Brouwerij De Kazematten

Kazematten Brewery

Useful Information

Location:	In Ieper (Ypres) inside the western wall of the city, almost at the southern tip of the city fortifications.
Open:	All year Sat 15-17. [2018]
Fee:
Classification:	Casemates
Light:	Incandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:
Guided tours:
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address:	Brouwerij De Kazematten BVBA - Kazematten Brewery, Houten Paard 1, 8900 Ieper, Tel: +32-57-388021. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

Description

The Brouwerij De Kazematten (Kazematten Brewery), as the name suggests, is located underground inside the casemates of Ypres’ 17th-century fortifications. This fortification was built by Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban, engineer to Louis XIV. He was a genius who invented a completely new architecture for fortifications, which were able to withstand the fire from canons. His architecture was copied all over centuries until finally in the 20th century the development of modern weaponry made it obsolete.

The brewery is a young city brewery run by a couple of the region’s foremost brewer families. They produce craft beer named Wipers Times and Grotten Santé.

The name Wipers Times 14 is a reference to the English soldier paper that was printed here during World War I. This blond craft beer is quite strong, it has 6,2% ABV. It is brewed with 4 grains, 4 herbs, and local hops.

Wipers Times 16 is the newest beer of Kazematten Brewery. The spicy, fresh beer is brewed with elderflower and elderberry and subtly finished with some spices. Its also the strongest beer with 7,2% ABV.

The Grotten Santé is an darkbrown, spicy beer of 6% ABV. It is also called Grottenbier, created by Pierre Celis, one of the greatest Belgian brewers. The name comes from the fact that Grottenbier was invented "...to see what the influence of a constant low temperature, such as in a cave, does to the evolution of a beer taste." It contains small quantities of an ‘exotic’ ingredient which creates a slight dryness. Obviously in violation of the German Reinheitsgebot, but this is Belgium, home of strong beers and morning headaches.

The tour includes a visit to the three parts of this underground structure, a visit to the brewery, and finally the tasing of the produced beers.