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== History ==
In a roundabout way Hanssens is one of the oldest lambic blenders in Belgium. Hansens, as we know it today, came into existence through a non-lambic brewery knownas 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 the mayor of Dworp from the beginning of World War I until 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 neither a lambic brewer nor a lambic blender. 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 uniformed at the time, as Dworp was fast becoming the center of the lambic blending world.
* [[Hanssens Breweriana|Signs]]
* [[Hanssens Breweriana|Everything Else]]
== Videos ==