The Beer Pipeline of Bruges

[@TomScottGo]

The conversation with a friend that led up this was basically: "Tom, did you know there's a beer pipeline in Bruges?" "I must film it immediately." "You don't even drink beer." "But I do like pipelines."

[@alexhayter1193]

Tom Scott Who doesn't like beer

[@CrabQueen]

Everyone loves a good pipeline.

[@hammerpark]

YOU DONT DRINK BEER?

[@matthewcarlyon5133]

This video was posted 5 minutes ago. How on Earth were you able to pin a post 6 hours ago? Can you upload comments before the video itself is uploaded?

[@Siezemore]

Each visit to the brewery includes one free beer. Tell me you at least tasted! They brew very good beers, my favorite is their "Straffe Hendrik" quadrupel.

[@alexdemoya2119]

"We want to build a pipeline..." (Murmurs from city council) "...for beer" (Thunderous applause)

[@entidy]

america would do the same but we are too busy giving guns to depressed and angry 16 year olds

[@talltale9760]

@@entidy should’ve given em to me instead

[@omgitscake8933]

I could actually see this happen here in Belgium. If it's a boring old pipeline nobody wants to put in the effort, but if it's a pipeline for beer it's like a whole tourist attraction! Just the fact that there's beer flowing in the pipeline makes it so much more special

[@sternis1]

Connected things you might not know: Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden (where I studied) has been trying to get a beer pipeline for many, many years. In the olden days, we had a brewery (Pripps) rather close to the university, so someone came up with the idea that of course Chalmers should get beer through a pipeline. Unfortunately, Pripps didn't want to build a pipeline, so we built a small part of the pipeline and are just waiting until they come and connect to it. This part is actually under glass and is classified as a cultural heritage. However, to this day, there is an association at Chalmers who owns a single stock in Pripps just to be able to go to their annual meeting and suggest to build a pipeline to Chalmers. They do that every year, and get turned down every year.

[@arjanvanraaij8440]

Great tradition.

[@kulupona]

that is the best thing i read today

[@Erichteia]

As a resident of Bruges (literally 100m from the brewery in the city centre) I can say that 1) we are indeed really proud of that pipeline 2) I loved the video 3) a small hour is a very common expression in Flemish (een klein uurtje)

[@loicverniers4429]

Hahah inderdaad

[@smxnke]

West Vlaams is een hele andere taal haha

[@jcxz983]

Every road needs to have water, electricity, internet and beer running underneath it. It's just basic infrastructure.

[@L1m3r]

you forgot the return channel for water and beer: the sewers ;-)

[@nomore3816]

Just replace the water one with the beer one

[@Mr539forgotten]

Basic beerfrastructure

[@nielsdeclercq8511]

Belgium in a nutshell

[@amyodov]

“Water, electricity, internet and beer” - in this list, only electricity needs wires for transport. All the rest is just a series of tubes.

[@robiner00]

'A small hour' is the best way of saying 'not quite an hour' that I've ever heard.

[@Pulsar77]

It's a Dutch/Flemish expression: "een klein uur" :)

[@doryfor]

probably the entire world uses variations of that expression in fact :p

[@beretperson]

Doryfor animation pretty sure we don't have one in spanish.

[@TomasSandven]

"En liten time" in Norwegian

[@wWkatu93Ww]

Mateo Gg I can't think of a way to say that in Finnish. Usually it's said "vajaa tunti" wich translates to "short of an hour".

[@Insym]

When you don't want to build a train for your iron ore in Factorio so you just slap down a 2 miles transport belt

[@marcoskunrath5914]

@@-.7 Amateurs! I connect my nuclear power plants to water with belts full of barrels.

[@soejrd24978]

@@marcoskunrath5914 absolute madlad

[@superidra4461]

I was thinking more about that time when my factory surrounded (completely) the only water source on the map, and uranium processing was up much further north, so I just built like 8 water pipelines spanning 400 blocks.

