Brouwerij Haacht

A brief history of Haacht Brewery

On 14 June 1898, engineer Eugène De Ro brewed his first beer in the former “Melkerij van Haecht”, which was soon renamed “Brouwerij en Melkerij van Haecht”. Fun fact: Haacht Brewery is not located in Haacht itself, but in the neighbouring municipality of Boortmeerbeek, on the Provinciesteenweg towards Brussels, which forms the border between the two towns.

By embracing the new pilsner, Haacht quickly grew into one of Belgium’s largest breweries. The “beer tram”, a steam tram that was electrified in 1924, transported wooden barrels to thirsty customers in Brussels. In 1929, the dairy activities stopped and the brewery focused fully on producing beers such as Bock, Export, Pils and Stout-Ale.

During and after the Second World War, Haacht took over dozens of breweries in Flanders, Brussels and France. A new bottling line made the switch from barrels to bottles possible. Under the name VAL, the company also launched lemonade and mineral water. Leadership passed successively to Alfred van der Kelen (Eugène De Ro’s son-in-law), then to his son Frédéric, and later to Boudewijn, Frédéric’s son.

A wide range of beers from Haacht Brewery

Today, Haacht is the largest Belgian brewery still in Belgian hands and the third-largest brewery in Belgium by market share. This position is largely built on its broad range of Belgian beers, which you can also find at Belgian Beer Heaven.

• Primus: originally called Super 8 and renamed in 1975 after Duke John I of Brabant, a well-known beer lover. A blonde pilsner at 0.4%, 2.6% or 5.2% ABV.
• Super 8: a brand name for several specialty beers, including the Flandrien spéciale belge (also available as a low-alcohol or alcohol-free beer), plus an IPA and Blanche, a wheat beer.
• Mystic Kriek: a red fruit beer based on wheat beer, launched in 2006, with a relatively low alcohol content of 3.5% ABV.
• Charles Quint: launched as Keizer Karel and marketed internationally as Charles Quint, including a blond beer and a red beer.
• Ommegang: a blonde tripel, named after the festive procession that commemorates Charles V’s Joyous Entry into Brussels.
• Tongerlo: recognised Belgian abbey beers, brewed by Haacht since 1990, including Tongerlo Christmas (a Christmas or winter beer) and the Prior Tripel.

Discover Haacht’s beers above, add your favourites to your cart, and enjoy easy ordering and fast shipping, including insurance against glass breakage.