The brewery was founded in 1900 by Paul Cantillon, whose father was also a brewer, and his wife, Marie Troch.
As of 2011, the owner is Jean-Pierre van Roy, the fourth-generation brewer at Cantillon. Since launch, the only major change has been a shift to organic ingredients in 1999.
Cantillon was one of more than one hundred operating breweries in Brussels when founded, and was the only one to remain operational through the 2000.
In 2014, van Roy announced that the brewery would be acquiring more maturation space, effectively doubling production by 2016–17.
Cantillon produces 400,000 bottles of beer a year.