The brewery
The beginning
The roots of Brewery The Glass Tower go back to 1988....
Professionally, then Jef Van den Steen, math teacher, and Dirk De Pauw, lawyer and town clerk, met in Erpe-Mere. After several conversations between “pot and pint” it turned out that both cherished the same love: home brewing… Soon, with varying degrees of success, joint brews came out of the 50 liter kettle.
In 1991, both decided to change tack: they enrolled at the then “Higher Courses of Technical Education of Community Education.” (now HOGENT). They attended the three-year course “Brewery-Maltry-Distillery Department” there until 1994, in which they both graduated with great distinction.
After a few more years of trial brewing, both decided to take the gamble of starting a small brewery. In 2002 a first small company was founded, and in 2004 transformed into a real Bvba with its own small 500 liter plant, former property of the discontinued Meesters brewery in Galmaarden.
Successful international expansion: from Zythos beer festival to conquering the U.S.
The brewery experienced initial success with their Saison d’Erpe-Mere, when at the Zythos Beer Festival in Sint-Niklaas in 2005, the beer, on the recommendation of Chris Bauweraerts of La Chouffe, was picked up by an American importer. A few months later, a first pallet of Saison d’ Erpe Mere left USA.
With the flagship Saison d’Erpe Mere as the pacesetter for, in the meantime, additional beers such as the tripel Ondineke and the double white beer Jan De Lichte, the young artisanal brewery quickly put itself on the international beer map in several countries.
The expansion
The 5hl plant was already replaced in 2007 by a brand new 25-Hl German plant, custom-built in accordance with the brewers’ design. Indeed, due to international success, the 5 Hl plant became much too small.
New fermentation tanks were installed and the brewery was systematically upgraded with the installation of new technical elements. The increase in production mainly served to supply new customers in Italy, Japan, the Nordic countries, the United Kingdom and Ireland, among others.
In 2016, a permit was applied for to install 65-Hl cylindroconical fermentation tanks behind the brewery buildings. When this permit was denied, it was clear that an additional location had to be sought. After a long search, a spacious and easily accessible production hall could finally be purchased in Aalst, in the industrial zone ZUID III. After a complete renovation of the hall, six new fermentation tanks were installed with a 33-cl bottling line. bottles.