Words and photos by Ashley Joanna
Edited by Breandán Kearney
Humans of Belgian Beer is a series of photographic portraits which celebrate a people and their culture.
Rudi Ghequire’s office in Roeselare is museum-like in nature. Located on the first floor of a brewing institution founded in 1821—before Belgium existed as an independent country—the office is filled with antiques, books, art, posters, and documents. It’s an office in which the General Manager and Master Brewer of Brouwerij Rodenbach answers emails and hosts meetings.
A conservator is a person responsible for the repair and preservation of items of cultural or environmental interest, such as buildings or works of art. This office on the first floor of the Roeselare brewery is a space which demonstrates that the preservation of Brouwerij Rodenbach’s cultural heritage dominates Rudi Ghequire’s life.
As a child, Rudi would help his parents on their farm and assist his mother in making butter, cheese, and bread. He eventually completed studies in agricultural engineering with the ambition to one day manage his own farm. But then, he accepted a job at the Rodenbach brewery soon after his studies finished in 1982.
“My dream when I was young was to be a farmer,” says Rudi. “It’s still in me, but I have learned there is more than only farming. Beer introduced me to a world that is an extension of farming.”
Rudi was joining a brewery and family with a celebrated history. In addition to being brewers, the Rodenbachs were soldiers, poets, writers, entrepreneurs, and politicians. The old brew house was built in 1864. The oak foeders, some aged 150 years old, are protected as industrial heritage in Belgium.
When Rudi started at Rodenbach, he worked with his predecessor, Jacques Lambert. After one year, Jacques retired, but before he did, he gave Rudi the Rodenbach brewing book which his father, Leon Lambert, had started writing in 1925. It contains all of the original recipes and raw materials used to brew the mixed fermentation beers for which Rodenbach had become famous. Now that this beer bible was in Rudi’s possession, it was his responsibility to keep it safe and to uphold the brewing techniques of Flemish Red Brown beer which had been passed down by previous generations of brewers.
“I discovered so many things here over the last 40 years,” says Rudi. “I obtained so much knowledge and gathered so many stories. Sharing knowledge is one of the most important things to me and I will share my knowledge about the brewery with anyone who wants to listen to me.”
Rudi’s five most cherished pieces in his office include a painting of Pieter Ferdinand Rodenbach, a map for blind people created by Alexander Rodenbach, the brewing book of Leon Lambert, the first constitution of Belgium (written in Flemish in 1852), and the first flag of Belgium from 1830.
Rudi says he’s always enjoyed history, but feels a special pride in collecting pieces which, in his words, “are the heart and soul of the brewery and Rodenbach family.”
Conserving this heritage has become a healthy obsession. “It is one of the ways to continue the legacy of this family and to keep them alive,” says Rudi. “And it is an honour.”
Sharing knowledge is one of the most important things to me and I will share my knowledge about the brewery with anyone who wants to listen to me.
Rudi Ghequire
