Beer in Antwerp
Beer history, breweries and beer culture in Antwerp (Belgium).
Legend has it that the giant Druon Antigoon demanded a toll from the boatmen on the Scheldt and cut off the hand of anyone who refused to pay. The hero Brabo defeated him and threw the giant’s hand into the river – “hand werpen” (throwing the hand) is said to have given the city its name. The hand is still the symbol of Antwerp and also appears in the logo of the De Koninck brewery (since 1833): it goes back to a stone toll hand near the inn the brewery grew out of. In Antwerp you simply order its beer as a “Bolleke”, after the round glass.
Breweries in Antwerp
De Koninck
Grew out of an inn on what was then the edge of the city, next to a stone toll hand – hence the hand in the logo. The “Bolleke” is Antwerp’s city beer; since 2010 the brewery has belonged to Duvel Moortgat.
Known for: De Koninck („Bolleke“)
Beer history of Antwerp
- 1833
An inn on the edge of town becomes the De Koninck brewery. In Antwerp you simply order its beer as a “bolleke”.