Brouwerij De Halve Maan
Brewery
About this Brewery
Place: Brugge (Bruges)
Brouwerij De Halve Maan is a family brewery in the historic centre of Brugge, with roots stretching back several centuries. The current brewery was established in its present form in 1856 by the Maes family, who revived brewing on the Walplein site. Six generations later, the brewery remains family owned.
The brewery is particularly known for maintaining brewing within the historic city itself. Its modern beers include Brugse Zot and Straffe Hendrik, while Blanche de Bruges represents the revival of a traditional Bruges wheat beer.
In 2016, De Halve Maan completed an unusual beer pipeline project, allowing finished beer to be transported beneath the city from the brewery to its bottling facilities approximately 3.3 kms outside of Brugge close to the city's main hospital, avoiding tanker traffic through the historic centre. On a recent tour of the brewery, our guide suggested this made the hospital 'the happiest in Belgium'!
The brewery also operates a popular visitor experience, combining brewing history with views over the historic city.
Address: Brouwerij De Halve Maan, Walplein 26, 8000 Brugge
Tel: +32 (0)50 33 26 97
Glasses in this collection
Curator's Note
The 45-minute tour of Brouwerij De Halve Maan is an excellent way to learn about the history of this important part of Brugge’s brewing scene. Visitors move through both the working brewery and historic areas of the site, with clever use of video and animation helping to bring the story to life. The rooftop views across Brugge are excellent, but there are a lot of stairs, many of them steep, so the tour is not suitable for visitors with limited mobility.
Tours are offered in small groups of up to fifteen people and in several languages. The standard tour includes a complimentary beer in the brewery bar at the end. An enhanced weekend tour is also available and includes three beers to sample, so it is worth checking carefully which version you are booking.
The on-site shop, courtyard seating and indoor bar and restaurant are all open to visitors, even if you are not taking a brewery tour. The courtyard is particularly pleasant in good weather. The food is hearty and good quality, and on our visit the staff were extremely friendly and welcoming.