Region & History

Where does witbier come from? From a region east of Brussels, where wheat, water, and hops have been close at hand since the Middle Ages. Brewers along the Hoegaarden–Leuven axis turned these into a pale, hazy wheat beer called "wit" (white), because the cloudiness gave it an almost milky look. Around the same time, Brussels became the birthplace of spontaneously fermented beers, which get their own region in this journey.

In Hoegaarden, witbier nearly disappeared entirely during the 20th century. According to tradition, the Tomsin brewery closed in 1957, and after that no witbier was made in the town. Pierre Celis, a milkman who had grown up in Hoegaarden, started brewing in 1965. His first batch is recorded as March 19, 1966. He named the beer after his hometown and founded the Celis brewery.

After a fire in 1985, which the brewery reportedly hadn't insured, Celis sold his company to Interbrew, the forerunner of today's AB InBev. Today the Hoegaarden brewery belongs to that company, headquartered in Leuven. As with any witbier, the name carries no protected designation of origin: "witbier" can be brewed anywhere.

Leuven is the second pillar of the region. This is home to the Den Hoorn brewery, from which Stella Artois emerged. According to the company, its roots go back to 1366, and the brewer Sébastien Artois is said to have taken it over in 1717. Since 1926, a Christmas beer has carried the name Stella. Leuven is also a university town—KU Leuven was founded in 1425.

Leffe is often mistaken for a Leuven beer too, but it actually comes from Dinant in the south and belongs to the Namur & Ardennes region. In Flemish Brabant, though, the story is all about witbier, the brewing giant in Leuven, and the research that still shapes brewing today.