Brouwerij Anglo-Belge

Brouwerij Anglo-Belge grew from a late-nineteenth-century distillery and vinegar works in Zulte into a substantial brewing, malting and milling enterprise. Its identity was shaped by reinvention: founded as a brewery in 1891 under another corporate name, formally renamed Anglo-Belge in 1929, rebuilt after wartime destruction, and eventually absorbed into the Alken-Kronenbourg group. Its historical footprint also reaches into the story of Judas, a strong blond beer later associated with the group. From distillery to brewery E. Martens and A. Versele established a distillery in 1887 at a former oil mill in Zulte. Four years later, the site expanded to include a brewery and vinegar works. After the partners separated in 1893, the Versele-Deruyttere concern concentrated chiefly on brewing, while the distillery continued separately until 1919. The Anglo-Belge name After the First World War, the brewery was partly rebuilt and expanded with a maize mill in the early 1920s. In 1929, the business adopted the name Brouwerij-Mouterij-Maïserie Anglo-Belge, combining brewing, malting and milling. The complex was modernised during the 1930s, giving the company an unusually broad industrial base. War, rebuilding and legacy Shelling in May 1940 destroyed the malting house, brewhouse, bottling plant and the Versele residence. Reconstruction began in 1941, followed by a new bottling and lemonade plant in 1947–48. Alken-Kronenbourg took over in 1980; by 1988 the site served only as a depot. Museum research also places the Judas brand's earlier association with Anglo-Belge before its later passage through the Alken-Kronenbourg group. A Zulte brewery whose defining character was industrial versatility, repeatedly rebuilt and renamed without losing its brewing identity. Zulte, East Flanders, Belgium 1891 1887: E. Martens and A. Versele founded a distillery at the former Vanden Bossche oil mill in Zulte. 1891: The site expanded into a brewery and vinegar works. 1929: The company adopted the name Brouwerij-Mouterij-Maïserie Anglo-Belge. 1941: Postwar reconstruction began after the brewery complex was damaged in May 1940. 1980: Alken-Kronenbourg took over the brewery while retaining a production unit.