Willemine Dickeldorm was fed up. Not even her stunning looks could cheer her up anymore. Nor the fact that she was the heir to the town’s prosperous brewery. Because in all honesty she loathed the beers that came out of Brouwerij Dickeldorm. 90% of their production was a plain Pilsner made with unsophisticated local hops, adding nothing but a crude bitterness. And then there was their range of cloyingly sweet Abbey-style beers. Oh, the horror! Willemine wanted freshness and high quaffability, and since she was actually a skilled brewer herself, she started doing weekend experiments on the brewery’s small pilot system. Her dad would giggle in secret, but found it wisest to let her carry on. And that’s how Belgian Witbier took shape, with local wheat from Flanders fields which was abundant and of much higher quality than the local hops. And since she absolutely loved orange curaçao, dried orange peel also found its way into her beer, paired with her favorite spice, coriander seeds. The first batch of the pale, milky beer sold out in no time. So did the next one, and the next. Her dad was confused to see that even the local males would demand the bier he had described as a lady’s drink only. And when Willemine, now lovingly referred to as Madame WitteWit by the locals, took over the brewery, she made it Belgium’s first exclusive Witbier brewery. And the rest, as they say, is history.
