Owner

Xavier Van Honsebrouck

Location

Belgium

Distribution Area

Delaware and New Jersey

Styles

Belgian Fruit Beer, Belgian Strong Ale, Wheat Beer

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About Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck – Kasteel

ABOUT:

As an independent family brewery we have been following our own unique path since 1811. We are free to invest, innovate and grow. Our brewing kettle has always been filled with innovations that have become Belgian traditions. Today, our brewers challenging mindset, guts and tenacity pushes the art of Belgian beer forward, there are no limits to the independent ales we masterfully brew.
In the classic beer landscape, our beer brand Kasteel takes on the pioneering role. With bold creations, surprising flavors and even new beer styles Kasteel shapes the beer map. We are never finished brewing and are always ready to provide you with the absolute best beer experience.

HISTORY:

The roots of Van Honsebrouck brewery can be traced back to Werken, a small rural Belgian village where Amandus Van Honsebrouck (1811-1865) was mayor and ran a farmstead with a dairy farm, brewery and distillery. When Amandus passed away, his son Emile took over the brewery with his wife Louise.

In the early 1900’s the couple decided to leave Werken and start their own brewery on a small farm in Ingelmunster, Louise’s birthplace. They called it Sint Jozef.

In 1922, when Emile was almost eighty years old, he and Louise left the brewery to their son Paul. Paul and his brother Ernest expanded the brewery in 1930 with a new four-story building. In 1945, the brothers started to specialize in exporting and brewing beer, but in 1953, Paul fell ill. The brewery was left to Paul’s son Luc who went to Germany to study brewing.

After his studies, Luc launched Bacchus brown ale in 1955. The next year, he changed the name of the brewery to Vanhonsebrouck. Around 1975, Bacchus became a breakthrough beer for the brewery, and the business continued to grow. The Vanhonsebrouck family purchased a castle in Ingelmunster in 1986 which was the inspiration for Kasteel Donker, the first specialty beer in the Castle range which featured the castle on its label.

In 2009, Luc’s son Xavier took over the family business and in 2016, the Ingelmunster brewery closed for good to allow for the opening of a new brewery in Izegem. The new site cost over $40 million Euros and took two years to build. It is five times bigger than the old brewery in Ingelmuster and is considered the most modern brewery in Europe.

In 2019 Kasteel Brouwerij Vanhonsebrouck was the first Belgian brewery of specialty beers to purchase its own production line for canned beer, which was an important step toward a sustainable future. The brewery also developed plastic-free packaging with paper packaging for the cans and pallet foil wrap made of sugar cane. In 2023, Brouwerij Vanhonsebrouck’s sustainability program includes wastewater treatment, heat recovery, social projects and a deeper commitment to recyclability.

Visit the Kasteel Brouwerij Vanhonsebrouck website

Visit the Kasteel USA website

Related News
& Press

December 21, 2020

The Relaunch of Van Honsebrouck’s Kasteel and Bacchus!

December 07, 2020

Anticipating the Relaunch of Van Honsebrouck’s Kasteel and Bacchus!