Palm Breweries

Palm Breweries

File:Palm Breweries.jpg
Industry	Alcoholic beverage
Founded	1597
Headquarters	Steenhuffel, Belgium
Products	Beer
Production output	1200000 hL
Website	http://www.palm.be

Palm Breweries is a brewery company. It owns several different Belgian breweries.

History

As early as 1597, records can be found in Steenhuffel's archives detailing a manor named Den Hoorn.

The first signs of brewing activity at Steenhuffel came in 1747. A deed of census mentions two breweries, De Hoorn and De Valck. De Hoorn, owned then by Jean-Baptiste De Mesmaecker, was later to develop into the brewery we know today.

In 1908, Henriette De Mesmaecker, great-granddaughter of Jean-Baptiste De Mesmaecker, married Arthur Van Roy. Arthur Van Roy oversaw the running of their pub and farm, and eventually became the driving force behind the construction of the brewery as we know it today.

The De Hoorn brewery was not spared the violence of World War I, and it was completely destroyed in 1914, although Van Roy decided to rebuild it. He chose to still top-ferment his beer in the old Brabant style rather than brew it using newer methods, such as those used to brew Pilsner.

In 1929, Van Roy decided to give his beer a proper name, calling it Speciale Palm. Speciale refers to the style of beer "Special Belge".

In 1930 Arthur Van Roy taught his son, Alfred, how to brew beer. This, coupled with what Alfred learned at the Brussels brewing school, led to the first copper brewing room with a mill being built. This brewing room is known as "Brewing Room 1" today.

The beers

• Brewed in Steenhuffel:
  • Palm Speciale (5.4% ABV) amber colored;
  • Dobbel Palm stronger and darker, only sold in December replacing Palm Speciale;
  • Palm Royale (formerly Royal Van Roy Ale) (7,5% ABV) brewed on the occasion of Alfred Van Roy's 90th birthday;
  • Steendonck (5% ABV), a classical white beer;
  • Palm Hop Select (6.0% ABV) a blonde beer with hops grown in the brewery's own garden, launched in 2013.

• Brewed in Roeselare: see Rodenbach

• Brewed in Bruges:
  • Brugge Tripel (8.7% ABV) amber colored;
  • Brugge Blond (6.5% ABV);
  • Steenbrugge Dubbel and Steenbrugge Tripel two abbey beers;

• Brewed in Lembeek: see Boon Brewery
  • Geuze Boon, a slightly sweetened geuze
  • Oude Geuze Boon, a traditional geuze
  • Geuze Marriage Parfait, a different blend of traditional geuze
  • Kriek Boon, a sweetened Kriek
  • Oude Kriek Boon, a traditional Kriek
  • Kriek Marriage Parfait, a different blend of traditional Kriek
  • Framboise Boon, a sweetened fruitbeer, based on raspberry

External links

• Official website (Dutch, French and English language)