Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck

Amandus Vanhonsebrouck is the man with whom the brewery's story begins. He is mayor, has a farm with a dairy, a brewery and a distillery. After his sudden death in 1865, Emile - one of ten children - took over these tasks.

The bad relationship between his wife Louise and her mother-in-law makes the couple decide to set up their own brewery elsewhere. In 1900, Brouwerij Sint Jozef was founded in a small farm in Ingelmunster. Sons Paul and Ernest keep the brewery afloat after the ravages of the First World War. They managed to expand the brewery and, among other things, installed a barrel warehouse with fifteen casks of 180 to 250 hectoliters.

The innovations are accompanied by the launch of a soured old brown beer that is quickly gaining popularity.

After the Second World War, the brothers also specialized in exporting and brewing lager. It is a major transition that, however, brings in little money. Still, the brothers manage to keep their heads above water.

When Paul becomes seriously ill at a young age, son Luc decides to study to become a brewer.

Luc realizes that the Sint Jozef brewery is too small to compete with large lager breweries. He decides to focus on the old brown beer, which is renamed Bacchus. He stops brewing lager completely and changes the name of the brewery to Vanhonsebrouck.

In 1958, the St-Louis Gueuze and Kriek were launched, for which Luc bought lambic wort from Van Halaelen Frèresen and matured the Bacchus foeders.

Vanhonsebrouck starts selling gueuze on barrel, becoming the second largest gueuze producer in the country. A serious thorn in the side of competitor Belle-Vue from Brussels. As market leader, Belle-Vue must follow suit. The competition breaks out on the football field. Anderlecht plays with Belle-Vue on the jerseys, arch-rival Club Brugge with St-Louis. The gueuze war lasts a long time, but it does increase sales seriously.

The castle of Ingelmunster, owned by the Vanhonsebrouck family, inspires Luc to brew a dark specialty beer.

Xavier Vanhonsebrouck succeeded his father Luc on January 1, 2009.

From 2016, the beers will be brewed in a new brewery in Emelgem.