Brouwerij Westmalle

The history of Brouwerij Westmalle goes back to 1836. The monastery is elevated to a Trappist abbey and the abbot Martinus Dom starts the business of a small brewery. On December 10, 1836, the monks served their first home-brewed beer, the Westmalle Extra, with their lunch.

For years, the abbey has only brewed for its own use. From 1856 the monks occasionally sell some beer at the gate. With success, because the demand quickly became so great that the brewery had to expand in both 1865 and 1897.

In 1921 the monks make the important decision to sell their beer through beer merchants. This increases sales even more, so that the abbey gets a brewing room, fermentation room and workshop in the early 1930s.

The quality of the beer remains the most important goal. That is why the bottling plant was modernized in 1956 and its own water purification plant was built in 1968.

In 1991 they invested in a computer-controlled brewing hall. And more recently, in 2000, the bottling plant was modernized for a second time and not so long ago the monks built a maturation cellar to let the beer ferment in almost ideal conditions.