Asperius Beer is a microbrewery located in the Zest Food & Moore restaurant at Bilderdijkstraat 188. The brewery was started in 2018 by Asparuh Asparuhov and Nikolay Hubenov. For the time being, the beers are only served on tap from the Brewpub.
Bierfabriek was founded on October 8, 2011 by Andrea Possa, Harm van Deuren and Ronald Bolhuis in a former insurance bank on the Rokin. Inspired by the formula of craft beers and roasted farm chickens popularized by BEFeD Brewpub in Italy, they worked on a translation for the Dutch Market. Offering three types of accessible beer (Unfiltered by Alfa, Rosso and Nero brewed onsite). The ruby red Rosso is a smooth and malty beer with some sweetness. The dark beer is a dark, fruity Porter with a bite. In 2016, Bierfabriek Amsterdam moved from Rokin 75 due to the construction of the North-South Metro line to Nes 67, formerly of Brasserie Harkema. Since 2018, Bierfabriek sells its beers Bianco, Rosso and Nero nationally in bottles.
Bird Brewery was founded by Ralph van Bemmel and Rik van den Berg in 2016. Both had a background in the beer world, including founder BierLab, former board member PINT and certified beer sommelier, leading to a clear vision of beer. Their very first beer, Rumoerige Roodborst, came out in 2016 and was rated as one of the best Amber Ales in the world. They continued to grow and win awards, including in international competitions such as the World Beer Awards, International Beer Challenge and Brussels Beer Challenge. The owners are true enthusiasts of birds and nature (hence the name) and sponsor several sustainability initiatives. Their tasting room, House of Bird, opened in 2020 and is located is located in the beautiful Diemerbos, just 3 kilometers from Amsterdam. Another branch on the Utrechtse Heuvelrug in Kwintelooijen has also been open since December 2023.
The Breugems Brouwerij foundation was founded in 2009 by Court-Jan van Beek and master brewer Patrick Breugem, formerly of De Prael, De Molen, Het Veulen & De Zeven Deugden, among others. Their intention was to open a "social brewery", helping people with disabilities find work. Both had previously been in a coma and experienced first-hand how difficult it is to integrate into the labor market afterwards. In 2010, they opened up in Dam Square in Zaandam but went bankrupt in 2013. Patrick Breugem refused to give up and started Breugem Brewery later in 2013 with Vincent Buijs and Paul Riteco using the brewing facilities of Brouwerij Maximus, Bierbrouwerij De 3 Horne and Brouwerij De 7 Deugden, among others. In 2023, they took over Brouwerij De Prael Amsterdam Houthavens, making the dream of having its own brewery and tasting room come true.
Launched in collaboration with restaurant operator SSP Group, Brewdog opened in the former Delirium location in Amsterdam Central Station in October 2023. Brewdog itself was founded by James Watt and Martin Dickie in Aberdeen, Scotland back in 2007, expanded to various UK locations in 2011, followed by additional global locations through the rest of the decade. From the very start they were inspired to brew American-style craft beers - sweet-tasting ales with high alcohol levels and very large amounts of US hops. As of 2023, they had 129 bars and 3 hotels, leading the company to claim they are the largest craft beer in Europe. With aggressive marketing, dubious labor practices and pitching quasi-equity “Equity for Punks”, the company has courted controversy.
Brouwerij De 7 Deugden was officially opened in 2011 on the Osdorperweg in Amsterdam Nieuw West, located behind an old, white farmhouse. Owner Garmt Haakma has been interested in special beers since his student days. This led to him starting to brew his own recipes in the front room of his home with the name of the brewery inspired by his studies in Theology, The mission of the brewery is to brew beer, receive guests in the tasting room and guide employees who are at a distance from the labor market. They aim to be an example and source of inspiration for other companies. In 2018, Garmt opened a new brewery next to the Molen van Sloten with a larger capacity and a tasting room.
Brouwerij De Eeuwige Jeugd (The Eternal Youth) was founded by Pascal Milhado, Jules Oostendorp and Thomas Oostdijk in 2016. Originally brewing out of the brewing facilities of Brouwerij Anders in Belgium, before moving into their own brewery at Bos en Lommerplantsoen. In, 2019, they opened up a taproom on Linnaeusstraat, Cafe de Jeugd. In 2022, they opened the Levenslang brewing club in the former boiler house of a the prison that used to be sited there.
Oscar Mercan and the team from Brouwerij de Engel moved into the former church on Albert Cuyp in 2021, previously occupied by the restaurant Bazar. With a vision for combination brasserie and brewery, Engel launched a successful crowdfunding campaign for the renovation and furnishing. The plan was to open at the end of 2021, but the application for the AGP permit took longer than expected. The catering section opened in mid-August 2023 as they still awaited the brewing permits from the municipality.
