersmaeker took over A la Mort Subite, a well-known Brussels café with geuzestekerij, from the Vossen brothers. The name Mort Subite comes from the dice game pietjesbak. The loser of this game is called a "dead". When time was short, a shortened version was played: the "Mort Subite". This game became established in the Vossen café, after which it was decided to give the café that name as well.

The Zenne valley, a stone's throw from the capital, is the only place where lambic beers can be brewed. Only there are the wild yeasts in the air that are responsible for one of the oldest and most unique types of beer in the world. No yeast is added during the brewing process. The beer is simply exposed to the air and the yeasts do their thing with it.

Since the takeover, lambic, gueuze and fruit beers have been the main products in the range, under the name Mort Subite. In 1989, the Eylenbosch brewery from Schepdaal was also taken over.

When the De Keersmaeker brothers sold their shares to the Alken-Maes group, it became the new owner. Since 2008, this brewery group has in turn been part of the Dutch Heineken.

Mort Subite was and still is a member of the High Council for Craft Lambic Beers (HORAL).