Timmermans is a Belgian institution, taking the title of the world’s oldest lambic brewery. Originally founded as De Mol (The Mole), in 1702, Timmermans have been perfecting their craft in the Flemish village of Itterbeek ever since.

After a sideline in exporting artisanal Belgian beer to the Sultan of Constantinople, the brewery became Brouwerji Timmermans in the early twentieth century, when the owner’s youngest daughter married a brewer from the nearby village of Zuun named Frans Timmermans.

The region has always been famous for the Lambic style, where malt-heavy beers are allowed to ferment through contact with wild yeast and native bacteria, giving gueuze and kriek their unique sour and wine- or cider-like flavour. Timmermans have always been famous for fruit-forward brews, using fresh peach or raspberry to cut through the beer’s natural acidity, and recent small-batch bottlings of protected lambic styles like Oude Kriek and Oude Gueuze taking things to the next level.

In 1900 there were around 300 lambic breweries. A century later there were only ten left. Thanks to Timmermans and a handful of others, this incredible style is still alive and kicking in to the 21st century.