Address:
Breendonk-Dorp 58,
2870 Puurs
Belgium

Founded: 1891
www.duvel.be

Mindful of the end of the First World War, the new beer was originally called ‘Victory Ale’. However, a shoemaker called Van De Wouwer had other ideas when he tasted it: He described the beer as "een echte Duvel" (a real devil). Divine inspiration? From 1923 onwards, the beer was marketed under this name – no mean feat in the Catholic Flanders of the time.

Production began slowly with just a few crates in 1923. The big breakthrough came in the 1970s when, thanks to a well thought-out marketing strategy, more and more people began to discover and appreciate the qualities of this unique beer. Real enthusiasts may well know that there is also a variant of the classic red Duvel, called green Duvel.

This was created in the 1960s for the Gentse Feesten or Ghent Festival, where there was a demand for a lighter beer. Green Duvel is still available today in the core region around the brewery and at a number of select hotel and catering outlets in Brussels. As a tribute to its successful beer, when the group was listed on the stock market in 1999 its name was changed from Moortgat brewery to Duvel Moortgat.