De Ryck brewery

In Herzele, East Flanders, De Ryck’s story began with a brewer, a German apprenticeship and an ambitious name: De Gouden Arend, the Golden Eagle. Founded in 1886, the family brewery grew from local keg beer into a distinctly Belgian portfolio while keeping its roots in traditional, family-led brewing. Its best-known amber beer, Spécial De Ryck, became the enduring signature of that heritage. From Bremen to Herzele Gustave De Ryck founded the brewery in 1886 under the name De Gouden Arend, inspired by his brewing teacher and traineeship at Brauerei zum goldenen Adler in Bremen. The early brewery produced blond and dark beers, including Uitzet, before the family business developed under later generations of De Rycks. The amber house classic After the First World War, the brewery reopened as Brouwerij De Ryck. In 1920 it created Spécial De Ryck, an amber Spécial Belge that became the brewery’s oldest surviving beer and, for decades, its public face. The beer’s continued presence links the modern range directly to the brewery’s post-war renewal. A family tradition carried forward De Ryck remained a family brewery across successive generations. Anne De Ryck, identified by Belgian Family Brewers as the fourth generation and Belgium’s first female brewing engineer, led the brewery into a broader bottled range that included Arend beers and Steenuilke, while retaining respect for its established brewing tradition. A Herzele family brewery whose Golden Eagle beginnings matured into the enduring amber identity of Spécial De Ryck. Herzele, East Flanders, Belgium 1886 1886: Gustave De Ryck founded the brewery in Herzele as De Gouden Arend. 1920: The brewery reopened as Brouwerij De Ryck and created Spécial De Ryck. 2009: Steenuilke was launched in cooperation with the Regional Landscape of the Flemish Ardennes to support a local little-owl project. 2011: Gouden Arend was brewed for the brewery’s 125th anniversary.