Cornelissen Brouwerij

Brouwerij Cornelissen is a family brewery rooted in Belgian Limburg, where brewing began with Jan Mathys Cornelissen in Gerdingen during the first half of the nineteenth century. From that rural beginning, six generations carried the business through war, changing beer fashions and international expansion. Its modern identity still joins family continuity with hands-on brewing at the Opitter site. From Gerdingen to Opitter Jan Mathys Cornelissen brewed in Gerdingen near Opitter and passed the craft to his son Joseph, who established Brouwerij Cornelissen. The brewery’s home is now Opitter, in Bree, where the Cornelissen family has maintained its brewing presence for generations. A new brewery within the old one Around 1936, Jaak Cornelissen built a new brewery beside the existing premises, concentrating on bottom-fermented beers. The following year, Pax lager began brewing there, giving the family business a durable place in Belgium’s lager tradition. The Cornelissen name today The brewery was still known as Sint-Jozef during the fifth generation. In 2014, Jef Cornelissen Jr. continued the family line and the old Sint-Jozef name was replaced by Brouwerij Cornelissen. The brewery describes itself as still brewing its own beers in the original copper kettles. A Limburg family brewery whose heritage runs from nineteenth-century Gerdingen to a working copper-kettle brewery in Opitter. Gerdingen and Opitter, Limburg, Belgium 1936: Jaak Cornelissen built a new brewery beside the existing one for bottom-fermented beers. 1937: Pax lager began brewing at the new brewery. 2014: Jef Cornelissen Jr. took over the family line and the Sint-Jozef name was replaced by Brouwerij Cornelissen.