Brouwerij Riva, later Brouwerij Liefmans

This brewery’s story joins two distinctive Belgian brewing identities: Riva, the Dentergem producer that acquired Liefmans, and Liefmans, the Oudenaarde brewery whose name reaches back to 1679. After the 1990 takeover, brewing and maturation were divided between the two sites, allowing the historic Oudenaarde cellars and open fermentation vessels to remain part of the beers’ character even as production was organized through Riva. From Oudenaarde heritage to Riva ownership Liefmans is recorded in Oudenaarde from 1679, while the present brewery complex on Aalststraat was authorized in 1927. In 1990, the Oudenaarde brewery passed to Brouwerij Riva of Dentergem. The transition did not erase the Liefmans identity: the brand and its brewing traditions continued under Riva’s ownership. Two sites, one brewing tradition During the Riva period, wort was produced at Dentergem and transported to Oudenaarde, where it fermented in the brewery’s open vessels before maturation and, in some accounts, returned to Dentergem for bottling. The Oudenaarde site therefore remained more than a historic address; its open fermentation environment and cellar work were retained as part of the Liefmans method. A brewery remembered through its glassware The modern Liefmans Fruitesse On the Rocks glass reflects the brewery’s continuing link between beer and service. The Belgian Beer Glass Museum records a squat, stemless tumbler designed for Fruitesse over ice, with decoration that visually shows the serving ritual. It is a contemporary expression of a brewery whose identity is carried not only by recipes and buildings, but also by how its beers are presented. A two-site Belgian brewing heritage in which Riva’s production network preserved Liefmans’s Oudenaarde fermentation and maturation identity. Oudenaarde, East Flanders, Belgium, with Riva ownership and brewing operations in Dentergem 1679: Liefmans is recorded in Oudenaarde. 1927: A permit was granted for the new Liefmans brewery complex on the eastern bank of the Scheldt at Edelare. 1990: Brouwerij Riva of Dentergem acquired Brouwerij Liefmans. 2007: Riva, including the Liefmans brewery operations, was declared bankrupt. 2008: Duvel Moortgat acquired the Liefmans assets, brands and recipes.