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This editorially independent podcast has been supported by VISITFLANDERS as part of the “War Chest” series of stories. Read more.
Brouwerij Kazematten is located at the Houden Paard kazematten of Ieper. The casemates are three interconnected underground cave-like corridors, each 30 metres long and 6 metres wide.
The Kazematten was the first brewery to open in Ieper since 1976, effectively making its products the de facto beer of the city when it launched. Most notably, the brewery represents the coming together of two prominent families in Belgian beer: the Ghequires and the Depyperes.
Brouwerij Kazematten is a side project which has given the members of those two families a way to each chase what was missing in their lives.
Like other aspects of these casemates, the stories of the beers produced at Kazematten—Wipers Times and Grotten Santé—are not necessarily interesting for the resulting beers, but more for the journeys of the people behind them.
Those involved in the creation of Brouwerij Kazematten today have each found in the casemates some fulfilment on their own personal journeys, whether that’s claiming an identity apart from an institution, making a statement within their own family, or pursuing a way to wholly live all of their passions.
For this podcast, we visited the casemates and spoke with three people from the Kazematten brewery: Pieter Verdonck (marketing), Julie Depypere (co-owner), and Koen Hugelier (brewer).
We learn about the colourful history of the kazematten, including their use during the First World War by British troops as a command post, field hospital, shelter, and dormitory. Unconfirmed stories suggest that the kazematten were also used as incubation chambers for growing mushrooms, cellars for maturing cheese, and spaces for storing ice.
But the casemates’ most important previous use was as a printing office for a satirical trench newspaper published by members of the British army who were stationed on the front line along the Ypres Salient during the First World War.
Sit back, listen, and enjoy our podcast about Brouwerij Kazematten.
