Brouwerij Belle Vue - Ab Inbev

Brewery Belle-Vue, located in Sint-Pieters-Leeuw, is a well-known Belgian brewery that is now part of InBev Belgium, the Belgian branch of AB InBev. The brewery is best known for its lambic beers and has a rich history dating back to the beginning of the 20th century.

In 1913, café owner Philémon Vanden Stock from Itterbeek started making fond-geuze. He set up his gueuze blendery in the centre of Brussels, where he bought lambic wort from local brewers. In 1927, he acquired the café-brasserie “Belle-Vue” in Anderlecht, founded in 1890. The name Belle-Vue later became both the brand name of his beers and the company name from 1949.

In 1943, Philémon took the next step and took over the Frans Vos-Kina brewery in Sint-Jans-Molenbeek, effectively becoming a brewer. However, his activities were abruptly halted when he was deported by the German occupiers in 1944. He died in 1945 in the Sandbostel concentration camp.

After his death, his son Constant Vanden Stock, later also known as chairman of football club RSC Anderlecht, and son-in-law Octave Collin took over the management. Under their leadership, the brewery switched to an innovative style: sweetened, pasteurised and saturated lambic beers, bottled in small bottles with crown caps — better known as "capsulekensgeuze". This variant became particularly popular and gradually replaced the traditional gueuze.

Belle-Vue's growth was boosted by a series of takeovers. For example, in 1952 the brewery took over the lambic brewery De Coster from Groot-Bijgaarden, in 1955 the brewery of Frans Timmermans from Zuun (Sint-Pieters-Leeuw), in 1969 Brasseries Unies De Boeck-Goossens (a merger of eight Brussels breweries) and in 1970 Brabrux (with Van Haelen, De Keersmaeker and La Bécasse, among others). In 1975, Brouwerij De Neve from Schepdaal followed, where gueuze was still made in the traditional way.

At the same time, the Vanden Stock family entered into a partnership with the Artois brewery, which took on the distribution of the beers in exchange for a minority stake. This ultimately led to the full integration into Interbrew (now AB InBev) in 1991.

After 1968, Belle-Vue established itself on the Henegouwenkaai in Sint-Jans-Molenbeek, on the site of a brewery that had existed since 1842. This site had several owners, including Louis & Emile De Coster and De Gulden Posthoren. The brewery was thoroughly renovated between 1931 and 1935 by architect R. Serrure. After the takeover by Interbrew, the brewing process at this location came to a standstill, and in 1996 the activities were completely stopped. Since 2013, the building has been repurposed as a sustainable hotel, operated by Meininger Hotels.

In Zuun (Sint-Pieters-Leeuw), on the former site of the Timmermans brewery, Belle-Vue built a new, modern brewery from 1972 onwards, which became operational in 1975. After the integration into Interbrew, the emphasis here was increasingly placed on the fermentation and maturation of lambic, which made this site the new heart of Belle-Vue.