[@gooball2005]

true

[@jamesf3148]

After working in the gas industry for years this is the most positivly iv ever heard anyone talk about pipelines and horizontal directional drilling

[@eljakimdeclerck1941]

50% of comments: *beer!* other 50%: English speakers fascinated by the expression 'a small hour'

[@StrangerHappened]

BTW, how much "small hour" is for Flemish? Should be more than 3/4 (as there should be a phrase exactly for that just like for 1/2 hour), so somewhere in the middle between 45 and 60 minutes, meaning ~52.5 minutes?

[@eljakimdeclerck1941]

I probably should ask other flemish people who use tha expression, but to me a small hour is everything between a couple of minutes past three quarters of an hour and a couple of minutes less than an hour. That I call ‘een klein uurtje’. Just like you suggested 52,5 min would fit perfectly into that description. Indeed we have a phrase for three quarters and it’s a quite literal translation of the English expression; ‘drie kwartier’ (three quart-hour). Interesting to note is that ‘ier’ is not a stand alone dutch word, but it’s a corruption of ‘uur’ (hour)

[@Arlae_Nova]

@@eljakimdeclerck1941 when speaking English I always have to remember that you can't say three quarter and leave it at that haha.

[@dayalasingh5853]

Hey I speak French and Punjabi too

[@timotje25]

It's A Dutch saying. ''When is dinner ready'' ''In een klein uurtje''. In somewhat less than an hour. Or a small hour. It's just bad translation XD

[@TheReacTT]

Finally, a pipeline that won't create an eco disaster when it starts to leak eventually!

[@MichaelEdmond]

TheReacTT no, it's 4 small pipes inside a larger pipe, if one leaks, then the big pipe will catch it, and they can replace the leaking inner pipe.

[@part-timepartytime9621]

+Michael Edmond So why don't actual oil pipelines use this approach?

[@Xapper0]

Maybe it's too viscous to transport in small pipes? No clue, though.

[@MichaelEdmond]

Part-Time Party Time probably cost ect. and oil is under pressure too, it would make sense to protect the pipes, it also helps prevent accidental damage if someone is digging them up, they could hit and even damage the outer pipe and not cause a leak.

[@HazardousMoose]

because oil pipelines tend to be pressurised at around 40-70 bars(for comparison: atmospheric pressure is ~1 bar). So the inner pipe would have to be much thicker to contain the pressure, plus the same thing for the outer pipe. And I can't be sure but my guess would be that they only have 4 smaller pipes to be able to send through different beers, you don't need that with oil. So it is probably cheaper to strengthen the pipe itself instead of building a second one around it.

[@Swapnil638]

After Niels Bohr won the noble prize, he was awarded with an unlimited supply of beer. He literally had a tap in his new house that was connected to a brewery.

[@ivdrip-r2r]

I should get one of those Nobel Prizes.

[@Zevonfan524]

"Ah, Bruges. It's like a fairytale."

[@ibecomhaire8724]

I love McDonagh

[@IoriaDieffenbach]

“I’ll have one GAY beer!”

[@glipk]

In Bruges?

[@hypnotoad5041]

Untill u live there

[@KokkiePiet]

Brugge

[@KnowArt]

Here in the Netherlands we call a bottle of beer a 'pijpje' which translates to 'little pipe' So if you would have a row of a few beer bottles, you would have a 'little pipe-line'

[@KnowArt]

(we don't call it 'pijpje' by default. It's slang)

[@AbiGail-ok7fc]

It's not slang. It's the commonly used name for a the 30cl brown beer bottle. Unless you want to claim people use the original name 'Apollinaris' more frequently. Or perhaps that people order a 'Bruin Nederlands Retour CBK-fles' (the official name) a lot?

[@newGarlick]

Aldo a pijpje-lijntje?

[@sirBrouwer]

i never called it a pijpje just a flesje.

[@spoe_]

ik hoor 'potje' bier alleen

[@KevinToine]

As a local from Bruges I can say this is definatly something we are proud of! My favorite beer in Bruges is the 'Garre' which you can only get at 1 bar in the entire country 'de Garre'

[@scotthouston7852]

The brewery itself actually does have the beer (Bruges Zot) on tap. Additionally, it's unfiltered, giving it a cloudier look but adding additional flavours lost in the filtering process. I drank at least 5 pints when I visited... felt a bit squiffy afterwards!

