Brouwerij Martens

In Bocholt, Brasserie Martens has kept a family brewing business alive since 1758 while repeatedly embracing new methods. Its heritage is unusually tangible: the story begins at the former De Star inn, the site of today’s brewery museum, and includes the brewery’s 1867 experiment with double dry-hopping. Across nine generations, Martens has connected local Belgian roots with large-scale brewing and international reach. A brewery born at De Star Martens traces its beginning to 1758 in De Star, a local inn in the centre of Bocholt. The original brewing site now houses the Bocholter Brewery Museum, while the modern brewery remains directly opposite. This gives Martens an unusually visible link between its working present and the material setting of its early history. Innovation in the family tradition The brewery identifies 1867 as the year it experimented with and brewed a double dry-hopped beer, an early expression of the inventive spirit it associates with its heritage. Martens connects that tradition with Sezoens, whose recipe it says has remained unchanged since then. Later generations expanded the brewery’s reach, particularly through internationalisation and exports. From Bocholt to the world Under Gerard and Jean Martens, the seventh generation, the brewery began developing international markets, with Germany becoming significant. From 1983, Fons Martens continued the export strategy, bringing Martens beers to markets around the world. The brewery remains family-owned after nine generations, combining its Bocholt identity with modern production and sustainability ambitions. A nine-generation Bocholt brewery whose heritage is defined by continuity paired with practical brewing innovation. Bocholt, Belgian Limburg, Belgium 1758 1758: Martens begins brewing at the De Star inn in Bocholt. 1867: The brewery experiments with and brews a double dry-hopped beer, later associated with Sezoens. 1983: Fons Martens continues the brewery’s export-oriented expansion.