Brewery Summary
There are few breweries that display both the versatility and consistency of Brouwerij De Brabandere. It is not common to hear of a world class pilsner being brewed under the same roof as one of the most sophisticated foeder-aging sour programs in the world. A well traveled and formally trained team of brewers are attuned to the ever changing tastes of beer lovers. Their fresh perspective on recipe formulation and innovation has led them to becoming one of the most prolific brewers in Belgium with styles ranging from fruit-ales to nitro quadruples.
The History
In August 1894 Adolphe De Brabandere, farmer at the “Hof ter Koutere” submitted an application with the town council of Bavikhove for permission to “build a brewery”. One of his children, Joseph De Brabandere, concocted that very same year his very first brew. Joseph De Brabandere died in 1929 at the age of 54. After some difficult years, his son Albert took the lead of the brewery and under his direction the company grew steadily.
Before 1950 the beer was exclusively sold to cafés and individuals. After 1950 deliveries were made to beer merchants. This was also the time that pils beer became popular. Till then, mainly table beer was brewed in addition to the draughts beer that was supplied to cafés. The sales network was extended and now it became possible to purchase the Bavik and Bon-Val products through the beer traders and the cafés in West- and East Flanders and in Hainaut.
In the meantime father Albert had been married for some time and he had 5 children of which 2 sons: Ignace and Vincent. They both contributed to the flourishing business of the Bavik Brewery. In the midst of the seventies, the beer trade was in trouble because of the success of the department stores. Therefore the brewery invested in another market segment, the sector of restaurants and cafés. In 1975 they had 150 customers and when they celebrated their centenary they counted about thousands of clients.
It was then that the ‘Petrus Oud Bruin’ was born and became a huge success. As from 1982 Petrus had been for 10 years the principal sponsor of KSV Waregem; they won three European tickets with that team and a semi final in the UEFA-Cup. Now the team no longer exists … is it true then that Petrus really is the rock to build on? But thanks to the huge publicity of ‘Petrus Oud Bruin’, the ‘Petrus Triple’ and the ‘Petrus Speciale’ was born. Vincent did not live to see it. He died in 1986 at the age of 32. So Ignace De Brabandere, was the only one left of the third generation to be on the managing team of the brewery. They kept on growing and some years ago there was the new success with Wittekerke.
Brewery De Brabandere: a family run business.
Today, four generations since its establishment, the brewery is still a family run business and is now know as Brewery De Brabandere. Despite the many take-overs and the fusions in the beer sector, we wish to safeguard our independency in order to assure the quality and the regional identity. As one of the largest independent breweries in Belgium, we wish to continue working in the future to maintain our beer culture.