Brouwerij De Lelie

Brouwerij De Lelie is a Vosselaar brewing revival built around the memory of a vanished local brewery. After the original brewery closed in 1952, a coalition of local associations and beer enthusiasts brought its best-known names back: Paus in 2008, followed by the dark Pater and later Extra Blond. The project is distinctive because it treats beer as part of Vosselaar’s living local heritage, not merely as a brand revival. A brewery remembered in Vosselaar The original De Lelie stood in the centre of Vosselaar and produced local beers including Paus, Pater and Extra Blond. The municipal account records that the brewery disappeared in 1952, taking its special beers with it. The present VZW was created to keep that brewing tradition from being forgotten, with the support of local cultural and civic groups. Paus and Pater return The revival began with Paus, first served again in September 2008 after more than five decades away. Brouwerij De Lelie describes it as a strong blond top-fermented beer, bottle-conditioned and made according to the original recipe, with pronounced hop aroma and bitterness balanced by malty fruitiness. The darker Pater followed about six months later, likewise based on the old recipe and associated with Vosselaar’s former dark Lelie beer. An old name, a continuing range Extra Blond broadened the renewed range. The municipality records its return in 2018 for the association’s tenth anniversary, while the brewery presents it as a full-bodied, bottle-conditioned blond made with barley and wheat malt and four hop varieties. Unlike Paus and Pater, it is described as a creation of the modern association, even though Extra Blond also belonged to the former brewery’s historic range. De Lelie’s defining character is the careful reawakening of Vosselaar’s lost local beer tradition through recipes, names and community memory. Vosselaar, Antwerp Province, Belgium 2008 1952: The original Brouwerij De Lelie in Vosselaar closed, and its local beers disappeared from regular production. 2008: The modern VZW began the revival with the return of Paus, first served again in September. 2009: The dark Pater followed the renewed Paus. 2018: Extra Blond became available again around the association’s tenth anniversary.