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A TRADITION BORN IN 1549
Holy Roman Emperor King Charles V visited medieval
Brussels in 1549 with hundreds from his Royal Court. To
welcome the King, merchants, vendors, cooks, brewers,
musicians, troupes, dancers and more lined up around
the city walls and joined in a celebration as his entourage
passed by. That parade became known as the “Omme-
gang,” a word that variously means “coming together”
and “walking about.” The Brussels Ommegang Festival
continues to this day.
THE FIRST FARMHOUSE BREWERY IN AMERICA IN
100+ YEARS
Belgian breweries Duvel Moortgat, Affligem, and Scald-
is join with importers/entrepreneurs Don Feinberg and
Wendy Littlefield to build an authentic Belgian-style
farmstead brewery in Cooperstown, NY. They locate this
cultural transplant on an old 140-acre hop farm in the
Susquehanna River valley, in a part of upstate New York
once known as Nova Belgium.
