Goodbye to ‘Grandfather Geuze’ — Armand Debelder Dies at 70
Early on Sunday, March 6, 2022, Armand Debelder—known as “Opa Geuze” or “Grandfather Geuze”—passed away after a two-year battle with prostate cancer. His partner, Nancy Bossin, was with him at the end. The past years had been difficult, with the COVID-19 pandemic putting treatments on hold, and a recent diagnosis of diabetes further complicating matters.
Debelder spent decades doing the back-breaking physical labor of brewing, blending, and bottling Lambic during the beer style’s darkest times. He rallied his colleagues in the Pajottenland around him, establishing organizations and festivals which sought to protect the heritage of Geuze, many of which still exist today. And through his work ethic, obsession with quality, and his highly regarded palate, he created beautiful Geuzes which have thrilled people all over the world. He was a man driven by passion. He was open and generous. And he was a joyful conversationalist. His friend and colleague Frank Boon of Brouwerij Boon told me: “There is no such brewer or blender like Armand.”
THE THREE FOUNTAINS
Armand Debelder was born on October 26, 1951 in Halle—a city near Brussels, and close to the border between Flanders and Wallonia—in the farm buildings of his grandfather, also named Armand Debelder. Two years later, in 1953, his parents Gaston Debelder and Raymonde Dedoncker moved the family to the nearby municipality of Beersel and started blending Lambic, eventually buying a café on Herman Teirlinckplein called De 3 Fonteinen which would later become their family restaurant. Debelder’s sister Lieve was born in 1954, and his brother Guido in 1960. As the children grew, the family worked together, in the kitchen and in the blendery, delighting guests from all over the Pajottenland with their Flemish stew and bottles of Geuze.
“He was kind,” says Guido Debelder. “He was passionate about beer. And he was passionate about food.” Armand Debelder went to hotel school in Anderlecht in the early 1970s, but he was always more drawn to the blendery than the kitchen. The Debelder brothers lived under the same roof for 42 years; for 25 years of that Armand and his first wife Lieve Heymans lived on the floor directly above Guido and his wife Thérèse Vergels. “I took breakfast more with him than with my wife,” says Guido fondly. Every year, they would close the restaurant for two weeks and go skiing in France, Austria, or Switzerland. In 2002, Armand moved to the house in front of the brewery, right behind the restaurant. He was made an “honorary citizen” (“ereburger”) of Beersel in 2006.
In the 1980s and early 1990s, Armand Debelder took over much of the blending work at the 3 Fonteinen restaurant. At the time, many of the barrels were in poor condition and the temperatures at which they were stored were more suited to the utility space of a restaurant basement than a Lambic maturation cellar. It was also a time when Lambic producers were disappearing, as consumer tastes seemed to move to sweeter beverages and multinationals bought up smaller breweries and put them out of business. Rather than give up, Debelder rallied, striking up a friendship with Boon, another local brewer who himself was keen to see small Lambic operations survive.
The relationship with Boon, from whom Debelder also bought wort, flourished into an important partnership. Even though the men were very different in temperament—Boon is known as “The Professor” and Debelder as “The Artist”—they became good friends and successful collaborators.
THE HIGH COUNCIL
In 1997, Debelder became the first chairperson of new organization HORAL, the Hoge Raad voor Ambachtelijke Lambiekbieren (High Council for Artisanal Lambic Beers). Given the strong-willed nature and disparate visions of the remaining independent Lambic brewers in the region, it was a role that required skills of persuasion and the ability to influence. “Every time that he needed someone, he could have someone,” says Boon of Debelder. “He could convince everyone.”
In the same year, Debelder and HORAL launched the Toer de Geuze, a celebration of Lambic culture during which all HORAL members—at that time, 3 Fonteinen, Boon, De Cam, De Troch, Lindemans, and Timmermans—opened their doors to the public on the same weekend. They also released the first HORAL Megablend, a symbolic blend which contained Lambics from all six of the founding brewers and blenders in the organization. HORAL meetings chaired by Debelder were not affairs with formal agendas and were not followed up with minutes or action plans. “There were no reports of his meetings,” recalls Boon. “They were evenings of creativity, and good ideas, and lots of stories. It was always past midnight when we finished the meeting.”
There were no reports of his [HORAL] meetings. They were evenings of creativity, and good ideas, and lots of stories. It was always past midnight when we finished the meeting.
In 2018, Debelder and 3 Fonteinen parted ways with HORAL over differences of opinion about how Lambic heritage should be protected, including issues relating to Geuze dispense and an objection to less traditional beers that were being produced by members within the group. But the current vitality of the organization is in no small part due to Debelder’s work, leadership, and charisma during the 18 years of his chairmanship. Today, HORAL is 11 members strong (with newer additions including Hanssens, Mort Subite, Oud Beersel, Tilquin, Lambiek Fabriek, and Den Herberg), and the group attracts thousands of people to their Toer de Geuze event biannually.
