Brasserie Cantillon
Brussels, Belgium · Est. 1900
Also known as Cantillon
Tally's Take
Why this matters
The living museum. In the 1960s and 70s, as tastes shifted to artificially sweetened beers, traditional lambic nearly went extinct. Cantillon refused to compromise its tart, spontaneously fermented profiles — and to survive financially, opened its doors as a working public museum in 1978, educating visitors and sparking the global sour-beer revival.
The founding thesisFounded by Paul Cantillon in the Cureghem quarter of Brussels; it remains the last traditional lambic brewery still operating inside the city.
The Museum
Timeline
- 1900Founded
Paul Cantillon establishes the brewery in Anderlecht/Cureghem, Brussels.
- 1978Becomes a museum
Opens as the Brussels Museum of the Gueuze to survive the collapse of traditional lambic demand.
- OngoingBrassin Public
Two days a year the public can watch the natural, spontaneous fermentation brew in action.
The People
Behind the beer
Started the brewery in 1900.
Leads the family brewery today; his father Jean-Pierre Van Roy saved it from extinction.
The Beer Library
Beers
Cantillon Fou' Foune
LimitedApricot Lambic
Globally revered apricot-macerated lambic; highly ranked on BeerAdvocate.
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Cantillon Gueuze
Year-RoundOude Geuze (blended lambic)
Spontaneously fermented, blended, and bottle-conditioned.
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Lou Pepe Kriek
LimitedFruit Lambic
Whole Schaerbeek cherries, the variety Brussels lambic traditionally used and which is now scarce. Lou Pepe means grandfather in the Brussels dialect.
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Lou Pepe Framboise
LimitedFruit Lambic
Raspberries in unsweetened lambic, which produces something far drier and sharper than the word framboise leads people to expect.
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Saint Lamvinus
LimitedFruit Lambic
Merlot and Cabernet Franc grapes macerated in lambic and aged in wine barrels. Cantillon has been arguing that beer belongs on a wine list since long before anyone agreed.
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Travel Guide
Plan a visit
- Self-guided museum
- Tasting bar with rare vintages upstairs
Head upstairs to the museum bar where rare vintage bottles (like Lou Pepe Gueuze) get shared among the crowd.
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