Brewery De Kroon

The De Kroon beer brewery was founded in 1897 by the local sexton Engelbert De Coster. The following year the brewery was fully equipped and the first brews were prepared. A few years later, the brewery's house was also completed and Engelbert De Coster and his wife Adolphine Depré could move into it.During the First World War, the De Kroon brewery suffered from the German occupation. The copper brewing and cooking kettles were broken out and removed. After the war, the brewery was made operational again, partly thanks to compensation for the war damage suffered and the reinvestment premium. After the repair of the war damage and the installation of new copper boilers, the production of top fermentation beers using the old pour-over or infusion method was restarted around 1922.Around 1930, the De Kroon brewery underwent several expansions. To compete with the increasingly popular lager or bottom fermentation beers, the brewery was equipped with a cooling system. By now lagering and clarifying the beer at freezing temperature, the production process of the top fermentation beers took longer, but a wider range of beers became possible. In addition to Geuze, Kriek, Express and Gerstenbier, a Bock, a German top fermentation beer, was now also brewed.The return on this major investment came to an end with the outbreak of the Second World War. Although the brewing installation was left intact by the German occupier, the scarcity of raw materials largely halted beer production in most breweries, including De Kroon. After the Second World War, the beer range was further expanded without significant changes to the installation or buildings. The range now consisted of Bock, Express, Witbier (or Bière Blanche), Super Crown Pale Alle (initially called Lux Ale), Dubbel Wit, Leuvens, Speciale Victorie and table beer. In 1983, the De Kroon brewery stopped brewing beer to fully focus on the beverage business that had already started earlier. The brewery was not officially taken out of service until 2000 when the cooking kettles were sealed.When the former brewery was sold in 2013, a research laboratory and a cafe were set up in the old brewery north of the brewery courtyard, which entailed major renovations. Immovable Heritage Inventory: De Kroon Brewery, id.erfgoed.net/erfgoedobjecten/200080

Our four-legged friends, the dogs 🐕, are not welcome in this brewery.

Tasting of 3 locally brewed beers