3 Fonteinen

3 Fonteinen is a Beersel institution whose identity was shaped not by a single founding moment, but by a long chain of innkeeping, geuze blending, lambic brewing, and determined survival. Its roots reach back at least to 1864. In the modern era, Armand Debelder helped carry traditional gueuze through a period of decline, turning a family pub and blending house into one of Belgium’s best-known lambic breweries. An inn becomes a beer house The documented story begins in Beersel, where Jacobus Vanderlinden and Joanna Brillens opened an inn in 1864 at the site associated with today’s brewery. In 1953, Gaston Debelder and Raymonde Dedoncker took over the inn and geuze blending house from Tisjke Potter. They retained the name already displayed on the building: In de 3 Fonteinen. Armand brings brewing back in-house Armand Debelder grew up among lambic barrels and ageing geuze at the Beersel pub. After helping run the family business, he began brewing lambic himself in 1998 with a small second-hand installation. In 2001, he established Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen as a separate business focused on brewing lambic and blending gueuze, extending the family’s blending tradition into full-scale brewing. Tradition tested by catastrophe On May 16, 2009, a faulty thermostat overheated the bottle-conditioning room and caused thousands of bottles to explode. The brewery survived through support from friends, fellow brewers, and enthusiasts. Its later history combines that resilience with a deliberately slow approach to lambic, fruit maceration, barrel ageing, and bottle-conditioned gueuze. 3 Fonteinen is a Beersel lambic house where patient traditional brewing has been sustained through generational conviction and remarkable adversity. Beersel, Flanders, Belgium At least 1864 1864: An inn was established in Beersel at the site associated with the later 3 Fonteinen business. 1953: Gaston Debelder and Raymonde Dedoncker took over the inn and geuze blending house known as In de 3 Fonteinen. 1998: Armand Debelder began brewing lambic with a small second-hand brewing installation. 2001: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen was established as a separate business focused on lambic brewing and gueuze blending. 2009: A thermostat failure caused a major bottle-conditioning disaster, but the brewery survived and continued its work.