History
In 1896 buys Bartholome Hanssens, mayor of Dworp, an old dairy farm and grows them to brewery named "Saint Anthony" on birth. Unlike other breweries in Dworp he brews no lambic, but a brown table beer.
The water needed to brew came from a stream, just behind the brewery. Besides that creek was a masonry stone well, who served as a filter. This well was thought lost, but the chickens laid it bare in the spring of 2000.
As in so many breweries were seized during WWI all the brass work by the German occupiers. After the war Bartholome decided not lambic brewing, but to limit itself to the cutting of purchased wort. The brewery was geuzestekerij, at that time a common type of business that has now virtually disappeared on Cam (Gooik) after.
From 1929 Theo Hanssens takes over the company. He breaks the remains of the brewery and forms the vacant space in 1931 into a house. He designed the bottle drying racks, which is still in use: the bottles after manual cleaning (in a week cockpit and a brush machine) reversed placed on the shelves, not only to let it drain, but also to avoid any possible bugs in the bottles were nesting.
Besides Geuze Theo Hanssens is also depositar Wielemans. The Forst beer and table beer were delivered in wooden barrels of 100 liters and Hanssens filled in 33cl and 1 liter bottles with stirrup closure. Later Wielemans yielded the Wiel's lager bottle.
The tonmerk (= THV) refers to Theo Hanssens-Vastiau. Theo was succeeded in 1974 by his son Jean, who won in 1993 with Armand Debelder and Moriau the OBP trophy.
In 1997, he reached retirement age and, in the belief that neither his son, nor his daughter would pursue the matter, he bought wort no more and slowly worked the lambic stocks.
But a little unexpectedly geuzestekerij was continued by Sidy daughter. On January 1, 1998 Hanssens Artisan BVBA was founded by Sidy Hanssens to the head (fourth generation). A year later already repurchased Lambic. Also wort was repurchased and mistaken.
The liquor was discontinued and all the attention went to the geuzestekerij. The products remained unchanged, only the package has been adjusted. The cork with krimpstaniool disappeared to make way for a champagne cork with muzzle band. The adjective "Old" was added up to the Hanssens Geuze and Kriek.
Besides the Geuze and Kriek introduced Hanssens Artisan in 1999 "Old Beitje" a strawberry lambic, which is mainly promoted as an aperitif.
Besides Old Beitje was "Mead the Gueuze" developed a lambic variant mixed with traditional English mead (fermented honey drink). Hanssens was one of the last to replace the traditional chalk line through the mandatory labels ..
Article number: FBBDG016
