Brouwerij Bourgogne des Flandres

Brouwerij Bourgogne des Flandres is a brewery in the historic centre of Bruges, reviving a local brewing tradition associated with the Van Houtryve family and the former Den Os brewery.

The story begins in 1765, when Pierre-Jacques Van Houtryve was brewing on a farm in Loppem. In 1825, the family established Brouwerij Den Os inside Bruges. Over subsequent generations the Van Houtryves became an important brewing family in the city, operating several breweries, including Den Os and La Marine.

Bourgogne des Flandres itself emerged in the early twentieth century and was formally registered in Bruges in 1911.

The original Den Os brewery closed in 1957, after years in which smaller breweries producing speciality beers had struggled against the growing popularity of pils and the disruption of two world wars. The beer did not disappear, however. Michel Van Houtryve retained oversight of the family recipe and had Bourgogne des Flandres brewed elsewhere. From 1985, production moved to Brouwerij Timmermans in Itterbeek, where lambic became an important element in the beer’s character.

In 1993, Timmermans was acquired by John Martin, bringing Bourgogne des Flandres into the Martin group. A new microbrewery was later established in central Bruges, only a short distance from historic Van Houtryve brewing sites, and in 2015 Bourgogne des Flandres returned to being brewed in the city after an absence of 58 years.

Today the Bruges brewery operates as a distinct visitor brewery with its own beers, tours and identity, but it is not corporately independent: its current legal trading entity is John Martin SA, trading as Brouwerij Bourgogne des Flandres. That makes it best understood as a historic Bruges brewery identity operating within the wider John Martin group.

The revived brewery also draws on the older Den Os heritage. In 2015 Anthony Martin revived the Den Os name alongside the return of brewing to Bruges, and beers such as Blonden Os and Triplen Os now sit alongside the Bourgogne des Flandres range.