BELGIAN BEER · BREWERIES ON FOOT
Bruges bythe glass
In a country that treats beer like wine, Bruges pours some of the best — and you can walk the whole story, from a working brewery to a candlelit café, without leaving the centre.
Start at a brewery, finish in a brown café
Belgium has hundreds of beers and the glassware to match. You don't need to be an expert — you need a seat, an hour, and someone to point you past the obvious. Start at a brewery; finish in a brown café.
The working brewery
De Halve Maan has brewed in the heart of Bruges since 1856, six generations of the same family, and is the last working brewery in the old centre. Its most Bruges quirk: an underground pipeline that pumps beer beneath the medieval streets to its bottling plant. Tour it, then drink it in the courtyard.
MORE TO TOUR
Canal-side brewing and a tasting bar
Bruges keeps its brewing history close: Bourgogne des Flandres brews and pours beside a canal, and the Bruges Beer Experience walks you through how it's all made — and how to pair it — with a tasting bar at the end.
Drink like a local
The real education happens in the brown cafés: a blonde, an amber, a heavy dark, each in its own glass. Order a trio, take your time, and let the barman steer you — that's how you find the one you'll miss when you get home.
GOOD TO KNOW
Questions
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De Halve Maan, the last working brewery in the centre, runs tours; Bourgogne des Flandres brews by the canal.
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De Halve Maan pumps its beer through an underground pipe from the brewery to its bottling plant outside the centre.
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Any good brown café — look for a long list and proper glassware rather than a tourist terrace.
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In season, yes — they fill up; book ahead.
IN THE MIDDLE OF IT
A short walk home from the last round
Four suites in the middle of it — book direct and save 5%.
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