We went to the beer wall. This is just a tiny part of it. All styles of beers, glasses, etc.
Since it was early morning, we didn't start tasting at the bar there, because we would never have left!
I thought this was funny.... 'seeing Pink Elephants!'
Same brewery, what they had on the beer wall.
This is the entrance into the brewery.
Henri Maes has been around for awhile.
Through that doorway, there is a courtyard. To the right is the gift shop where you can sign up for tours in English (as well as other languages).
Since they have more need (thirsty Belgians and tourists) than space, and they can't remodel because they are in a historic part of town, they have installed a pipeline to a place about a kilometer away. Of course, Tim had read this fact in a beer magazine. Our tour guide was from Alaska.
Tim could tell you what is going on in here.
Right next to the wort and yeast areas was this laboratory.
I tried to see their secrets, but no. Probably just testing to keep everything perfect.
Then, they took us through different parts to the building.
Filtering?
The new was inter-built with the old equipment left for viewing. They have it set up so the beer process is automated.
Barley and wheat in hoppers, ready to dump it into the pots.
They kept taking us up, up, up. It was neat to see the old with the new alongside.
Old kettle and beside it...
It looks like a milk can, but they used to put beer in these!
Historic bottles.
Looked so cool.
Barrels, and how to move them...
Old bottling?
They kept taking us up, up, up!
So to cool it, they USED to pump it up to the top. This is no longer the case.
Just imagine how much 'natural taste' would come in through those windows!
We ended up on the roof. You can now look down on the courtyard, and those tanks we saw coming in. Then, we started back down using a different route.
The old-style cooling tubes.
The old fermentation tanks. They were open. Again, natural yeast would make this go crazy!
The old air conditioning, trying to cool it all down.
Old testing equipment.
The newer way to hold the beer.
All around old equipment to look at.
Now we're waiting for the finish.
Of course, the end is in the bar, where we got a beer. Fun old automated bottling machine.
Tim enjoyed his beer.
William got a soda. Yes, that is a wood wall behind them!
This was Tim's view.
This was my view out the window.
And when we took the canal tour, this is the view of the back of the brewery!
Here we are leaving the brewery square.
Then, we took the canal tour. No matter where you get on one of the tours, you do the whole (same) route, and come back to where you started.
More old wood houses. Look at the arches they were built on.
Our guide was from England and was hilarious. Of course, not everyone got his jokes. William got a few I didn't (a Tin Tin reference), but it was amusing.
This 'house' is actually a dam.
Some of the arches were SO LOW! We really had to duck!
People knew how to make the plain beautiful!
Seriously. This is a reading window? How cool would it be to enjoy the day here!
The diversity of houses here was interesting.
And yet, here they look the same, except for the new on the right.
This is a pretty wide canal. Later, William got to go biking with Tristen on the park that surrounds the historic part, which is within the canal system.
The boat captain said he'd live here. :)
BREAST FEEDING!!! Is this the sign for 'la leche league?'
Bruge was a trading port, until tides and political tides shifted. But, the canals continue on.
Belgium was doing well in soccer, and we saw flags all over!
Our hostess took me to her favorite chocolate shop.
And then the sun came out after the dim day.
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