De Koninck Brewery, Antwerp: Tours, Tastings and the Bolleke
Plan a visit to Stadsbrouwerij De Koninck in Antwerp: the interactive tour, beer and food tastings, Sunday sessions and what the bolleke actually is.
On this page
De Koninck is Antwerp's city brewery, a working site on Mechelsesteenweg south of the old centre where the bolleke is brewed and where visits are built around guided tastings. Allow roughly ninety minutes for a full tasting, plus extra if you add the interactive tour, and expect to book rather than walk in. This guide separates the tour from the tasting formats, explains who can book what, and sets out the prices, timings and opening days as the brewery publishes them.
Where the brewery sits on Mechelsesteenweg
Stadsbrouwerij De Koninck stands at Mechelsesteenweg 291 in the 2018 district, on the road running south-east out of the city towards Mechelen. It sits outside the compact core of the Grote Markt and the cathedral, so treat it as a short tram or bus ride from the centre rather than a stroll between other sights. The brewery's own site publishes the address and contact details, and it is the page to use when planning the journey.
The building is a city brewery rather than a rural visitor farm: you are visiting an urban production site that has been opened up for tours and tastings. Group the visit with the south-eastern side of Antwerp or with a return through the centre, and give yourself a clear start time because tasting slots are booked rather than joined on arrival.
The bolleke: the beer, the glass and what to order
The bolleke is De Koninck's signature beer, and the word doubles as the local name for the rounded glass it is served in. If you only want to taste rather than tour, the brewery bar is the straightforward option: the site runs bars and restaurants alongside the brewing side. Tripel d'Anvers, a stronger golden beer, is the brewery's other well-known label, and the tasting line-ups draw on De Koninck beers alongside beers from Duvel Moortgat.
Ordering a bolleke in the bar is the cheapest way to meet the beer itself, and it is worth doing before a tasting so you arrive knowing whether you like the house style. Brewing at De Koninck now sits within the Duvel Moortgat group, whose better-known brewery in Puurs is covered separately if you want to compare the two visitor experiences.
The interactive tour
The interactive tour is priced as a supplement per person on top of a tasting, not as a standalone headline ticket in its own right. Because it attaches to a tasting booking, the practical decision is which tasting format you want first, then whether to add the tour to it. The brewery lists the tour as an optional extra on its tasting request form.
Allow for the tour to extend your visit beyond the ninety minutes a full tasting takes, and book it in the same request so the timing works. If your time in Antwerp is tight, the ninety-minute tasting alone delivers the beer without the extra walking and standing.
Beer and food tastings: Cheese, Meat, Chocolate and Mix
The Meet The Crafts tastings pair five De Koninck and Duvel Moortgat beers with five matching bites, and the line-up comes in four full versions. Cheese uses five cheeses from Kaasaffineurs Van Tricht, Meat uses five cuts from Butcher's Store, Chocolate uses five chocolates from Jitsk, and Mix spreads the pairing across beer with cheese, meat and chocolate together. A brewer's sommelier leads the session, talking through the brewery's history, beer styles and brewing process while you taste.
There is also a Mini tasting — three beers with one cheese, one meat and one chocolate — that runs about 45 minutes and suits a tighter schedule or a lighter appetite. Full tastings run roughly 1 hour 30 minutes and can be booked in Dutch or English, which makes them workable for British and American visitors without a Dutch speaker in the party.
Sunday Tastings: joining a session without a group of ten
Standard Meet The Crafts tastings are reserved for groups of ten or more, so a couple or a solo traveller cannot simply book a place on one. The brewery's answer is the Sunday Tastings: small-group sessions held every Sunday where you join other visitors rather than bringing your own ten. Places are reservation-only, so book the Sunday slot rather than turning up hoping for a space.
For a short Antwerp break, the Sunday session is the practical route to a guided tasting without recruiting a group. If your trip does not include a Sunday, a private tasting with a group of ten or more is the alternative for the full guided format, and the bar is there for a bolleke without a booking.
Private tastings for groups of ten or more
Groups of ten or more can book a private tasting, choosing one of the three craft formats or working through all of them with the brewery's own sommelier. The booking must be made at least one week in advance, and requests can be submitted in Dutch or English for a start time. Each tasting lasts about 1 hour 30 minutes.
