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== History ==
In a roundabout way Hanssens is one of the oldest lambic blenders in Belgium. Before moving to their current site in 1896, lambic was brewed and blended at the family farm since 1871.<ref name=LambicLand>Tim Webb, [[Books#LambicLand: A Journey Round the Most Unusual Beers in the World|LambicLand]], 2010</ref> Hanssens, as we know it today, came into existence through a non-lambic brewery known as Het Hooghuys brewery. This brewery was initially owned by the Van Hemelrijk family and eventually became associated with the Hanssens name after Petrus Van Hemelrijk married Joanna Maria Hanssens in 1837. The oldest son of Petrus and Joanna, Jozef (1861-1890), continued the family brewing tradition until he fell ill in 1888. That same year , Jozef let his cousin Bartholomé Hanssens, (who would later become became the mayor of Dworp from the beginning of World War I until 1914-1927, ) take over the brewery operations , on the condition that he would return it back to the Van Hemelrijk family when Jozef’s young children were old enough to maintain the business. The brewery was signed over on a 9-year lease to Bartholomé<ref name=GeuzeKriek>Jef Van den Steen, [[Books#Geuze & Kriek: The Secret of Lambic Beer|Geuze & Kriek: The Secret of Lambic Beer]], 2012</ref>. [[File:HanssensArtisanaal-1.jpg|thumb|right|Old Hanssens crate]]
A family quarrel came about when Bartholomé did not want to return the popular brewery, and he was eventually fired, forcing him to find a new location for his brewery. Professionally, Bartholomé Hanssens was not a lambic brewer, or lambic blender originally. He brewed a popular brown table beer known as “Waalschen Bruynen” ''(Walloon Brown)''<ref name=GeuzeKriek>Jef Van den Steen, [[Books#Geuze & Kriek: The Secret of Lambic Beer|Geuze & Kriek: The Secret of Lambic Beer]], 2012</ref>. By all accounts his new brewery, Sint-Antonius, broke with Dworp tradition by not producing or blending any lambic. However, during the First World War, Bartholomé’s brewery was stripped of all its copper equipment by the occupying German forces. The loss of all of his brewing equipment forced Bartholomé Hanssens to turn to purchasing and blending of lambic wort. This decision was not completely uninformed at the time, as Dworp was fast becoming the center of the lambic blending world.
[[File:BottleLineHanssens.jpg|right|thumb|Bottling and corking machine at Hanssens]]
Fortunately for the lambic community, Jean’s daughter Sidy, and her husband John took interest in continuing the family’s blending business. In 1998 Hanssens Artisanaal bvba as we recognize it today was set up passing the Hanssens name onto the fourth generation. As a very small blendery, neither Sidy nor John make a living from blending lambic as they have regular day jobs. Today, Hanssens is a 100% traditional lambic blendery producing only authentic, unsweetened, and unpasteurized lambics. As of now, there are no immediate successors to the Hanssens name and is still located in Dworp on the same family farm and in the same family farmhouse purchased many years earlier by Bartholomé <ref name=LambicLand>Tim Webb, Chris Pollard, Siobhan McGinn, [[Books#LambicLand: A Journey Round the Most Unusual Beers in the World|LambicLand: A Journey Round the Most Unusual Beers in the World]], 2010</ref>. Hanssens is also a member of [[HORAL|HORAL]].
== Beers ==
=== Geuze ===