History :
1753 : The first document attesting to a brewery in Cazeau is dated 17 october 1753. It stipulates that Jacques Descamps is bequeathing to his son, Nicolas Descamps, his house of birth and another building that was being used as a supper club and a brewery. A long history gets under way.
1760: Nicolas Descamps’ daughter married Jacques Delecoeuillerie, who had a son, Denis Delecoeuillerie, a childless bachelor.
1856: In 1856, Denis left the brewery to his nephew, a young Frenchman in his early thirties, Jean-Baptiste Agache.
1892: His two children, Arthur and Charles Agache, took the helm of the brewery in 1892 and developed it with new installations and higher commercial ambitions.
1914: Their momentum was unfortunately broken by the First World War. The vats were brought to a halt and were requisitioned by the Germans for the arms industry.
1918: After the armistice of 1918, Brasserie de Cazeau joined forces with two other local breweries in order to relaunch their businesses in the installations of the Duchâtelet Brewery in Néchin.
1926: It was only in 1926 that a new installation was up and running in Cazeau. At that time, one of Charles’s sons, Maurice Agache, assumed the management of the brewery.
1952: After 26 years in charge of the brewery, he finally decided, in 1952, to take a well-earned rest and passed the reins to his second son, Jean Agache, helped by his younger brother, Maurice Agache. The speciality of the house at that time was Cazbier, an amber beer. But in the post-war period, the public taste veered towards the low-fermentation “lager” produced by large industrial breweries.
1969: In 1969, Brasserie de Cazeau was the last one in business in Greater Tournai, and, like so many others, it decided to cease production and to switch to selling beers produced by other much larger breweries.
2004: In 2004, Laurent Agache, Civil Construction Engineer, Jean’s second son, joined his cousin and friend, Quentin Mariage, Chemical Engineer, in order to relaunch the brewery. Together, they bought second-hand equipment and had restoration work carried out in the brewery. They then perfected the recipe of their first beer, Tournay Blonde. The very first brew took place on 01 May 2004.
2006: Since 2006, Laurent Agache, helped by Martin Foré, has been extending the Brewery’s product range. In October 2006, Tournay de Noël was created.
2007: In March 2007, Tournau Noire emerged from the tanks. It was twice to win the best Belgian stout of Wallonia prize (in 2012 and 2014).
2008: Saison Cazeau, created in June 2008, won the gold medal at the Brussels Beer Challenge in 2013.
2012: Tournay Triple completed the range in April 2012.
Article number: FBB27086
