 | |
| Industry | Alcoholic beverage |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1856 |
| Founder | Leon "Henri" Maes |
| Headquarters | Bruges , Belgium |
Key people | Xavier Vanneste |
| Products | Beer |
De Halve Maan (The Half Moon) is a beer brewery in Bruges, Belgium. [1] De Halve Maan brews Brugse Zot ("Bruges Fool" [2] ), Straffe Hendrik ("Strong Henri"), Blanche de Bruges/Brugs Tarwebier and other beers. The Straffe Hendrik and Blanche de Bruges/Brugs Tarwebier brands had been sold to other breweries, but De Halve Maan has recently[ when? ] bought them back and is returning production to Bruges.
Beer has been brewed at De Halve Maan's location for approximately 500 years. [3] The current brewery has been operating since 1856. [4] The brewery has been in the same family for five generations. [5] The brewery was called Henri Maes until the late 1990s. Henri Maes brewery offered home delivery by horse, and later by truck, after World War II. [6]
In 2016 De Halve Maan completed a 3,276-metre-long (2 mi) beer pipeline from its brewery to its bottling plant to avoid having to send trucks through the narrow, cobbled streets of Bruges. [7] At its deepest point, the pipeline runs 34 metres (112 ft) below the surface. The pipeline was partially crowdsourced, and those who contributed received free beer from the brewery. [8]
