Boerenerf

Website (Dutch): https://www.boerenerf.bio/

Address: Sollenberg 3, 1654 Huizingen

Phone: +32 471310948

Overview

Senne Eylenbosch and Vincent Alluin founded Boerenerf in 2020. The company was built on the foundations of the renowned Eylenbosch Brewery, which closed it's doors in Huizingen in 1965. The Dutch word "Boerenerf" translates to "Farmstead," a nod to the old family farm where the original brewery began, which has been in the Eylenbosch family for generations. Today, the traditions continue in the old stables, where lambic and gueuze beers mature in barrels.

Boerenerf uniquely combines the traditional craft of lambic blending with winemaking, skillfully merging tradition with innovation. This results in a diverse range of surprising blends of lambic, gueuze, cider, fruit beers, wines, and mead, all made with grapes from our own winery. At Boerenerf, three core values are central: Quality, Tradition, and Innovation. Year after year, Senne strives to blend authentic traditions with innovative and refreshing flavors. In this pursuit, centuries-old fermentation techniques are honored and preserved, resulting in surprising and unforgettable tastes.

Het Boerenerf

History

The history of Brouwerij Eylenbosch (Huizingen) dates back to 1864, when the Cammaert Brewery was founded. Anna Maria, Cammaert's great-granddaughter, married Martinus Josephus Eylenbosch, who took over the brewery in 1895. After Eylenbosch's death in 1922, his sons, Jan-Baptist and Georges, continued the brewery and began blending gueuze.

Although gueuze and lambic were popular in the early 20th century, the industry began to decline in the 1950s due to the rise of sugary drinks and the industrialization of lambic after World War II. The last lambic beer was brewed in 1965, and the brewery continued as a liquor store for a few more years. Between 2006 and 2008, the remaining brewery buildings were converted into lofts.

Despite the brewery's decline, the Eylenbosch family continued to run the farm, focusing on livestock, grain, and fruit cultivation, as well as dairy production. Senne Eylenbosch, who had worked at Brewery 3 Fonteinen, began converting part of the farm into a gueuze blending facility in 2019, reviving the Eylenbosch beers. The first activities of Boerenerf started at the end of 2019. In 2020, the collaboration between Senne and Vincent began, and the enterprise, formerly known as Boerenerf Eylenbosch, became Boerenerf.

In June 2021, the blending facility announced it's first fruit lambic, marking the first release of an Eylenbosch lambic in over 50 years. Also in 2021, Boerenerf underwent a rebranding and introduced it's iconic barrel logo. This logo symbolizes the four generations of Eylenbosch brewers in Huizingen, with Senne representing the fifth generation of lambic producers. Although they share the same name, there is no recent familial relationship with Brouwerij Eylenbosch (Schepdaal) due to a gap of nine generations. Brouwerij Eylenbosch and Boerenerf are two distinct lambic producers.

Het Boerenerf courtyard

Brewing and Blending Process

Het Boerenerf is a blending facility and receives lambic wort from 5 different lambic brewers: 3 Fonteinen, De Troch, Lindemans, Den Herberg, and Angerik. The first lambic to be barreled was brewed at 3 Fonteinen in April 2020, forming the bulk of the first fruit lambic release in 2021. De Troch and Lindemans began supplying lambic wort in 2021, and Den Herberg and Angerik joined in 2022. Currently there is no in-house brewing installation. The first two batches of lambic were bottled manually on the farm, but since the 2022-2023 season, Boerenerf has used an automatic bottling line. The number of barrels grew rapidly from 25 in 2021, to around 80 in 2022, with a total capacity of about 25,000 liters.

In 2021, the first release of fruited lambic was unique in that all ingredients were sourced from the Zenne Valley and Pajottenland. Boerenerf's ambition remains to work as locally and organically as possible. The blending facility’s commercial season traditionally begins during Easter weekend, with the release of new beer batches. The variety in the beer lineup can vary annually depending on the fruit harvest. In 2022, Boerenerf released it's first traditional 'old gueuze,' named 'Cuvée Heritage', as a tribute to the Eylenbosch family ancestors.

Lambic, cider, and mead are at the core of Boerenerf, reflecting the identity of the blending facility. An example of this is ‘Symbiose,’ a unique blend of lambic, cider, and mead, which has never before been commercially released by a lambic producer.

Boerenerf focuses on the local market (B2C, retail, hospitality, and restaurants) while also expanding internationally. Boerenerf products are now available in more than 20 European countries and have seen significant growth in the Asian and American markets in recent years.

Beers

Fruit

Gueuze

Photos

Boerenerf courtyard
Installing hop poles at Boerenerf
Groene Belle hop bines at Boerenerf
2020 Schaerbeekse Cherry Harvest at Boerenerf
Apples fermenting at Boerenerf
Cherries fermenting at Boerenerf
Boerenerf’s terrace
Barrel fermentation at Boerenerf
Boerenerf’s barrel room
Boerenerf’s barrel room
Boerenerf’s barrel room
Bottling at Boerenerf
Senne Eylenbosch & Vincent Alluin
Shop at Boerenerf