[@timothymclean]

Humans innovating to solve problems caused purely by other humans...I like it. Our species is awesome, if in a slightly demented way.

[@aikensource]

Isn't it so interesting to watch? It's bound to be dementedly awesome with such a massive population. haha

[@timothymclean]

Raza Nope; some have environmental causes. But this one was caused entirely by humans not wanting to move the brewing plant or renovate the downtown area. Now, they had reasons for those choices, but they were still just choices.

[@calicodan1556]

Timothy McLean *fermented way

[@Outfrost]

But they are awesome choices. I kind of want to live there, if they have decent internet.

[@soundslave]

Timothy McLean keeping world heritage buildings isnt just "a problem created by other people." It's our history and needs protection. The only problem I see is the brewery stubbornly wanted to stay in town. would have been cheaper to move the brewery to the bottling site.

[@theywalkinguptoyouand4060]

Thank you for having great, informative videos, without lengthy, annoying opening and end credits. I disable notifications from most channels that I've subscribed to, but not this one. Sorry for that grammar.

[@TMWriting]

I may have to start using the phrase "a small hour". It amuses me.

[@jorenbaplu5100]

Tom Morgan een klein uur in dutch.

[@sachiperez]

Yeah, that really got my attention. I hope to remember to use it. This is your reminder...

[@mariellevandenborne2361]

@@jorenbaplu5100 ma meestal zeggen we wel een klein uurtje

[@LMvdB02]

@@jorenbaplu5100 een uurtje

[@BigAdam2050]

"Famous for chocolate, lace, and beer" ... and that Dog that sleeps on the river that I think died a few years back. Fidèle, the best sleepy dog.

[@khushalshroff910]

thank you for letting me know about that sleepy good boii, it made my day

[@len322]

wow it's so exiting, i live in Belgium it's like.. nobody ever mentions us, i feel so happy and privileged..

[@Renard380]

Maybe it's for the best! I'll never forget that time when i was in Slovenia, and some people asked me if we finally had a government 😂

[@martinmendl1399]

Everyone only ever talks about Brussels, because EU

[@aditi.m5]

I watched 2 of Tom's videos and I subscribed immediately. His videos are short but within that amount of time, he is able to give out a lot of information. He is one of my favourite KZbinrs from the Knowledge Category. Trust me, he deserves atleast a million subscribers!

[@qwertyTRiG]

His videos are usually short, sometimes long, but always exactly the right length.

[@ClosestToTheSun]

Not sure if this is just a quirk of translation, but "a small hour" is a great way to say "a little less than an hour"

[@genejas]

ClosestToTheSun its a dutch or flemish expression

[@ClosestToTheSun]

It's clever

[@havtor007]

We use it in Norway also actually, something that makes me wonder where it originates

[@althedude7730]

havtor007 it originated in germanic languages, and then spread out the same way, read an article about it somewhere don’t quite remember where but they explain it originated in denmark and germany...

[@Loweene_Ancalimon]

It's a feature of French too

[@JenoSnetrem]

Awesome, nice to see something from Belgium finally :) There's a typo in the description though: it's 'brouwerij', not "broweij"

[@op4000exe]

As someone who genuinely prefer belgian beer, I find this to be a good thing.

[@ykmin98]

It's an inanimate f-ing object, Harry!

[@KaiCalimatinus]

ykmin98 "YOU'RE AN INNANIMATE FACKING OBJECT!" Spittle and froth included.

[@ASeagull]

Is this the pipeline people are protesting? I don't see anything wrong with a beer tap under the floorboard.

[@Captain__Obvious]

The protestors want the beer to be gluten-free

[@GBart]

Krops Vont yeah I fuckin wish

[@cameronhauver-reeves2337]

Neo Valdez-Porter it was a joke genius

[@ganaraminukshuk0]

It's a slippery slope leading up to XKCD's pipelines where everything, from salsa to saliva, is supplied via pipes. This is what so many people are angry about.