“Armand touched many people deeply with his passion and love for the craft and heritage of Lambic,” says Gert Christiaens, current chairperson of HORAL and owner of Oud Beersel. “The Lambic brewers and Geuze blenders of HORAL are deeply grateful for his outstanding contribution to the revival of Lambic beers and cherish their many memories of Armand.”
THE THERMOSTAT INCIDENT
On the morning of May 16, 2009, Debelder went to work at 3 Fonteinen to find that a faulty thermostat in his conditioning room had caused 13,000 bottles of Geuze to explode, and a further 67,000 bottles to be ruined. “I just went into the room and the bottles were exploding around me,” Debelder once told me of the incident. Though he was devastated at losing so many years of work in one morning, and though the business was suddenly on the brink of bankruptcy, Debelder’s second wife, Lydie Hulpiau, encouraged him to continue.
Debelder distilled what was in the remaining bottles. The release—Armand’Spirit (40% ABV)—sold out within hours. His brew kit was sold so he could access funds, and the Boon and Lindemans families extended him lines of credit on wort so he could continue to blend. International brewers, including Pete Slosberg of Pete’s Brewing Company and Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, arranged initiatives to support 3 Fonteinen. In 2012, Debelder was able to buy another brew kit.
Armand touched many people deeply with his passion and love for the craft and heritage of Lambic. The Lambic brewers and Geuze blenders of HORAL are deeply grateful for his outstanding contribution to the revival of Lambic beers and cherish their many memories of Armand.
3 Fonteinen’s Geuze blends had always impressed, but soon Debelder’s beers began finding new audiences in Belgium and in international markets. In 2015, beer-rating website Ratebeer named 3 Fonteinen the best brewery in Belgium, and the third-best brewery in the world. 3 Fonteinen’s Geuzes found acclaim for their soft, balanced acidity, and their complex fruitiness, particularly their green apple, apricot, and occasional grapefruit character. They became synonymous with tradition and quality. And they propelled Armand Debelder into international beer stardom.
SUCCESSION
Debelder did not have any children. In 2014, a transitional succession period began during which Michaël Blancquaert and Werner Van Obberghen took over the reins at 3 Fonteinen. Debelder had been working with both young men for some time: Blancquaert was his assistant and then blending partner. Van Obberghen would drink Geuze on the terrace of the 3 Fonteinen restaurant as a teenager, and over the years Debelder engaged him in hours of discussion about the strategic possibilities for the future of 3 Fonteinen. Debelder soon came to cherish Blancquaert’s work ethic and talent as a blender, and Van Obberghen’s skills in strategic thinking. Importantly, both shared Armand’s obsession with values such as quality and tradition. He often described the pair as “the sons I never had.”
In collaboration with Debelder, Blancquaert and Van Obberghen moved operations to a new facility in neighboring Lot in 2018, which housed the barrels and foeders, the bottling and labeling line, all of the conditioning bottles, a full tasting room, and a retail shop. They christened it the Lambik-o-droom, invoking the sense of an arena and punning on the word “droom” (which translates to “dream”). They rebranded 3 Fonteinen in a way which modernized it, but ensured it respected Debelder’s blending legacy at the restaurant.
They also launched a cereal collective with local farmers to revive old varieties of barley and wheat used in Lambic, an idea inspired by Debelder, who felt they had to “go back to their own garden” in seeking to further protect Lambic tradition. “We will not even try to fit the shoes of Armand because it’s impossible,” says Van Obberghen. “But we will continue to walk down the line that Armand created for 3 Fonteinen.”
We will not even try to fit the shoes of Armand because it’s impossible. But we will continue to walk down the line that Armand created for 3 Fonteinen.
What’s noticeable from the outpouring of messages in the past few days since Debelder’s death is just how many people carry personal memories of their interactions with him: private tours he gave them of the foeder room; vintage bottles he shared with people late into the night; his theatrical pours—what he described as his “show”—setting up long, passionate conversations. “That’s who Armand was,” says Van Obberghen. “By just a few words, he could relate to people and inspire them.”
I have my own personal memories of Armand Debelder. I interviewed him on several occasions. I shared beers with him and ate alongside him. I even brewed with him on one occasion. What I’ll remember is the tweed cap, the colorful scarves, and the cheeky smile. I’ll remember the steadfast Flemish farmer’s son turned blender who fought his whole life to preserve the integrity of the drink which represented who he was and where he came from. And I’ll remember the kind, gentle artist, a man complex in character, spontaneous in nature, and beautiful at heart.
There will be a private family ceremony to say farewell, and his ashes will be scattered at the 3 Fonteinen Brewery at a later date. Rather than flowers or wreaths, he requested that those wishing to send a gift instead donate to the Kinderkankerfonds (“Children’s Cancer Fund”) with the message: “In memoriam Armand Debelder.”
Words by Breandán KearneyIllustrations by Colette Holston