Historic :

It all began when Jan-Léonard Moortgat and his wife founded the Moortgat brewery farm in 1871. Around the turn of the century, Moortgat was one of the over 3000 breweries operating in Belgium.

Jan-Léonard experimented by trial and error, and his top-fermented beers were soon greatly appreciated in the brewery’s home town of Puurs and far beyond. Before long, the Brussels bourgeoisie xas also won over his beers. In 1900 the business was booming and Jan-Léonard’s two sons, Albert and Victor, joined the company. There was a clear division of labor : Albert became the brewer, Victor was responsible for delivering the beer to Brussels by horse and dray. WWI brought Belgium into contact with England and especially with English ales, which are quite popular at the time. Inspired by the success of English ales, Albert decided to create a special beer based on the English model. To create this type of ale, Albert wanted to work, in 1918, with only the best ingredients. He travelled to the UK to get the specific strain of yeast he wanted and initially met with considerable resistance from the local brewers. It was only after a veritable odyssey across England that he was finally able to get his hands on a precious sample from a Scottish brewery. Our yeast is still cultured from the very same strain to this day.

Article number: FBB20200