[@ASeagull]

***** What did he say? I hate cowards who don't own up to what they say. Neo Valdez-Porter​

[@SeverityOne]

If there's one country in the world where you would expect a beer pipeline... yes, it would indeed be Belgium. Bruges (Brugge), incidentally, is an absolutely gorgeous place, with some of the buildings coming straight from the Middle Ages. As a consequence, there are tons upon tons of tourists.

[@smoen92]

Love it! The Belgians' way of treating beer is fascinating in and of itself, and as a beer enthusiast it is a genuine enrichment to my life

[@inkspill3116]

"Ken, can we please go bet a beer, now?" "...there are 300 different types of beer in Bruges" "Ken, I just want one!!!" from that deleted scene in in Bruges.

[@Xavier_Coogat_the_Mambo_King]

I could listen to Belgian people talk all day long. So lovely sounding

[@Coastfog]

What a pleasure to be a neighbor to lovely countries like Belgium

[@TyCetto]

"So what is your day job?" "I'm building a beer pipeline..." Even if you are a 4 trips astronaut with a hobby of walking the tightrope and flying wing-suit, you are STILL beaten by that answer and should stay quiet.

[@BrightAfternoonProductionsPlus]

*Also known for the movie "In Bruges"

[@gingganggoolie]

Bright Afternoon Productions (It's in Belgium)

[@SpaceFlye]

Bright Afternoon Productions I little want to visit Bruges because of that movie.

[@TheAngelsHaveThePhoneBox]

It's like a f*cking fairytale of something.

[@Knucklesfaceup]

TBH I was eagerly awaiting a Colin Firth joke.

[@armchairnixon]

Benjamin Valenz *Colin Farrell

[@iPeel]

Thanks Tom, the wife and I have been thinking of a trip to Bruges for a while now, and this just sealed the deal.

[@rattywoof5259]

There's a (probably apocryphal) story of a small Scottish distillery which closed for refurbishment. During the upgrade they found a pipe which wasn't on the plans - they followed it 300 yards and it led straight to the manager's house!

[@bednarczyk]

I took the brewery tour there about 5 years ago and back then they were telling us it was just an idea they had. So cool to see it actually happened.

[@antiMatterDynamit]

small hour not to be confused with the other medium and large hours

[@plorex]

Might be a bit weird commenting on a 3 y/o comment but the opposite of a "small hour" is actually called a "thick hour" ;)

[@antiMatterDynamit]

@@plorex you're right it was very stupid to comment that

[@plorex]

@@antiMatterDynamit No worries, I got the joke ;)

[@Elmojomo]

The process described to "drill in" the pipeline is known as directional boring. It's used frequently to install utility pipes (such as gas, water and sewer) under areas that are difficult or expensive to access from the surface. I work in civil engineering, and we specify this type of installation often under roads, railroads, etc... It's amazing how far and with what accuracy modern boring can be accomplished.

[@LlamaFluff]

Another great video Tom, wish the screaming one had been up as well.

[@AvailableUsernameTed]

'Krones Beer Drones' - Just a suggestion for next time such a solution is needed.

[@marin4311]

Belgians never stop to surprise me. What an awesome people!

[@thedavegtoo]

Your videos never cease to amaze me. Thank you Tom.

[@U_C_G]

Tom I was just in Bruge this week! I remember seeing this place! Great upload as always!

[@JustOneAsbesto]

Haha, "a small hour". What a lovely expression.

[@rjfaber1991]

It's funny, because as a Dutchman, I've been using that expression all my life, in both Dutch and English, but only by reading this comment section I realised it's not actually a widely known or used phrase in the Anglosphere...

[@JustOneAsbesto]

Haha, "Anglosphere". What a lovely expression.

[@scbond]

JustOneAsbesto It isn't an expression. Just a poor translation on her part.

[@lordthor5951]

Well it is an expression just not a classically English one.

[@1Jbeats]

Thanks for the amazing videos as always Tom!

[@adriankrzyszton]

I just discovered your channel, watched a few videos. You are great. Love the professionality, interesting topic and mostly - the passion you got when you tell this stories. That's just amazing. Keep it that way, you got a new regular viewer :)

[@bergerking891]

There even is a football stadium in Gelsenkirchen (Germany) called the Veltins-Arena where they have a 5km long beer pipeline going through the entire stadium in order to distribute beer to all the taps.

