3 Fonteinen Restaurant-Café: Difference between revisions

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The history of the Debelder family with 3 Fonteinen Café (most likely named that way, "3 fountains", because of the three hand pumps used to serve lambic behind the bar, though it is also possible that the 3 wells nearby might have been the reason as well) started in 1953, when Gaston Debelder and his wife Raymonde Dedoncker purchased the business, an inn already serving lambic blended in the cellar, which was common at the time.

For many years, the place was serving simple food like toast with local Pottekeis for people on the go, and lambic was a secondary activity to support the inn business. Originally, lambic was purchased from the Van Haelen brewery nearby in Calevoet (part of Beersel) until the ~~60's~~, when they moved the business to the church square after buying an old building they tore down to make way for a new one, carrying the name 3 Fonteinen along. They then purchased from De Neve and Brouwerij Winderickx (which closed in 69 after being acquired by De Boek-Goosens - Brasseries Unies - a year prior).

For many years, the place was serving simple food like toast with local Pottekeis for people on the go, and lambic was a secondary activity to support the inn business. Originally, lambic was purchased from the Van Haelen brewery nearby in Calevoet (part of Beersel) until the 1960s, when they moved the business to the church square after buying an old building they tore down to make way for a new one, carrying the name 3 Fonteinen along. They then purchased from De Neve and Brouwerij Winderickx (which closed in 69 after being acquired by De Boek-Goosens - Brasseries Unies - a year prior).

Lambic was transported to the inn by horse or truck and brought to the cellar using gravity, where it would be added to the barrels for ageing at the blender's discretion. At the time, the team had to carry everything down the tiny stairs by themselves, which included empty barrels (usually 40 to 50kg each) as well as empty bottles to be filled later, which Gaston Debelder and the rest of the team had to place on their shoulder by bags of 60 Champagne bottles of 75cl each (at about 900 gramms each it is over 50kg total), displaying serious labour<ref name=Guido25>Guido Debelder, interview with Gael of lambic.info, November 2025</ref>.

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 The history of the Debelder family with 3 Fonteinen Café (most likely named that way, "3 fountains", because of the three hand pumps used to serve lambic behind the bar, though it is also possible that the 3 wells nearby might have been the reason as well) started in 1953, when Gaston Debelder and his wife Raymonde Dedoncker purchased the business, an inn already serving lambic blended in the cellar, which was common at the time.
-For many years, the place was serving simple food like toast with local Pottekeis for people on the go, and lambic was a secondary activity to support the inn business. Originally, lambic was purchased from the Van Haelen brewery nearby in Calevoet (part of Beersel) until the 60's, when they moved the business to the church square after buying an old building they tore down to make way for a new one, carrying the name 3 Fonteinen along. They then purchased from De Neve and Brouwerij Winderickx (which closed in 69 after being acquired by De Boek-Goosens - Brasseries Unies - a year prior).
+For many years, the place was serving simple food like toast with local Pottekeis for people on the go, and lambic was a secondary activity to support the inn business. Originally, lambic was purchased from the Van Haelen brewery nearby in Calevoet (part of Beersel) until the 1960s, when they moved the business to the church square after buying an old building they tore down to make way for a new one, carrying the name 3 Fonteinen along. They then purchased from De Neve and Brouwerij Winderickx (which closed in 69 after being acquired by De Boek-Goosens - Brasseries Unies - a year prior).
 Lambic was transported to the inn by horse or truck and brought to the cellar using gravity, where it would be added to the barrels for ageing at the blender's discretion. At the time, the team had to carry everything down the tiny stairs by themselves, which included empty barrels (usually 40 to 50kg each) as well as empty bottles to be filled later, which Gaston Debelder and the rest of the team had to place on their shoulder by bags of 60 Champagne bottles of 75cl each (at about 900 gramms each it is over 50kg total), displaying serious labour<ref name=Guido25>Guido Debelder, interview with Gael of lambic.info, November 2025</ref>.