De Vlier

Brewery De Vlier is a Belgian brewery Holsbeek in the province of Flemish Brabant.

History

In 2008, a long-dormant project suddenly got momentum: starting up a brewery. On March 10 of that year, Brewery De Vlier BVBA was born.

De Vlier started in an empty building in the centre of the Leuven district Kessel-Lo, where a cafe (Bieduif’ke) used to be located. The choice of a name for the new brewery stemmed from the name of the region Vlierbeek.

In April the decision was taken to buy new brewing equipment from Pierre Rajotte, a Canadian supplier of small brewery installations of good quality at affordable prices and author of the book “Belgian Ales”. The brewing kettles and tanks were delivered and installed in early June. In the same month, brewing trials were started. July 2008 saw the first brewing of beer on a large scale. In September 2008, the beer was commercialized. Currently it is sold in various cafes, beverage wholesalers and local stores.

Holsbeek

Marc quickly realized that Kessel-Lo was not the right location, logistically speaking. Part of a warehouse in Winksele was rented to continue production, but eventually the brewery found a better home in Holsbeek, near Kessel-Lo. A detached house with a large basement was transformed into a brewery with a tasting room. In the garden, a double garage was build to serve as storage space.

In Holsbeek, the range of beers was increased to seven, three of which are seasonal beers. To manage the increase, two fermentation tanks – which can hold 1000 litres each – were purchased.