Silly

Silly

Brasserie de Silly is one of the most traditional family breweries in Belgium and was founded in 1850 by Marcelin Hypolite Mynbrughen in Silly, a small village in Hainaut about 40 kilometres south-west of Brussels in the triangle between Ath, Enghien and Soignies. The brewery arose on the large farm Cense de la Tour, where, as on many farms in the region in the 19th century, seasonal beer, the so-called saison, was brewed with barley and hops for the farm workers. In 1900 Marcelin's son Adelin won a silver medal at the World Exhibition in Paris and thereby placed the brewery on the international stage, and in the First World War his son Adelin junior developed, with the help of English soldiers passing through, a new beer from which Scotch Silly later emerged. In 1947 farming ended, and the business concentrated entirely on brewing top-fermented beers such as Grisette, Saison and Scotch.

From 1950 the brewery, supported by a growing network of cafés, introduced its first bottom-fermented beer, a pils now known as Silly Pils. In the family line, Adelin junior was followed by his son-in-law José Van der Haegen, who handed the brewery over to his two sons in 1973, and the business received the name Brasserie de Silly while keeping the logo of Saint Michael. In 1975 the brewery took over Brasserie Tennstedt-Decroes in Enghien and thereby added the Double Enghien beer family to its range, and in 1990 the witbier Titje, also known as Blanche de Silly, and the abbey beer La Divine were added, followed in 2004 by the fruity Pink Killer made with grapefruit juice. In 2000 the brothers also succeeded in acquiring an almost new brewing installation at the public auction of Brasserie d'Aubel.

Today Brasserie de Silly is run in the sixth generation by cousins Lionel and Bertrand Van der Haegen and celebrated its 175th anniversary in 2025. The range extends from classics such as Saison Silly, Scotch Silly at 7.5% ABV and Silly Pils, through the strong beers Double Enghien Blonde and Brune and the Christmas beer Enghien Noël at 9.0% ABV, to the abbey beer Abbaye de Forest at 6.5% ABV and the strong La Divine at 9.5% ABV. Newer creations such as Green Killer IPA, Silly Session IPA and Silly Kriek complete the series, and the brewery has also built up a strong segment of organically produced beers. Thanks to export success and its quality image, Brasserie de Silly has grown steadily and shows how a farm brewing operation can develop into an internationally valued family brewery without losing its artisanal roots.