Ghent Breweries: Brewery Visits, Beer Tours and Tastings

What Ghent breweries and beer experiences you can actually book

Two kinds of beer experience are bookable in Ghent. The first centres on the city brewery Gruut; the second is an operator-run tour that pairs a brewery visit with a tasting, sometimes on the water. Beer Secret, a Ghent-based operator, runs public Ghent tours on Wednesdays and Saturdays and offers private tours on the other days, according to its published week schedule.

Its Ghent brewery visit and beer tasting tour is capped at 15 people and runs two and a half to three hours, which is a half-day rather than an evening. The same operator also runs a beer boat in Ghent with a capacity of 110 and a duration of one to two hours, so the two formats suit different groups: a focused tasting for couples, the boat for a larger party.

Gruut: Ghent's city brewery

Gruut is Ghent's city brewery, set up in April 2009 by Annick De Splenter at Grote Huidevettershoek, a short walk from the centre. That address places it within the old town, which makes it the natural brewery to seek out on a beer-focused wander; for a guaranteed look inside a working brewery, the guided brewery-visit tours are the reliable bet.

Add the brewery to a route that takes in the Graslei and Korenlei quays and the streets around Sint-Jacobskerk, where the city's classic beer cafés cluster. If you want the wider sightseeing framework first, our guide to the Ghent old town sets out the walking order.

Brewery visit and tasting tours in Ghent: what a small-group tour involves

A small-group tour is the simplest way to see inside a working brewery without arranging anything yourself. Beer Secret's Ghent format combines a brewery visit with a tasting of lesser-known beer styles, including a brew produced by the brewery it calls the pink elephant, and it is available as either a public or a private tour.

Group size matters more than duration here. With a maximum of 15 people and a two-and-a-half to three-hour slot, you get a guided session rather than a quick flight of glasses, so book it as the anchor of an afternoon and keep the morning free for the belfry and the churches.

Beer tasting on the water: the Ghent beer boat

The beer boat is Ghent's most distinctive beer format: a canal trip with local beer, sightseeing and an interactive quiz, run as a one-to-two-hour experience for groups of up to 110. It is an easy fit for a mixed group where not everyone is a beer specialist, because the canal itself carries the entertainment.

If you would rather see the canals without the tasting, a plain Ghent boat tour covers the same water at your own pace. The trade-off is straightforward: the beer boat is a social, structured hour or two with a quiz built in, while a standard cruise keeps the trip focused on the city around you.

Where to drink Ghent beer: beer cafés and a geneva bar

Three addresses cover most of what a short break needs. Waterhuis aan de Bierkant, alongside the water in the town, occupies a building from 1726 that once served as a supply point for clean water, and it keeps a large beer selection. Café de Trollekelder sits in the shadow of St Jacob's church, in a rustic Flemish building from the 15th century that has become one of the city's fixed addresses.

Dreupelkot is the odd one out: a geneva café rather than a beer bar, and the most peculiar of its kind in Flanders. Treat it as a curiosity stop for a small glass rather than a beer destination, and keep the beer tasting for Waterhuis or Trollekelder.

The beer cafés both sit within a short walk of the Graslei and Korenlei, so you can build an evening around the quays without needing transport. Pair the walk with the Ghent Old Town route and finish at the water.

Belgian beer styles to try on a first visit to Ghent

A first tasting should cover the range rather than settle on one favourite. Trappist beer is a useful reference point, and Beer Secret runs a full-day private tour that combines Westvleteren Abbey with a visit to Bruges' oldest brewery, which is the format to book if Trappist beer is the reason for your trip. Note that this tour starts from Bruges, not Ghent.

Beyond Trappist beer, ask for the lesser-known local styles rather than the big export brands: the Ghent tour is built around exactly that, including a brew from the brewery the operator calls the pink elephant. If you want a non-beer stop between tastings, the chocolate shops in Ghent make an easy pairing.

Belgian beer covers a wide range of strengths, so pace a tasting and treat it as the day's main event rather than a warm-up. Eat before you start and keep the rest of the afternoon light.

Beer tour prices and how to book

Beer Secret lists the beer boat, the Ghent brewery visit and tasting, and the full-day Westvleteren and Bruges private tour on its tour pages. All tours are booked online through the operator's site, and gift cards are sold in a value of your choosing.

The Ghent brewery visit and tasting tour is capped at 15 people, and the public Ghent slots run on Wednesdays and Saturdays, so book ahead for those days if you want the public format rather than a private booking.

How much time to give a Ghent brewery visit in a one-to-three-day trip

On a one-day visit, choose either the brewery tour or the beer boat, not both, and put it in the afternoon so the morning stays free for the belfry and the churches. On a two-day trip, take the two-and-a-half to three-hour brewery tour on the Wednesday or Saturday public slot and keep the beer boat for a relaxed second afternoon.

With three days you can add the full-day Westvleteren and Bruges private tour, which runs eight and a half hours and takes a whole day out of Ghent. For the rest of the city's sights, the Ghent attractions hub sets out the individual guides.

If you are building a walking day around the centre, our Ghent walking tour covers the route between the main squares, and a beer stop at Waterhuis aan de Bierkant or Trollekelder fits naturally at the end.

Which Ghent beer experience should you book?

For most visitors the Ghent brewery visit and tasting is the right pick: a small group, a real brewery visit and a guided set of styles in under three hours. Book the public Wednesday or Saturday slot if your dates fit, and fall back on a private booking otherwise.

Choose the beer boat instead if you are travelling in a larger group or want the canals with your beer, and consider the full-day Westvleteren tour only if Trappist beer justifies losing a day in Ghent. Whichever you pick, book online before you travel and keep the tasting as the anchor of one afternoon.