belgiumbeer Archives - Nick's Honest

Brouwerij de Halve Maan XL-Tour

Nick Riethoven — Thu, 19 Mar 2020 17:00:00 +0000

Before we start this review, we would like to say to everyone: stay strong, help each other where possible and listen to the government and experts advice about the corona (COVID-19) pandemic.
In the meanwhile, we will keep on posting our weekly reviews. We would love to hear how you are doing so feel free to comment on our post or sent us a message.

The next review from our visit to Brugge is Brouwerij de Halve Maan (Brewery the Crescent Moon). Did you know that this brewery brews the (famous) “Brugse Zot” and “Straffe Hendriks”?
The brewery is located near the heart of Brugge and it excists since 1856. The brewery is still operational on its original location which is very special. To produce more beer, they even build (an crowed funded) a pipeline for the beer to transport the beer underneath Brugge to the botteling factory just outside the city.
We would have never knew all these facts without the XL- tour that the brewery offered!
The tour started at the, currently used, brewing kettles. Our guide told us about the process and how the beer flows through all four of the brewing kettles. She told us how to use each one and how it contributes to the final product, beer.
Our next stop was at the top of the building of the brewery. This might be one of the best views there is of Brugge. You could see the whole city and all it’s assets.
Our tour ended at the bar in the basement. Since we did the XL tour, we got an unfiltered Brugse Zot, a Brugse dubble and we had the choice of a Straffe Hendriks triple or quadruple. We never drank a Straffe Hendriks and it was amazing to finally drink a quadruple beer!
The tour was fantastic and very informative and the guide did a fantastic job at explaining everything about the brewery and answering all the questions from our group. We loved it!
If you are planning to travel to Brugge, you definitely shouldn’t skip a tour at the Brouwerij de Halve Maan!

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Sint Joris – Brugge

Nick Riethoven — Thu, 12 Mar 2020 18:00:00 +0000

On our first evening in Brugge we went for dinner on the “Markt” (large/main square). After looking at different menu’s at the restaurants, we decided to go to Sint Joris.
The kind gentleman at the door seated us at a table near the window. We overlooked the whole square at this fantastic table.

Since we were in Brugge, we couldn’t settle for anything less than a Brugse Zot which is a special beer from Brugge. As starters we ordered the cheese croquettes and a fish soup. The cheese croquettes were absolutely that best that we had in Brugge. They were way larger than we had imagined and it tasted incredible. The fish soup was very good as well. Even though I usually do not like soup that much.
For our main course we ordered the steak and salmon. Both came as quite a large portion, but they were very tasty and delicious. After we cleared our courses the we were about to explode. So much food… You would think we did not order a dessert after this big main course, but for all of you who know us, we of course did. We had a dame blanche and a waffle with sugar and whipped cream. It was so much that we rolled to our hotel, which was luckily for us, just around the corner.

Would we recommend Sint Joris? Well of course! If you compare this restaurant to the other restaurants on the square, this place looks more appealing and the price of the dishes are fair for what you get.

Have you visited Brugge and what was your highlight of your visit?

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Brugse Zot

Nick Riethoven — Sat, 13 Jul 2019 18:00:00 +0000

Brugse Zot is a Blond Belgian beer with a alcohol percentage of 6% from Brewery De Halve Maan in Brugge. The gold blond beer has a rich head with a fruity aroma. The brewery brews the beer with four different malts and two different hops which give the beer it’s flavour. The beer itself has some bitterness to it but not too much. I liked the flavour, but it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. It’s just easy to drink, has a fruity and spiced smell with an amber colour and a bit too much carbonation/sparkling. I would give the flavour a 7 because I would drink it again, but it didn’t stand out compared to all the other beers I’ve drank. The design of the bottle looks good but in my opinion is not that appealing. Its just a joker of (presumably) Brugge. It fits the name of the beer, but I don’t find it rather attractive or appealing therefore I give the design a 6.

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