[@Yoxorg]

I visited this brewery just over a year ago! Fantastic place, also beer tastes so much better before bitter preservatives are added in the bottling process!

[@zatoichi188]

I've been on that tour! Would highly recommend it, you get a pint included in the price fresh off the brewery.

[@Ripskin16]

I don't drink either but that is damned awesome, great solution and a great community for supporting such an innovative way to keep them in business. Hope they keep at it.

[@briangarrow448]

I have repaired and installed many underground pipelines in my life, but this would have been the ultimate project. Hats off to the brewers and citizens of Bruges. A truly unique project.

[@AdhityaHegdeB]

thanks for sharing Tom Scott!

[@lavishlyDecorated]

The city of Aalborg, Denmark actually has a beer pipeline in their "pub street", Jomfru Ane Gade, and that connects to the different pubs.

[@ChillTube]

Another fantastic video Tom!

[@MigotRen]

Funny sidestory regarding "tapping the pipeline" to get beer at home: A friend of mine moved to bavaria two years ago and moved in With some relatives there. Or rather rather into a connceted adjecent building they had cause his relatives there are actually operating a small family owned brewery. So long story short: He has a chimmney that isnt in use anymore so he installed pipes to the brewery and now has a beer tap in his living room.

[@StartingwiththeAs]

fantastic as always!

[@Fallkhar]

I went to Bruges once for a school trip. It's such a magical place, I loved it.

[@EoRdE6]

Hey Tom at 1:57 your captions are wrong, the guy said 300 litres of water not 3,000 :)

[@id513128]

You can edit by yourself ;)

[@isaacs8783]

id513128 Isn't that slightly flawed cause people have the power to write whatever they like? Or is there a system to stop that.

[@Piesonscreations]

Any changes to the captions have to be approved by the person who put the video up.

[@isaacs8783]

Piesonscreations Oh I thought so. Thanks.

[@Colopty]

People have the power to write whatever they like in a lot of places, so whatever. It's not like the captions are super important.

[@Zimpfnis]

I heard that it's quite difficult to receive a filming permission in Bruges because locals complained about the influx of tourists. Did you encounter such issues?

[@kevincgrabb]

It's one guy with a camera. It's not like he's doing scenes with cars and extras and actual production. What?

[@slaughterround643]

Tom I love this recent boom in video releases! Keep it up

[@kansopgod]

In Netherland we had something similar: between Ameland (island in the North sea) and the mainland was a pipeline which transported cow milk.

[@alex0589]

"Gotta stick to your principles"

[@SixOneZil]

As a Belgian citizen I can tell that we do say "a small hour" all the time. But also "a big hour" when its definitely bigger than an hour, but not more than an hour and a half. But it could be. But most probably not. Quite certainly it should be about 1h15-1h30 max. But if it ends up being 1h45 then its still valid. But its probably closer to 1h10. Get it?

[@chachul1501]

Great content as always!

[@hark8318]

Like before watching!

[@Swapnil638]

This is the only channel that can never make you regret liking its videos before watching them. :)

[@MirzaAhmed89]

You can always unlike them if the video didn't live up to your expectations.

[@Dahakra]

"... famous for chocolate, lace and beer..." and a certain movie ;)

[@FrostyFrostySnow]

This is fascinating and a great example of innovating whilst not losing sight of your heritage

[@FeelsDonkMan]

Went there over christmas, did the tour, love their beer.

[@BY-bx6pc]

Amazing content dude been here since 40k keep going

[@maanvis81]

So glad that you used their native metric system with litres, centimeters and kilometers instead of having them switch to your weird system of counting grains of wheat :). Thanks from mainland europe!

[@lokegustafsson247]

Sander vd Donk Though Tom's British...

[@04smallmj]

The UK uses both systems, most people pick and choose the units :P. As an example, we sell fuel in litres but measure fuel economy in miles per gallon. It makes sense, don't you think? :P

[@kaitlyn__L]

"a pint of milk please" (bottle says "568ml")

[@JayFe0]

It's based on a barleycorn, Sander. Basing it on a grain of wheat would make no sense at all.

