Brewery Strubbe

In Ichtegem, beneath the village church, Brewery Strubbe carries a brewing lineage that reaches back to the early nineteenth century. The family’s story began with Ludovicus Strubbe, a farmer-brewer, and continues through successive generations at the Markt site. Its heritage is especially distinctive for preserving West Flemish high-fermentation traditions while adapting its brewery, equipment and range to modern production. From De Maecht van Ghent to Strubbe The brewery’s official history places its beginnings in 1831, when Ludovicus Strubbe settled in Ichtegem and founded De Maecht van Ghent. His son Carolus followed him at the stirring vat. By 1854, the name Brewery Strubbe was associated with the brewery on Ichtegem’s Markt, established under the next generation, Louis Strubbe. Until the end of the First World War, the family brewed only high-fermentation beers. A living family brewery Strubbe’s heritage is not only architectural or genealogical. The brewery introduced a new copper brewhouse in 1962, replaced open fermentation vessels with cylindrical-conical tanks in 1986, and increasingly focused on specialty beers from 2010 onward. In 2017, it joined Belgian Family Brewers, with the association identifying four Strubbe beers carrying its label: Keyte Tripel, Keyte Dobbel Tripel, Ichtegems Oud Bruin and Ichtegems Grand Cru. Brewing for surviving beer names The Belgian Beer Glass Museum records another part of Strubbe’s role in Belgian brewing heritage: after brewing ceased on the historic Crombé equipment in Zottegem, the Crombé family arranged for Brewery Strubbe in Ichtegem to continue producing Crombé beers using their recipes and traditions. This makes Strubbe not only a keeper of its own family line, but also a present-day brewer for another historic beer legacy. A West Flemish family brewery where old high-fermentation traditions and the stewardship of historic beer names meet modern production. Ichtegem, West Flanders, Belgium 1831 1831: Ludovicus Strubbe founded De Maecht van Ghent in Ichtegem. 1854: Brewery Strubbe was first recorded at the Markt in Ichtegem. 1962: A new brewhouse with a complete copper installation entered service. 1986: Four 150-hectolitre cylindrical-conical tanks replaced the open fermentation vessels. 2017: Brewery Strubbe joined Belgian Family Brewers.