I am backpacking Europe in July for a month. My friend and I will be going to Leuven to see the Stella Artois Brewery. Since Belgium is known for it's beer, we would like to see more. We were thinking of going to Bruges, Belgium to visit the De Halve Maan brewery. There isn't much info online other than you taste the beer(if that wasn't obvious) and you get to visit the top of the building. I'd like to know if it's worth going to and about how much beer do you get to try. I'm assuming it's only going to be one beer. I'm fine with that, but I'd like to have an idea. Thanks in advance.
Posted by
New Paltz, NY
9110 posts
De Halve is a must-see attraction. It's a working brewery, all of the company's beer is brewed on-site and shipped off to a modern bottling facility on the outskirts of the city. It's housed in a historic building which is part of a beautiful UNESCO world heritage district. The tour takes you through the entire building showing off it's current manufacturing equipment, and also their older out of commission equipment. There are other room with vintage bottles. history, and other exhibits. The tour guide is a lot of fun and usually works the crowd very well;) At the end of the tour you'll be given one free glass of beer, anything in additional is available at the on site bar or restaurant at additional cost.
Here is a taste of the area around the brewery:
Posted by
Columbus, OH, USA
2094 posts
We had a very similar experience as described by Michael. We took the tour because it was raining one afternoon, but it was quite interesting and a lot of fun. Then, you could sign up for the English speaking tour, those times were posted. Maybe we had the same guide as Michael...he was hysterical and took every opportunity to praise Belgian beer at the expense of every other nationality's "beer" in our group. Good natured, everyone had a fine time. Maybe lasted an hour, or an hour and a half? Don't recall how much beer we had, one I guess, but the room itself was pretty and as pleasant as the rest of the tour. Try it for sure.
Posted by
OP
9 posts
Thanks for the replies. One last thing, not related to this brewery. Is the Stella Artois brewery only open on the weekends in July?
Posted by
New York City, NY, USA
5678 posts
It sure looks like they are only open weekends, but why don't you email and confirm? It looks like there is a tourist email here.
I also have to confirm that this tour and the building and the beer are all wonderful. I took the tour after having lunch in the beer garden. I met young Scottish couple on the tour. It was a very hot day, so we ended up spending the afternoon in the Beer Garden and then went out to dinner together. It was one of the highlights of my trip. Make sure you go all the way to top and get the view from the roof. It's really good.
Pam
Posted by
Seattle, WA, United States
873 posts
Hi, we just went on the tour yesterday, and I thought it was very worth it. 7,50 EUR gets you an informative hour-long tour complete with a nice rooftop visit (which was nice for us, because we missed the opening hours for the Belfry) as well as a glass of Brugse Zot blonde. I would definitely recommend it!