Producer Cantillon

BELGIUM

Cantillon is a Belgian brewery located in Brussels, which has dedicated itself almost exclusively to the production of Lambic beers. Inaugurated on 12 September 1900 by Paul Cantillon and his wife Marie Marie De Troch, daughter of a famous brewer. Business flourished and in 1937 Paul, aided by his two sons Robert and Marcel, bought a plant for the production of Lambic. The Brasserie Cantillon was born. The Second World War, to which Robert and Marcel owed them to participate, put the sticks in the wheels at the new brewery. It was a difficult decade for everyone in Belgium, the breweries were decimated and only a few managed not to suffocate. The production of Cantillon, however, distinguished itself by reaching, under the guidance of Robert and Marcel, the 33,600 hectoliters in 1953, incredible result and difficult to reach even by a modern craft brewery. The golden days of the Lambic, however, were destined to end, with the advent of lager beers and the shift of the taste of consumers towards the softened Geuze meant that in a short time the sales decreased. In 1968 the brewery was on the verge of bankruptcy, and Robert, next to retirement and without children, ceded his shares to his brother. Marcel's only heir was Claude Cantillon, his daughter, who married Jean-Pierre Van Roy in 1967, aided by his father since 1963. The revival took place thanks to Jean-Pierre, who abandoned the teaching in the school, in 1970 decided to support permanently the father-in-law in the family brewery. He began to produce the Lambic in the traditional way and no longer used any expedient as sweeteners or the like, he also decided not to supply his Lambic to supermarkets, shops, cafes and pubs that would not keep his bottles properly. Since 1989, Jean Van Roy has joined his parents in a brewery and lover of the wine world, he has included several elements of wine production, such as the use of the crown cap combined with that of cork to prevent carbon dioxide from coming out of the cork . This small revolution allowed the Cantillon beer to become softer. Another of the other reasons why the Cantillon Lambic is of amazing, complex and well-balanced quality is the use of new wooden barrels. Another innovation has been the use of stainless steel for the production of Kriek, Framboise and other beers .. The enormous success that Lambic is obtaining all over the world, has pushed Cantillon to increase production: now we can enjoy a Geuze from Rome to New York, passing through London, Tokyo and Stockholm. Since 2009 Jean-Pierre and Claude have left the reins of the family business in the expert hands of his son Jean, but every Saturday they still go to the brewery to cheer visitors to the Museum of Geuze with their presence.