Brouwerij Het Anker
The oldest references to the Anchor Brewery are in the early 15th century. It was a beguinage in Mechelen that had an important "Krankenhuis" as well as a brewery/malt house.
In 1471 Karel de Stoute decides that the beer brewed for the Krankenhuis "for the beguines and their officers" is free of excise duties and taxes.
In 1872, the Van Breedam family buys the brewery and builds a modern brewery with a steam boiler called Boonaerts & van Breedam. The name is changed in 1904 to Brouwerij Het anker. During the First World War, the brewery was dismantled by the German occupiers to use the copper for war production. After the First World War, the brewery went through a golden period.
After the Second World War, the brewery invests in a new brewing hall and focuses entirely on brewing beer. From 1960, an Keizersbier “Gouden Carolus” is launched on the market.
In 1990, Charles Leclef, 5th generation, takes over the brewery and major investments are made. The whole of buildings and materials is being restored and renewed.
In 2010, a full-fledged whiskey distillery was built in Blaasveld, in the 17th-century family farm, where a grain whiskey was distilled from the malt mash of Gouden Carolus Tripel. On November 23, 2013, the first Single Malt Whiskeys were launched.
Products from this brewery
