De Gouden Boom Moves Beer Production from Bruges to Steenhuffel

In 2004, De Gouden Boom’s beer production moved from Bruges to Steenhuffel, where Palm operated its brewery. Palm had fully taken over De Gouden Boom in 2003. The move ended production at the Bruges brewery on the Langestraat and placed its beers within Palm’s production operation. The transfer changed the relationship between a brewery’s local identity and the place where its beer was made. Bruges’s municipal account records the relocation when explaining the city’s later use of “brewed in Bruges” as a criterion for beers served at official receptions. De Gouden Boom’s history thus includes a distinct shift from a city brewery to production outside Bruges.