Alken-Maes
Alken-Maes is a Belgian brewery.
History
Alken-Maes was born when two small breweries (Maes, located in Waarloos and Alken) merged in 1988. Thoses breweries were specialized in pils (Maes was producing Maes pils and Alken Cristal pils) until Maes purchased the Union brewery (based in Jumet) in 1978. Union was producing among others the Grimbergen beers. After the fusion, the group continued to purchase other breweries to expand their offer to a larger panel of beers. So, in 1989, the new brewery took a participation of 50% in the De Keersmaeker brewery (specialized in spontaneous fermentation beers, o.a. Mort Subite). In 2000, they bought Ciney and Brugs Witbier as well as the last 50% of De Keersmaeker. The brewery is bought the same year by British Scottish & Newcastle. Finally in 2002, they took over the Louwaege brewery from Kortemark (producing Louwaeges Kriek and high fermentation Hapkin. Alken-Maes has now become the number two on the Belgian market. It is headquartered in Waarloos.
Products
- Pils : Maes pils, Cristal and Kronenbourg 1664
- Brown beers : Zulte, Judas, Brown Ciney and Special Ciney
- Blond beers : Blond Ciney, Hapkin
- Abbey beers : Grimbergen (blond : Blond and Trippel; brown : Optimo Bruno, Dubbel and Cuvée de l'Ermitage)
- Wheat beer : Brugs
- Spontaneous fermentation beers : Mort Subite (Gueuze and fruit lambics : Kriek, Raspberry, Blackcurrant and Peach), Louwaeges Kriek
- Lager : Foster's
- Beers with a low alcoholic content : Maes Nature and Tourtel (alcohol-free).
Mort Subite
Mort Subite is the brand name for a number of lambic beers brewed by the Belgian brewery Keersmaeker. The beers take their name from a pub in Brussells, 'a la Mort Subite.'
In French Mort Subite is the medical term for "sudden death".