Brasserie Grain d'Orge (Hombourg)

In Hombourg, near Belgium’s three-country border, Brasserie Grain d’Orge grew from a village café into a distinctly local family brewery. Its story is unusually well mapped: a brewer’s plan in the late 1990s, a first commercial wort in 2002, and a steady move from tiny-scale production to a modern brewery that still presents itself as human-sized and rooted in its home village. From village café to brewery Benoît Johnen took over Hombourg’s village café, Le Grain d’Orge, on 13 June 1997 after working as a brewer at Piron in Aubel. The café became the starting point for a larger ambition: building a brewery of his own. In 2000, its annexe was demolished and rebuilt to house brewing equipment and production space. The first beers and a new home The first commercial wort was produced in January 2002. The brewery’s own history identifies 3 Schteng, Brice and Joup as the beers born at that beginning. Growth soon outstripped the original premises: after production reached 700 hectolitres in 2007, the brewery moved in 2008 to its present site on Rue Laschet, on the family farm. A family brewery with expanding capacity Grain d’Orge remains presented as a family business led by Benoît and Viviane Johnen. Fermenters added in 2012 raised annual capacity to 1,650 hectolitres, while a new brewhouse later enabled production of up to 5,400 hectolitres annually by 2019. The brewery’s current address and visitor facilities preserve the connection between production, hospitality and Hombourg. A village-born Belgian brewery whose identity is defined by steady growth without surrendering its Hombourg roots. Hombourg, Plombières, Liège Province, Wallonia, Belgium 2002 1997: Benoît Johnen took over the village café Le Grain d’Orge and began planning a brewery. 2000: The café annexe was rebuilt to create the first brewery premises. 2002: The first commercial wort was produced; 3 Schteng, Brice and Joup are identified as the brewery’s first beers. 2007: Production reached 700 hectolitres in the original premises. 2008: The brewery moved to its present Rue Laschet site in Hombourg.