Lindemans, Vlezenbeek

As early as the 16th century, there was an inn along an important road connecting Brussels with East Flanders and Hainaut. The site was known as the 'Hof ter Kwadewegen'. 

The earliest traces of brewing activity found on the 'Hof ter Kwadewegen' date from 1704. In 1822, the brewer's daughter Francisca Josina Vandersmissen (1796-1868) married to Joos Frans Lindemans (1792-1865). They moved into the Vandersmissen farm-brewery. Joos Frans soon took over his father-in-law's business. During the brewing season of that year, 360 barrels of beer were brewed, about 500 hectoliters. The brewing equipment consisted of two brewing kettles, a stirring vessel and two coolships.

As time went on and more brewing took place, agricultural activities gradually declined. In 1869 the family business owned about 75 hectares of fields and pastures. Joos 'Den duc' Frans II built the still existing farm buildings and the old brewhouse. At the time, he produced lambic and faro-lambic. Theofiel (1870-1955), the youngest of 9 children, succeeded his father in 1901 as the head of the farm-brewery. He in turn passed the torch to one of his 4 children, Emiel Jozef Lindemans. The farming activities was stopped after Emiel's death in 1956. His two sons, René (°1939) and Nestor (1941-2008), took over the helm in 1963. René was a brewing engineer. Nestor was an accountant and took care of the commercial part. A brewing day lasted from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. or sometimes longer. They carried sacks of malt weighing 50 to 100 kilos up the stairs and placed 300 kilo barrels in cellars.

Lindemans was not only the pioneer in the production of kriek with freshly squeezed juice, they were also among the very first with kriek in kegs. From 1981 the Lindemans Kriek was offered in kegs of 25 liters. In the same period they launched Faro-Lambic (again in 1978), Framboise (1980), Cassis (1986), Pecheresse (1987 – with peach juice) and Apple (2005). These new fruit beers are made with pure juices from the start. In the 1980s, 70% of production went abroad. The four largest markets at the time were the United States, France, Switzerland and Germany.

The success of the fruit beers and the export led to the construction of a new brewing hall in 1992. Due to a lack of space and the strong growth of the brewery, the beverage trade was closed two years later. The brewery had 1,200 barrels in which the lambic fermented and matured. However, the barrel warehouse was not frost-free, with large losses and broken barrels as a result. René was the first to opt for the 'boisage' process from viticulture in which one lets lambic age in stainless steel tanks and oak chips added. The wild Brettanomyces yeasts like to nest on wood. Research showed that this new technique guarantees stable and good lambic quality.