Cantillon Brewery and Museum of Gueuze

Brasserie Cantillon, at Rue Gheude 56 in Anderlecht, Brussels, Belgium, is one of the last working lambic breweries in the city and houses the Museum of Gueuze. Founded in 1900 by the Cantillon family, it still brews by traditional methods: wort is cooled overnight in a shallow copper vessel under the roof, where wild yeasts and bacteria from the Senne valley air start spontaneous fermentation, and the beer then matures for years in oak and chestnut barrels. The result includes lambic, gueuze (a blend of young and old lambics), kriek with cherries and other fruit beers. Visitors follow a self-guided route with an information leaflet through the brewhouse, the coolship attic, the cellars with rows of barrels and the bottling area, seeing equipment that has changed little for a century. The tour ends in the tasting room with a glass or two of beer, included in the entry fee of about 15 euros. A visit takes one to one and a half hours. The brewing season runs roughly from October to April, and the brewery brews only in the cool months, so visitors in that period can see active production. Opening is typically Wednesday to Saturday in the daytime, with closures from Sunday to Tuesday, and a Saturday brewing day is sometimes advertised. Weekday afternoons are quieter than Saturdays, when groups gather. Beers are sold in the shop. The brewery is a five-minute walk from Clemenceau on Metro 2/6, near the Abattoir market area. The beers are sharp and sour, so first-time tasters should expect a distinctive flavour.