Boon Brewery from Lembeek, a district in the Flemish Brabant province of Halle, has partnered with local supermarket group Colruyt to create a limited edition oude gueuze to celebrate its 50th anniversary.
Brewery owner Frank Boon and Colruyt chairman Jef Colruyt, long-time friends since the 1970s, announced the collaboration during a launch event at the brewery on Thursday.
Jef Colruyt and Boon have known each other since the 1970s, with Jef having once accompanied Boon on beer deliveries around the region and to Brussels. Boon Brewery started in 1975 as a craft brewer and beer distributor, later beginning to brew lambic, the base beer used to make gueuze.
Frank Boon and his two sons, alongside Jef Colruyt, assembled the special edition gueuze last October.
"We created this beer to mark the 50th anniversary of Boon Brewery and our long-standing partnership with Colruyt," said Frank Boon, who described the process of selecting from different barrels as akin to "composing a musical score."
Jef Colruyt reminisced about their early days, saying, "We know each other as family, but most notably from the local bars."
He recalled going out to cafés as a 17- or 18-year-old and helping with beer deliveries, adding that their shared passion for gueuze cemented their connection. Both companies embrace this passion and family ties, Colruyt noted. "When the idea arose to create a unique gueuze for Brouwerij Boon's 50th anniversary, I was immediately on board."
The limited batch will be available exclusively at 183 Colruyt supermarket locations from Friday onwards.
'Oude Geuze Boon, Special Boon & Colruyt Family Blend' comprises a mix of five different lambic barrels, amounting to 9,000 large bottles. The brewery's warehouse stores 161 large lambic barrels, equivalent to a vast 2.1 million hectolitres.
