Half Moon Brewery, Bruges

On our last day in Belgium, we wandered around Bruges for an afternoon. We happened to run across the Half Moon Brewery tucked away down an inviting alley.

Half Moon entrance

The brewery has a sunny courtyard full of tables which spill over from their restaurant. The place also has a gift shop and brewery tour.

Courtyard of the brewery

It was getting late in the day so we couldn't do the tour but I did do some shopping. They sell the usual variety of tee-shirts, can openers, glasses, mugs, and beers. I bought a four-pack of Brugse Zot (regular and dubbel) that comes with a special glass.

Gift pack!

I also noticed they had a beer marked as a "quadrupel." I'd seen dubbels and tripels. I couldn't resist finding out about this new product and trying it!

Dubbel, Quadrupel, Regular

Brugse Zot is a tart lager that is refreshing with just enough bitterness to make it tasty, not nasty.

The Brugse Zot Dubbel is darker and more robust, probably from the double fermentation process. I enjoyed it even more than the regular.

Straffe Hendrik is their Quadrupel beer with a whopping 11% alcohol content. It has a dark, nutty flavor with a hint of smoky bitterness. The beer drinks well but it has a quick effect, at least on me!

The glass in action!

Just outside the brewery is a rather fanciful sculpture marked "Zeus Leda Prometheus en Pegasus bezoeken Brugge" which in English means "Zeus, Leda, Prometheus and Pegasus visit Bruges." They seem to be wearing more modern dress, but I suppose they are trying to blend in. There are a lot of horse-drawn carriages in town, after all.

Zeus Leda Prometheus en Pegasus bezoeken Brugge

Proof I didn't just make that up

After seeing that, we had to head back to the train station to get our bus to the boat that would take us back to Britain. The trip wasn't so eventful, so there will be no post on that. We made it home safe and sound and are having many other adventures that will soon appear...

p.s. There will be one more Belgian church this Sunday!