The Belgian brewery Liefmans is known for its love of a very special ingredient: at Liefmans, everything revolves around the cherry.
The red summer fruit played a major role as early as the early 20th century: local farmers brought the fruit to the brewery when they had a surplus and received fresh beer in return. This ensured that Liefmans always had enough cherries for their wonderful beer creations and the farmers didn't have to let any cherries go to waste. The brewers used the aromatic fruit to create fine beers such as Kriek, which is characterized by its fruity acidity and the sweetness of sun-ripened cherries. Fruit beers are a Belgian specialty and taste particularly excellent in summer. The playful lightness, the fresh fruit and the bitterness of the beer harmonize in a unique way and result in a very special beer experience.
When talking about the Liefmans Brewery, one name cannot be left unmentioned: Rosa Merckx. She was a pioneer in the Belgian beer scene and the first woman in the country to be both a master brewer and a leading brewer in a brewery. She is a shining example for many young female brewers and paved the way for her peers into the Belgian brewing scene. Rosa was a revolutionary from a young age. She was the first woman in her hometown to drive a car, was fluent in three languages and played basketball in her free time. Her career at the Liefmans Brewery did not begin in the brewhouse, however, but at the typewriter. The young woman began working as a secretary for the brewery boss in 1946. However, the boss soon discovered that Rosa had a good palate for beer tasting and occasionally consulted her on decisions. Her curiosity was aroused and she was entrusted with smaller jobs in the brewery. Shortly afterwards, she and her boss were brewing their first beers, and it was clear that Rosa had a knack for brewing and the beer market. Rosa adapted the brewery's product range to suit modern Belgian tastes, leading Liefmans to great success. Ideas such as beer bottles wrapped in tissue paper gave the beers a feminine, elegant and classy flair and expanded the target audience enormously. When her boss died, his family appointed her as his successor. Today, the grand dame of Belgian beer no longer works, but she still lives near the brewery.
Rosa Merckx’s signature can still be found on the labels of all of the brewery’s bottles — a small homage to a heroine of Belgian beer.
