In 1872, Jules Vanneste bought the ‘t Hamerken distillery. In 1889, he took the step of definitively converting the distillery into a brewery. Soon, ‘t Hamerken top-fermentation beers became a household name in the Bruges area. Brewing continued till 1982.

In 1983, Paul Vanneste (great-grandson of the founder) founded the new De Gouden Boom brewery in collaboration with Frank Boon Brewery from Lembeek. In 1985 Brouwerij De Gouden Boom is granted a licence to brew the STEENBRUGGE abbey beers.

On 16 November 2001, PALM brewery acquired a majority interest in Brouwerij De Gouden Boom and in 2003 it was completely taken over by Palm Brewery. In the same year the Prior of St Peter’s Abbey in Steenbrugge licensed PALM Breweries to brew STEENBRUGGE abbey beers.

Since 2004 production of Bruges beers has been relocated to the PALM Breweries site in Steenhuffel.