Lindemans

The brewery traces its origins to 1822, when Joos Frans Lindemans married Francisca Josina Vandersmissen and together they took over her family's farm, Hof ter Kwadewegen, in Vlezenbeek. Lambic brewing was initially a winter sideline on that farm; by the 1930s, the Lindemans family discontinued the farming business to concentrate solely on lambic, gueuze, and kriek. Six generations of the family have led the brewery since, with brothers Nestor and René followed in turn by their sons Dirk and Geert.

Lambic is brewed through spontaneous fermentation, meaning the wort is exposed to wild yeast and local microflora from the Pajottenland air rather than cultivated strains. Lindemans uses raw wheat in its lambics and ages the beer in stainless steel tanks with wood shavings as well as in oak foudres. In 2005-06 the brewery added twenty 100hl oak foudres to expand ageing capacity. Lindemans brews and blends its own lambic while also supplying wort to blenders throughout the Senne Valley. The brewery introduced sweetened fruit lambics after the 1972-73 season and continued expanding its fruit range across subsequent decades. A major expansion completed in 2015 increased storage capacity to 170,000 hectoliters, and the brewery currently produces 85,000 hectoliters per year. In 2022, Lindemans opened a Satellite Brewery in Ruisbroek, Belgium.

For its alcohol-free range, Lindemans developed a bespoke brewing method and became the first lambic brewery in the world to introduce a completely alcohol-free kriek. The alcohol-free fruit beers are aimed at designated drivers, expectant mothers, health-conscious drinkers, and those in cultures where alcohol is limited. Lindemans first exported to France in 1970 and began exporting to China in 2006.