In 2011, 35-year-old Krishan Maudgal was asked to write a feasibility study on creating a Belgian beer experience center in the iconic Bourse building in Brussels.
It was years before UNESCO would recognize Belgium’s beer culture as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, and the more Maudgal looked into it, the more challenges he found: The huge costs would require a robust public-private partnership; there would be a long and varied list of strong-willed stakeholders with high and often contrasting expectations; and there would be architectural complexity in renovating one of the country’s most beloved buildings.
In 2023, as director of the Federation of Belgian Brewers, Maudgal is able to celebrate that beer experience center, now open and christened “Belgian Beer World.” Serving as project director, he guided the attraction to its grand opening on September 9 and in its first three months attracted more than 20,000 visitors. Maudgal hopes it will eventually receive 400,000 visitors a year, making it one of Brussels’ top tourist attractions.
Its opening is the most significant event to have taken place in Belgian beer in 2023—a long and complex project that, without Maudgal’s vision, political wrangling, and dogged determination, might not have gotten over the line at all. His efforts were full of relationship management, political maneuvering, and attention to compromise, which included addressing criticisms to not favor certain breweries or businesses big or small—Belgian Beer World is mostly brand agnostic. And given Belgian Beer World’s iconic location in a 19th century building, Maudgal had to work for years to ensure the integrity of the ambitious renovation, as well as to allay the fears of architectural groups critical of the plans.
In the end, no other country in the world has a national beer experience center costing €100 million, supported by the government, and housed in one of the most iconic buildings in the city center of its capital. Krishan Maudgal’s 2023 was one to remember.
Words,Breandán Kearney