The history of the brewery dates back to 1679. At the end of the eighteenth century, Jacobus Liefmans settled in Oudenaarde and gave the brewery its name. It was around 1900 that Liefmans started filling maturation tanks with black cherries, on a small scale. Local farmers brought their excess crops of black cherries to Liefmans and swapped them for beer. One individual who played a key part in this was Rosa Merckx. She was closely involved in the brewery’s operations over several decades. Thanks to her encouragement, the cherry beer evolved into a real success story.