Brasserie Verschueren

Photos and words by Cliff Lucas.
Edited by Breandán Kearney.

Café Society is a photographic series which celebrates the spaces at the heart of Belgian beer culture. See more here.

When Brasserie Verschueren opened in Saint-Gilles in 1880, local football club Royal Union Saint-Gilloise (USG) was in its prime. Their supporters—the Unionistes—were regulars here, often catching their breath over post-match beers, and the league standings were maintained on a sign board of coloured plates hung on the far wall. Franz Verschueren, grandson of founder Louis-François Verschueren, suited up for the team in the ‘40s and early ‘50s while his brother Roger maintained the café. Today, Arthur Van Craen runs Brasserie Verschueren for his father Robert Van Craen, who took ownership in 1998. Just 22 years old, Arthur was born in the apartment upstairs with the Parvis de Saint Gilles as his front yard. Across the ceiling, a line of black and yellow tape cuts the Verschueren in half, a demarcation leftover from the days when inside smoking areas were still the rage. Food has mostly been removed from the menu (paper bags filled with patatas fritas hang ready for the next order), but customers are encouraged to bring their own from the nearby Parvis restaurants. Brasserie De La Senne and Brouwerij De Ranke each brew a beer especially for Verschueren—a Tripel and Saison, respectively. And Unionistes still stop in for a beer alongside a more diverse Saint-Gilloise crowd of commission employees, students, and the English-speaking lady who has been coming to Verschueren for the last 15 years to find a quiet spot to write about the therapeutic power of breathwork.