Grimbergen (beer)
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| Location | Alken, Belgium | ||||||||||||
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| Owner(s) | Alken-Maes | ||||||||||||
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Grimbergen is the brand name of a variety of Belgian abbey beers. Originally made by Norbertine monks in the Belgian town of Grimbergen, it is now brewed by two different breweries in Belgium and France.
The name derives from the Norbertine abbey, which Saint Norbert of Xanten founded in Grimbergen in 1128. It is in this abbey that the beer was first brewed by the monks. They became famous for providing hospitality and their home-brewed beer to visitors. The monks reputedly handed down the recipe over the centuries. When French invaders closed down the monastery at the end of the 18th century, the brewing activities here stopped also. Later, when the abbey was re-established, the brewing activities were not resumed and the monks ordered their beer from local breweries.
In 1958 Brouwerij Maes (Maes Brewery) contacted the monks at the abbey with the proposal to commercialize the dark beer that Maes had developed under the brandname "Grimbergen." Until 1978, Grimbergen Dubbel and Tripel were brewed in the brewery in Waarloos (part of the municipality of Kontich). After that date, the production moved to Brasserie Union in Jumet. Since the closure of the plant in Jumet in 2007, the production moved to the Brouwerij van Alken (Brewery of Alken) located in Alken.
The beers marketed under the brand name Grimbergen are now brewed by two different companies. Alken-Maes located in Alken in Belgium brewed the beer before 2008. Alken-Maes was taken over by Heineken International in 2008. As part of the takeover the brand name Grimbergen was transferred to Carlsberg Group, but Heineken was given a long-term license to use the brand name in Belgium. As a result Alken-Maes brews the beer for the Belgian market, while Carlsberg is responsible for the marketing outside Belgium of the beers that it brews under the Grimbergen name at its Kronenbourg Brewery located in France. In the Netherlands, Grolsch Brewery is responsible for the marketing of Grimbergen that is brewed by Alken-Maes.
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