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Wine / Spirits Education in Bruges
The best-preserved medieval city in Flanders, a UNESCO World Heritage site of canals, brick gables and market squares in the northwest of Belgium. Once one of Europe's great trading and banking centres, it is now a walkable old town famous for Flemish Primitive painting, chocolate and working breweries.
Why here
Bruges is the best place in Belgium to learn how the country's beer is actually made, in two working breweries you can walk between in the old centre. Belgian brewing sits on the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage, and its range, from the golden Brugse Zot to sour reds, lambics and the strong abbey-style Straffe Hendrik, is unusually deep. De Halve Maan has brewed on the Walplein since 1856 and is still run by the sixth generation of the founding family, with a tour that climbs the historic brewing floors to a rooftop view before a tasting. A short walk away on the Wollestraat, Bourgogne des Flandres runs a combined brewery and distillery whose guided visit ends in the barrel cellar with a canal-side tasting. Both explain the ingredients, the fermentation styles and the tasting vocabulary rather than simply pouring samples, so you leave able to read a Belgian beer list with some idea of what you are choosing.
Best months
Both breweries run guided tours year-round and are entirely indoors, so this works in any weather and is a strong rainy-day option in Bruges. Tours run several times a day, in English among other languages, and last around forty-five minutes to an hour including the tasting. Book ahead in summer and over holiday weekends, when slots fill. The De Halve Maan tour includes 220 steep steps to the rooftop, so it is less suitable for anyone with limited mobility.
Getting there & around
Bruges station is about a twenty-minute walk or a short bus ride from the historic core, and both breweries sit within a few minutes of the Markt and the Begijnhof, so no car is needed. De Halve Maan is on the Walplein and Bourgogne des Flandres on the Wollestraat, an easy walk apart. Book tour slots online in advance, especially in summer, and allow time to sit with the beer afterwards rather than rushing between the two.
Skill levels: beginner, intermediate
Schools & guides (2)
Bourgogne des Flandres
OutfitterBourgogne des Flandres brews and distils in the heart of Bruges on the Wollestraat beside a canal, having returned its production to the inner city after decades away. The house traces its roots to 1765 and is known for its Bourgogne des Flandres, a blend of a top-fermented brown beer with a spontaneously fermented lambic. Its guided visit runs from the malt attic down to the oak barrels of the distillery, where it also makes gin and jenever, and finishes with a tasting on a canal-side terrace.
De Halve Maan
OutfitterBrewery De Halve Maan has brewed on the Walplein in central Bruges since 1856, when Henri Maes began the business, and is still run by the sixth generation of the family. It is the last working family brewery in the historic core, and its guided tour climbs the old brewing floors to a rooftop view before a fresh beer. In 2016 it laid a two-mile underground pipeline to carry beer to its bottling plant. Its beers include Brugse Zot and the stronger Straffe Hendrik.