Belgium has over 300 active breweries and more than 1,500 distinct beers. Bruges may only have one city-centre brewery (De Halve Maan), but the beer culture runs deep.

Start at De Halve Maan on the Walplein. Take the tour (€18, includes a beer) for the history, the rooftop view, and the pipeline story. Stay for a Brugse Zot in the courtyard.

Walk to Bourgogne des Flandres on the Dijver. This small brewery-bar does tastings and tours of their blending process. Their signature beer — a mix of a top-fermented ale and a lambic-style sour — is complex and interesting.

Continue to 't Brugs Beertje on Kemelstraat. This is the real heart of Bruges' beer scene. Over 300 beers, each served in its proper glass. The owner, Daisy Claeys, is a legend in Belgian beer circles. Ask her for a recommendation based on your taste — she'll nail it.

For something less serious, the Bruges Beer Experience on the Markt is a museum-cum-tasting room. Tablets guide you through Belgian beer history, and you finish with three tastings. It's commercial but fun.

End at Le Trappiste on Kuipersstraat — a vaulted cellar bar with an extensive list of abbey and Trappist beers. Try a Westvleteren 12 if they have it — it's consistently rated among the best beers in the world and extremely hard to find outside Belgium.

Pace yourself. Belgian beers are stronger than they taste. A 'session' of three or four Belgian beers is equivalent to six or seven standard lagers.