Belgian brewery to pipe beer across medieval town

A Belgium brewery is set to pipe gallons of beer deep underneath the medieval city of Bruges after a successful crowdfunding pitch.

The De Halve Maan brewery in Bruges has raised more than €300,000 through crowdfunding to build the pipeline, which will carry more than 1,000 gallons of beer an hour from the brewery in the city to the bottling plant on the outskirts.

Work started on the pipeline this week and is expected to be ready next year.

Brewery CEO Xavier Vanneste described the move as a “social project” rather than a business investment that would be “good for everyone, not least the residents of the inner city”, which is a World UNESCO world heritage centre. He argued that the current situation – where tankers ferry the beer across the city, was not sustainable in the longer-term.

“At the moment our huge tankers have constantly to make their way through the narrow streets of Bruges,” he said. “That’s no longer sustainable. This beer pipeline means that we’ll be able to remain in the city.”

The crowdfunding drive was launching last July and offered potential investors three levels of membership, including a €7,500 Gold membership, in which they would receive a bottle of Brugse Zot golden beer a day for the rest of their lives, as well as an invitation to the inauguration of the pipeline.

Around 400 people helped raised €300,000, but the overall project is said to cost around €4.5m.

The beers’s best-selling brand is Brugse Zot, which in Dutch means ‘The Fool of Bruges’.