Timmermans, Itterbeek

The brewing history of Timmermans dates back to 1692 when a couple acquired a farm next to the Church of Sint-Pieter in the town of Itterbeek west of Brussels. It was originally owned by Jan Vandermeulen and known was known as “Brouwerij De Mol”. The Timmermans logo bears the mark of a mole today. the site of the brewery has remained in the same location ever since. The early iterations of Timmermans brewery had their own coolship as early as the 18th century as well has its own hop garden and area for hop drying.

The Timmermans name became associated with the brewery in 1911 when Gerard Frans Timmermans married the youngest daughter of Paul Josef Walravens, the owner of the brewery (then called Het Molleken). At the same time, Paul Walravens sold the brewery to his daughter and son-in-law for 23,672 Belgian francs. As was seemingly common in the era, Frans Timmermans also became the mayor of Itterbeek, from 1929-1955.

Frans had only one daughter, Germaine, who married Paul van Cutsem. After the death of Frans Timmermans in 1959, Paul passed the brewery on to his son Raoul after renaming it Brouwerij Timmermans. Several years later, Raoul’s younger brouther Jacques was brought into the business after studying brewing. Together, they created a popular draught kriek sometime between 1960 and 1963 that was sold in cafés in the area. 

In 1993, Rizla sold its majority stake in Timmermans to John Martin NV, who still owns the brewery today. In 2004, Jacques van Cutsem officially retired, leaving the brewery to be led exclusively by John Martin NV. His son Frédéric Van Cutsem is currently still active within the John Martin’s group as Operations Manager.