Submitting the form is a request rather than a confirmed reservation: the brewery checks availability and replies to confirm, so keep an eye on your spam folder for the answer. Plan the rest of the day around a provisional slot rather than a guaranteed one until the confirmation arrives.
Prices for tastings and the tour supplement
Tastings are priced per person for the Mini and the full Meet The Crafts formats, with the brewery tour adding a per-person charge on top. Groups below ten are charged a minimum depending on the formula chosen, which is the trade-off to weigh before booking a small private session. A no-show fee applies if the group fails to turn up.
Work out the per-head cost before you commit a group, because the minimum spend can make a party of six or seven pay well above the headline rate. A Sunday Tasting sidesteps the ten-person minimum and is the practical route for couples and solo visitors.
Opening hours by day, including the Monday closure
The brewery is closed on Mondays. From Tuesday to Sunday the tour operates, while the bar closes earlier on Tuesday and Wednesday and later from Thursday to Sunday, and stays shut on Monday with the rest of the site. Use the earlier closing on Tuesday and Wednesday if you plan to finish with a bolleke after a tasting.
The opening pattern makes Tuesday to Sunday the whole viable window, and Thursday onwards the better one if you want an evening in the bar. A Monday in Antwerp is the day to put the brewery aside and use the museums and churches elsewhere in the city instead.
Fitting De Koninck into a one-to-three-day Antwerp visit
On a one-day visit, treat De Koninck as a half-afternoon: a 90-minute tasting plus travel from the centre fills the slot without crowding out the cathedral and the Grote Markt. On two or three days, a Sunday Tasting or a bar stop can sit alongside a morning in the old centre, since the brewery is away from the core and does not compete with the historic sights for the same hours.
If you are collecting Belgian brewery visits across a trip, Antwerp's city brewery pairs naturally with the larger names in Flanders. Het Anker Brewery in Mechelen is on the same rail corridor towards Brussels, and the Stella Artois Brewery Tour in Leuven is a short onward hop, so the brewery visits can be threaded through a multi-city itinerary rather than concentrated in one place.
Practical notes: languages, location and getting there
Tastings can be booked in Dutch or English, which covers most British and American visitors without arranging an interpreter. The brewery sits on Mechelsesteenweg, reachable by public transport from the centre; check the current route and timing with the city's transport operator before setting out, since services change.
Bring the booking confirmation and arrive a little before your slot, because a tasting starts at its booked time rather than when the last guest wanders in. If you are combining the visit with a meal, the brewery's own bars and restaurants on site are the simplest option.
Which De Koninck booking suits your trip
Solo travellers and couples should aim for a Sunday Tasting, which sidesteps the ten-person minimum and gives the full guided format. Groups of ten or more should book a private tasting at least a week ahead, budget for the tour supplement if they want the interactive tour, and remember that smaller groups pay a minimum charge rather than the per-head rate.
For a shorter stop, the Mini tasting and a bolleke in the bar deliver the beer without committing 90 minutes, and Tuesday to Sunday is the window to work with. If you want to compare Belgian brewing styles in one trip, the brewery tours Belgium guide lays out the other city breweries worth adding.
Explore more Belgium guides
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to book a De Koninck tasting in advance?
Yes. All Meet The Crafts tastings are by reservation only, and private tastings for groups of ten or more must be requested at least one week before the visit. Submitting the form is a request rather than a confirmed booking, so wait for the brewery's confirmation before fixing your day around it.
How long does a De Koninck tasting last?
A full Meet The Crafts tasting runs about 1 hour 30 minutes, and the shorter Mini tasting takes roughly 45 minutes. Adding the interactive tour extends the visit beyond that, so allow extra time if you book the tour supplement alongside a tasting.
Can I visit De Koninck on a Monday?
No. The brewery is closed on Mondays, with tours running 11:00–17:30 from Tuesday to Sunday. The bar is open 11:00–19:00 on Tuesday and Wednesday and 11:00–22:00 from Thursday to Sunday, and is closed on Monday.
What is a bolleke?
Bolleke is the local name for De Koninck's signature beer and for the rounded glass it is served in. It is the drink to order in the brewery bar if you want to taste the house beer without booking a full tasting.
Sources
Useful notes for your next trip
Optional updates to our guides.
You might also like
Continue reading
More guides you'll find useful
.jpg){kind=link}