Brussels Gueuze Museum

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Website: http://www.cantillon.be/br/3_2
Address: 56 rue Gheude, B-1070 Brussels
Phone: +32 2 521.49.28
Open: Monday to Friday, 9am - 5pm, Saturday, 10am - 5pm

Overview

Opened in 1978 by Jean Pierre Van Roy, the Brussels Gueuze Museum (French: Musée bruxellois de la Gueuze, Dutch: Brussels Museum van de Geuze) is housed within Cantillon. This 'living museum' allows visitors to tour the brewery, viewing current and vintage brewing equipment, historical documents, and traditional lambic beers. The tour is self guided, with guide books available in French, Dutch, or English. If you wish to have a guided or group tour, reservations can be made in advance.

In 2014, Cantillon received more then 45,000 visitors to the museum.^[1]

History

With the decline in lambic popularity in the post World War II era and the rise of sweetened lambics, many smaller breweries were under financial pressure and were either bought out by larger breweries or simply closed. In order to help the brewery side, Brasserie Cantillon, under Jean-Pierre Van Roy established a living museum in 1978. Van Roy credits the museum as a main reason that Cantillon was able to stay open and independent throughout the years before a resurgence in popularity. Today, as in the past, the museum is fully integrated into the brewery and serves as a way to inform visitors of both the history of Cantillon as well as the production process.

Becoming A Member

Like many museums, it is possible to become a member of the Brussels Museum of Gueuze. When visiting Cantillon, one my ask to sign up as a member for the fee of 10 Euros. This yearly membership allows visitors free access to the museum tour, offers a 5% discount on brewery purchases, and entitles the member to receive the quarterly Grummelinkske newsletter written by Jean-Pierre Van Roy. This newsletter contains stories about the histories of particular beers, labels, or events put on by the brewery throughout the years.