Ghysels Plug Factory

In 1893, a farm in the current Sashoek 11 was transformed into a brewery by Leopold Ghysels. This farm was located in an estate of meadows between the Zenne and the canal. There was also an orchard called 'De Groenen Boomgaard'. Oscar and Maurice, the sons of Leopold, took over the business, which at that time consisted of a brewery with a café and an attached shop. The café was named 'In de Groenen Boomgaard', and since then, Oscar and Maurice were referred to as the 'greune'. The brewing process mainly took place in the cellar of the house where the barrels of lambic and kriekenlambiek were stored. After 5 to 6 months of fermentation, the beer was bottled. These bottles were stored in 'caveaus' in the warehouses located behind the house. During the 1920s and 1930s, in addition to brewing lambic beers, other beers delivered in barrels were also bottled. This beer came from the Wielemans brewery, such as Bok, Stout, and Forst.

After World War I, they still delivered drinks by horse and cart, but they would soon buy their first truck. As such, the business increasingly became a beverage trade, and the brewing of geuze and kriek came more into the background. In 1957, the café closed and was converted into a residential house, as it is today. In 1962, the son of Maurice, Willy Ghysels, and his wife Liliane J'Espère took over the business. During this period, drinks would be almost exclusively delivered in bottles, and in 1979, they opened a Drinks drive-in, where customers could pick up their drinks themselves. They expanded the business with two new trucks and a large storage facility. Later, their son Christophe also joined the company, the fourth generation of the family. In 2016, the business closed after 123 years of beverage trade.

The café, as it was after World War II, can be seen in the accompanying photo.

De Lambiek