Brouwerij De Halve Maan Brewery Tour

Brouwerij De Halve Maan is the last working brewery inside the historic centre of Bruges, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. The brewery occupies a cluster of buildings on Walplein in the Sint-Anna quarter, a short walk from the Church of Our Lady and the Begijnhof. Beer has been brewed on the site since the 16th century, and the Maes family has run it under the De Halve Maan name since 1856, making it a long-standing family business now in its sixth generation. The brewery is best known for Brugse Zot, a blonde ale, and Straffe Hendrik, a stronger tripel and quadrupel range. The guided tour lasts about one hour and follows the brewing process from grain to glass. Visitors walk through the brewhouse, the old malting floor, the cooling attic and the cellars, while the guide explains how the family kept brewing through the decades when most city breweries closed. A highlight is the climb to the roof, which gives a wide view over the red-tiled rooftops and towers of the old town. The tour also covers the beer pipeline, a roughly three-kilometre underground pipe that carries beer from the brewery to a bottling plant outside the centre, which keeps trucks out of the medieval streets. The ticket, listed at EUR 18-20 per adult, includes a guided tour and a beer, usually served in the brewery's own cafe at the end. Tours run in several languages, with English, Dutch, French and German commonly offered, and groups are mixed, so the pace is that of a standard museum-style tour rather than a private tasting. Because the route involves narrow stairs, the roof section is not suitable for everyone, and the tour is a tasting of one beer rather than a full flight. Food is not part of the standard ticket, but the brewery restaurant next door serves dishes made with the house beers for visitors who want a meal afterwards. Dietary substitutions are not relevant to the tour itself, although non-alcoholic drinks can be arranged for children and drivers. Booking ahead online is sensible in summer and on weekends, when time slots fill.