Situated in the shadow of the 17th century St-Michel’s Church, the traditional Strubbe Brewery, the Virgin of Ghent - as she used to be called, is as old as the country. In 1830, one Carolus Strubbe left the trading town of Tielt to try his luck in Ichtegem, a town well known for its flax industry. He became a farmer and brewer there: in summer, he tilled the land, and in winter he worked on the malt floor with his stirring barrel. At the time, most brewers grew their own raw materials, not only barley and grains, but some of them even grew their own hops. They made their barrels and tanks thereselves or at least restored them themselves; most of the time with oak from their very own trees. The family business boasts six generations of ownership.