Protect
4,277
edits
Changes
m
→History
Bartholomé’s second marriage resulted in four children (two daughters and two sons). One son, Jozef died young leaving Theo Hanssens (1909 - ? ) as the male successor to the lambic blending business. Theo Hanssens began to learn the lambic blending craft at the age of 14 as his father started to become ill. Not only did he learn with his father, but he also learned with one of the most important lambic breweries in Dworp, [[Brouwerij Winderickx|Winderickx]]. Theo took over the business full time when his father passed away in 1928. In 1932, Theo married Rosa Vastiau, whose name makes up Hanssens barrel marking today: THV. With so many lambic breweries in the immediate area, Theo used wort from [[Brasserie Van Haelen|Van Haelen]] in Beersel (closed in 1957), [[Brasserie Van Haelen-Coche|Van Haelen-Coche]] in Uccle (closed in 1968), [[Brasserie La Fleur d'Or|La Fleur d’Or]] in Brussels (closed in 1969), [[Brouwerij Timmermans|Timmermans]] in Itterbeek and [[Brouwerij Winderickx|Winderickx]] in Dworp/Tourneppe (closed in 1969). The numerous brewery closures after World War II lead to Hanssens using wort from [[Brouwerij Lindemans|Lindemans]] and [[Brouwerij Girardin|Girardin]] to create their lambics. By 1990 the blend also contained [[Brouwerij Boon|Boon]]<ref name=GeuzeKriek>Jef Van den Steen, [[Books#Geuze & Kriek: The Secret of Lambic Beer|Geuze & Kriek: The Secret of Lambic Beer]], 2012</ref>. Today, these three breweries make up all of Hanssens gueuze blends. Theo Hanssens and Rosa Vastiau had one son, Jean, who would eventually learn the trade from his father and move into the business after completing his military service. [[File:HanssensBarrels.jpg|left|thumb|Barrels at Hanssens]]
After succeeding his father Theo in 1974,<ref name=HoralHanssens>HORAL - Hanssens, http://www.horal.be/verenigingleden/hanssens-dworp</ref> Jean Hanssens continued to produce only gueuze and kriek throughout the 1970’s and 80's as the lambic market continued to shrink. Van Den Steen quotes Jean Hanssens to Armand Debelder saying that “de guis is kapot” (''geuze is dead'')<ref name=GeuzeKriek>Jef Van den Steen, [[Books#Geuze & Kriek: The Secret of Lambic Beer|Geuze & Kriek: The Secret of Lambic Beer]], 2012</ref>. However, in 1993 Hanssens along with [[Brouwerij_3_Fonteinen|3 Fonteinen]] and [[Brasserie Moriau | Moriau]] won the OBP trophy which can be seen on 3 Fonteinen labels from the time. Jean Hanssens continued to blend lambic until 1997, when it became apparent that it was time to retire. Jean and his wife Julienne De Wulf had two children, a son Theo and a daughter Sidy. Having not taught his children the art of blending, Jean saw no immediate successor for the name and began to work his way through the final stocks of lambic to be blended with the intention of discontinuing the Hanssens name.
[[File:BottleLineHanssens.jpg|right|thumb|Bottling and corking machine at Hanssens]]