[@maanvis81]

Jayfe0 I thought it was different grains per country. And it only makes sense to do everything in metric since science is done in the metric system and then the entire world understands it :).

[@ayushgarg3694]

I found you month ago btw all your videos are so interesting and you have such a variety. You have also been here from a while so I wonder why do you have so less subs.

[@nicolasblume1046]

The German Metal festival Wacken also had a temporary beer pipeline which had a capacity of 10.000 liters/h

[@Lehtaan]

Really Happy about KZbin showing me new videos now. Even though I'm not subbed yet? Well, thats fixed now

[@aldofrosinini6192]

God bless these people for using horizontal drilling techniques to build a beer pipeline

[@yikimo]

I really appreciate all of those people and places you show on your channel! BTW. Beer in tap! For everyone! NOW!

[@monkeyTRAWMERcenter]

Great video Tom.

[@CanyonWanderer]

Nice and very inventive! I did recognise the "Brugse Zot" logo, one of my favourites 🙂

[@Pletzmutz]

I feel compelled to watch "In Bruges" now.

[@olafvanrijnsbergen1177]

The longest beer pipeline is actually in Germany. It's underneath a festival site. They built a 7 mile pipeline so they won't have to keep driving trough the crowds to restock the beer stalls. They drink record amounts of beer there. It's an all metal festival. And even if you don't like the music it's worth visiting.

[@martint-punkt9198]

0:46 the place with that awning on the right is called pur chocolat. This is where to buy the best chocolate! We we honestly took another vacation in Brügge just to get there again.

[@justin.booth.]

I love these types of people, it's not many places in the world where people would be ok with this, but it's great when you can find them!

[@lmonk9517]

I've been to that brewery. it is very nice.

[@Nszewczak]

throw away line at the end "beer for life?" This town rocks.

[@Canuckvik]

I've been here, really amazing place. The tour is worth it and the beer is even better.

[@TheDrummingWarrior]

Beer! The cause of and solution to all of life's problems!

[@DrunkenAussie76]

I approve this comment.

[@PinkBunnyCorporation]

Homer Simpson quote if I'm not mistaken.

[@runarandersen878]

I saw a documentary yesterday. It was about negotiations to save the ozone layer. To persons from the US and the European Union had a beer or two and solved it. In other words: Beer solved the ozone layer.

[@Bison162]

Hey I was there that same year! Did not know about Tom Scott til a couple months ago.

[@SoberBhoy]

In st.louis we have beer lines running from the brewery directly to Busch stadium and bars

[@chriswouse7713]

Been to that brewery. Top floor is a massive collection of old beer bottles and cans!

[@-arb-]

I heard about this, but it's nice to actually see it! Thanks.

[@moatl6945]

In Passau (Germany) there was a pipline for wine connecting the storage and the bottling-plant of a local wine-dealer located just on the opposite site of the central square of the city.

[@Linde576]

I must say your videos are just so informative and such a great idea ! I wish there would be more original contend ideas just like yours !

[@SpaceFlye]

That's the coolest thing I've learned so far this week. A beer pipeline! Who would have thought. Neat.

[@DavoidJohnson]

Amazing diversity of subjects covered in these vids. Never know what's coming next.

[@neonalon]

Cool I just got a few bottles from this brewery; did not know about this pipeline. Cool!

[@luxford60]

I've heard about this. nice to see some footage of it.

[@gregorwelsh2354]

I've been there :D it was one of the best beers I've ever had. Can't recommend it enough. I had no idea about the pipeline though. what a wonderful idea.

[@Stormin.93]

How do you find out/hear about all these places?

[@Cycl_ps]

Son Goku check out Atlas Obscura

[@mysteryshrimp]

Plus, once you get a reputation for this kind of thing, we say "Hey, have you heard about _________?"

[@lindsey607]

BRILLIANT!! 👍👍👍👍

[@matthewevans9294]

Was just there at the weekend great tour great beer.Tom you should give beer another chance, just dont start on the straffe hendrick very strong stuff!

[@davidoram7348]

I love bruges zot. I love bruges. The fact it has a pipeline going through it with beer in it makes it the best city in the world.