Brouwerij Palm

Commercial Brewery in Steenhuffel, Flemish Brabant, Belgium 🇧🇪
Owned by Bavaria Brouwerij (Swinkels Family Brewers)
Associated Venue: Palm Brewery

Established in 1706

Contact
Steenhuffeldorp 3, Steenhuffel, 1840, Belgium
Subsidiaries
Brouwerij Palm owns 2 breweries:
Description
Sometime before 1698 one Andries Van Doorselaer started renting a brewery next to the church in Steenhuffel; however, he was able to open his own brewery when he purchased the De Hoorn property across the street in 1706. In 1801 De Hoorn is sold by public auction to Jan Baptist De Mesmaecker and Clara Bastaerts. In 1908, his daughter Henriette De Mesmaecker married Arthur Van Roy, a descendant of a brewing family from Wieze.

Arthur kick-started the brewery’s industrial development in order to sell his beers far beyond the borders of the municipality. He also created his own “Spéciale Belge” brew. In 1929, Arthur Van Roy gave his “Spéciale Belge” the brand name “Spéciale PALM”. The brewery continued to grow before and after the second World War.

In 2014 Palm Breweries is renamed Palm Belgian Craft Brewers. A new micro-brewery is opened in order to experiment with new combinations of herbs, spices, hops, fruit and wood, and is named in honour of De Hoorn. At 10 hl, the capacity of the micro-brewery is almost exactly the same as that of the village brewery of days gone by.

On 9 May 2016, the Dutch brewery Bavaria N.V. (Swinkels Family Brewers) bought a majority stake in the company. Bavaria initially bought 60% of the shares and will expand this to 100% in 2021.

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4
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 4 | Flavor - 3 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 3

Very pale yellow, good white head,but not very stable. Quite grainy nose, grassy and soap or herbal shampoo-like. Abysmal sweet taste, corn flakes, maize. Saaz would implement Bohemian pilsener – virtually no bitterness or even hoparoma. Light, watery mouthfeel, with just the maize giving something. This makes a great dash at being Belgium’s worst pils – if it weren’t for Jupiler.

Tried on 15 Nov 2003 at 14:55


6.3
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6

Yellow-amber, clear. Broken white head, thin but lacey. Nose of worts/malt. Bananaester. Taste as of worts again; a bit bitterish as spiced with turmeric, caramel. Finish is maltdrink again, but especially characterised by a metaloxide taste. Bo-o-oring.

Tried on 24 Jul 2003 at 04:47


5.6
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5.5

Clear yellow, short head. Hoppy, bit sour malty aroma. Quite typical blond ale taste. Bit dry palate.

Tried on 23 Jun 2003 at 04:07


6.8
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

Palm ongefilterd (=unfiltered) is the cask-ale version of Palm, AFAIK only available in two selected Palm-outlets: the Brouwershuis in Steenhuffel, next to the brewery, and the Grand Café Horta, Kipdorp in Antwerpen. Orange-foxy colour, totally hazy. Thick white, very regular head. Yeasty nose, very much like green beer, some malts. Bitterish, but with a creamy texture from the yeast. Banana, fruit and even some cloveflavours. Lots of malts underneath. Here is some likeness to British real ale: like a strong draught mild. Exactly right carbonation, not fizzy. Aftertaste gives some sweetness, not cloying. Theoretically this is the same beer as the ubiquitous "Palm(ke)". In reality - worlds apart. In character it stands between a strong cask mild, a Bavarian Hefeweizen and a Belgian speciale. BTW, the big difference with British cask ale, is that this is REALLY unfiltered. No isinglass or suchlike fishy thingies. We're Belgian after all.

Tried from Cask on 27 May 2003 at 12:48


6.8
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7

Yellow-orange, amber shine, totally clear. Medium-thick, creamy white head, slowly fading. Nose gives a bit of candi sugar, some hops, something piney as well. Reasonably fresh-smelling. Sweet-bitter taste, liquorice. Retronasal some fine hops, and more sweetness, brandy-like. Only medium-bodied. Liquorice gives 'false' body-impression. Alcohol is very much there, quite dry. Mitigated feelings. I don't like liquorice-flavour. Apart from that, the beer has its points. "Royal" is brewed for the 90th birthday of Palms' family godfather. It is not unlike the defunct Aerts spéciale, once by the same brewery. The name isn't new either. Roy-ale used to be the spéciale Belge from Van Roy brewery at Wieze. "Spéciale Belge" is the old Belgian name for the Belgian version of pale ale.

Tried from Can on 26 May 2003 at 12:05


5.4
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 4 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 5.5

[Draft] An amber beer with next to no head and no aroma. The flavor is funny, fresh, with notes of raspberries. It is a little watery in the middle and ends on a slight bitterness with some fruit notes. Nothing special - too thin. I was disappointed compared to Palm Speciale.

Tried from Draft on 05 May 2003 at 10:59


7.5
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8

An amber beer with a good head. The aroma is sweet, fruity, and malty. ANd the flavor is soft, sweet of a good maltblend, and slightly bitter. A really good beer.

Tried on 30 Mar 2003 at 02:39


5.3
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 5

Rerate 17/12/03: Amber colour, white head, no bubbles. Little bit malty sweet-rotten aroma. The flavour starts malt-sweet and ends malt. Quite dark amber beer. Very malt aroma and dito flavour.

Tried on 04 Jan 2003 at 13:45


7.4
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

Palm Hergist (750 ml refermentating) version: Slightly hazy, copper color. Head is creamy, medium sized and medium lasting. Small yeast particles float around. Spicy and fruity aroma, some malts, and a hint of iron. Taste is soft malty, spicy and refreshing. Palate is slightly metallic, medium lingering. IMO better than the normal Palm Speciale.

Tried on 04 Jan 2003 at 01:50


4.8
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 4 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 4

golden brown colour. smells like hop, wheat. No special flavour............

Tried on 11 Nov 2002 at 22:59