Brasserie de Cazeau

At Templeuve, in the greater Tournai area, Brasserie de Cazeau carries a documented brewing history back to 1753. Its story is marked by interruption as much as continuity: a family brewery that stopped production in 1969, then returned in 2004 when Laurent Agache and Quentin Mariage revived the site with new equipment and a first new beer, Tournay Blonde. A brewery rooted in Cazeau The earliest surviving reference is dated 17 October 1753 and records a building used as both a cabaret and brewery. The brewery later passed through the Delecoeuillerie and Agache families. By 1892, Arthur and Charles Agache had expanded the operation with new installations, establishing the family line that still shapes the modern brewery’s identity. War, closure and return Production was halted during the First World War, when the brewing vats were requisitioned. A new installation became operational at Cazeau in 1926. The brewery’s historic Cazbier, an amber beer, was its speciality in the 1950s, but changing tastes and industrial lagers led to the end of brewing in 1969. Thirty-five years later, the family site was restored and brewing resumed. Tradition with a modern range The revived brewery’s first brew was Tournay Blonde, made on 1 May 2004. Subsequent additions included Tournay de Noël in 2006, Tournay Noire in 2007, Saison Cazeau in 2008 and Tournay Triple in 2012. The brewery describes its current beers as unfiltered, unpasteurised and bottle-refermented, while continuing to experiment with hop varieties. Brasserie de Cazeau is defined by a family brewing site whose documented life stretches from an eighteenth-century cabaret brewery through wartime interruption, closure and a carefully rebuilt modern revival. Templeuve, in the greater Tournai area, Hainaut, Belgium 1753 1753: The first documented reference records a cabaret and brewery at Cazeau. 1892: Arthur and Charles Agache take over and expand the brewery. 1914: Brewing stops during the First World War and the vats are requisitioned. 1969: The brewery ceases production and becomes a beer merchant. 2004: Laurent Agache and Quentin Mariage restart brewing; the first Tournay Blonde brew takes place on 1 May.