The Interbrew story begins in the fourteenth century. The company traces its origins back to 1366, to an early tax record for ‘Den Hoorn’ in Leuven. The Den Hoorn brewery changed its name to Artois when it was bought by its master brewer Sebastiaan Artois in 1717. Artois prospered over the next two centuries, and became the major brewer of the Napoleonic empire. The brewery really laid the basis for its modern success in 1926, when an exceptionally clear golden beer was brewed for Christmas. Stella Artois was born.

The next stage was one of expansion, first in Belgium and then abroad. Artois acquired a major interest in Leffe in 1954, the Dommelsch Brewery in the Netherlands in 1968, and Brasserie du Nord in France in 1970.

Meanwhile other strands in the Interbrew story were being spun. Jean-Theodore Piedboeuf started brewing in 1853 and used the cellar of an old castle in Jupille to mature his beer. Jupiler, now Belgium’s favourite beer, came on the scene in 1966. Piedboeuf had built up a strong position by 1987, when the merger between Artois and Piedboeuf took place, creating Interbrew.

The new company soon acquired the other specialty beers, which make the Interbrew brand portfolio such an asset today. Hoegaarden came in 1989, Belle-Vue in 1990.

On the other side of the world, before that castle in Jupille saw the first barrel, John Labatt was considering ‘this brewing affair’ which he reckoned ‘would suit me better than anything else’. He purchased a small brewery in London Ontario in 1847, and became the sole owner the very year that Jean-Theodore Piedboeuf got underway. The Labatt Brewing Company in Canada gradually went national, survived prohibition, and in 1951 introduced Labatt Blue, destined to become Canada’s number one beer. Overseas expansion followed in 1987 with the purchase of the Latrobe brewery in the US, home of Rolling Rock.

Labatt became part of Interbrew in 1995, bringing with it a substantial minority stake in the leading Mexican brewer, Femsa Cervesa. By that time Interbrew had moved into its current phase of rapid growth. The company acquired breweries in Hungary in 1991, Croatia and Romania in 1994, Bulgaria in 1995 and the Ukraine in 1996. It embarked on a joint venture in the Dominican Republic in 1996, and added breweries in China and Montenegro in 1997 and 1998 and in Russia and Korea in 1998 and 1999.

The choice of the Interbrew name in 1987 was truly apt. The company’s whole purpose is to brew beer. And it is active on an international scale. The name sums up the two most important characteristics of the company.

For more information, please visit Interbrew S.A.