Brouwerij De Prael was founded by Arno Kooy and Fer Kok in 2002, who were both members of Amateur Beer Brewers Association 't Wort Wat. Originally to be named “De Parel” after a 17th century Amsterdam brewery, they needed to adapt the name as there was already a competing beer named Budels Parel.. The initial location was on the first floor of an industrial building in the in the Schinkel business park in Amsterdam. In 2008, Brouwerij De Prael moved to Oudezijds Voorburgwal before settling into their current location at Oudezijds Armsteeg in 2011. In 2018, Arno Kooy and Fer Kok, the founders of the brewery, announced that they wanted to roll out Brouwerij De Prael as a franchise model, with branches opened in Groningen and The Hague in 2018. De Prael is a social company that aims to incorporate people who have been on the sidelines for far too long into a learning and social workplace.
De Pijp location has not been opened since October 2023 and the rumor is there is an issue with the landlord
Brouwerij 't IJ was opened way back in 1985 by Kaspar Peterson at the former Funen bathhouse. Formerly a musician in the band Drukwerk, Kaspar emerged from the ranks of amateur brewers to focus on brewing full-time. The brewery is located in front of a characteristic mill named De Gooyer, which is also depicted on the brewery's labels and where the malt was ground in the early days of the brewery. The first beer was a Tripel style beer called Zatte. In 2008, the brewery was taken over by Patrick Hendrikse and Bart Obertop under the condition that the new owners would leave the brewery unchanged. In 2013, ’t Ij expanded to the Zeeburgerpad in Oost, while also still brewing on the Funenkade, where the tasting room is located. In 2015, Duvel Moortgat took an interest in Brouwerij 't IJ, pledging that the "uniqueness and independence" of the brewery will be retained. The brewery opened a second tasting room in the Vondelpark in 2020 and a third on Zeeburgerstraat in 2023.
Built in 1937
Kleiburg Brewery is an initiative of the Kleiklooster, which opened its doors in 2015 in the Klusflat Kleiburg. The brewery was founded by Johannes van den Akker, abbot of the Klei Monastery, together with brewer Martijn Horsman and the brewery designer, Thomas Hermsen. Initially, the brewery used the installations of others until construction of their brewery opened in 2017. The in-house brewery, with tasting room, is located in a simple warehouse, located next to IKEA, in the middle of the office buildings in Amsterdam's Bijlmer. Kleiburg brews traditional monastery beer. Brewed with respect for the age-old tradition of the brewers who came before, but always with a contemporary twist. Just like the city monastery, where past and present flow seamlessly into each other.
In 2013, the owners of Café Kostverloren, Jorrit Lootsma, Hendrik de Jong and Frits de Jong decided to start brewing and selling beer themselves under the name Brouwerij Troost. They teamed up with brewmaster Peter-Derk Muffels, who developed the beers in a small brewing installation that was in one of the boys' attic. In 2024 they opened their first location in the former monastery on Cornelis Troostplein in De Pijp that they converted into a brewery, tasting room and a café. In 2015, a second larger location was opened in Westergas. In 2017, a third branch with café would be opened in Amsterdam East in an old police station, but this café was closed in December 2018. An Oud-West branch was opened in 2018 but was closed in 2023.
Butcher’s Tears was founded by Eric Nordin, a musician and brewer from Sweden, together with Herbert Nelissen and Felicia von Zweigbergk. They use the old-school practice of cultivating our own yeast within the brewery, by harvesting a fresh crop from one batch of beer and adding it to the next in a continuous cycle. They are consequently not making "wild" beer but the process is likewise not fully controlled such as when using common laboratory grown yeast.. This small, independent brewery is located at an industrial canalside space in Amsterdam Zuid, not far from the Olympic Stadium.
Arising out of the former Amsterdam Brouwhuis Maximiliaan brewery, De Bekeerde Suster began brewing in 2004. Cafe Operator the Beiaard Groep Nederland had been searching for a brewery as far away as Hoorn and Enkhuizen before gaining access to the location to provide a stable source for it’s tap beers, such as Witte Ros. The management of the brewery is run by a Foundation, with the aim of maintaining an Amsterdam brewery, promoting knowledge and interest in brewing and developing special types of beer. The name of the brewery comes from a monastery that stood on the same site in the Middle Ages that cared for 'Fallen women’. The original brewmaster was Tom Kremers, formerly of Dommelsche Bierbrouwerij. In December 2022, Ramez Ramsey took over De Bekeerde Suster.
Friekens enjoys some fame in (sub)cultural circles as the in-house brewer (and co-organizer) of various festivals at the ADM and the street art festival Paint And Beer. Friekens is named after the old Kiekens factory in Amsterdam-Noord, a was former squatters' stronghold. Here the first brews were made by brewer Sid Benson for parties and also for his own use. Since 2017, the brewery has relocated to the NoordOogst urban agriculture project n Amsterdam-Noord, in a former sports canteen with an adjacent beer garden that previously hosted The De Vriendschap Brewery. Founder and head brewer Sid Benson "brews tasty Frisian beer using only natural ingredients, without artificial junk, in a traditional way.
The brewery is an initiative of the two sisters Do and Tessel de Heij from Amsterdam who started brewing beer as a hobby in their kitchen in 2013. The company was officially founded in 2015 with a focus on the local Amsterdam market, the beers are now sold throughout the Netherlands. The name Brewed by Women was originally only intended as a working title, but it turned out so well that it was eventually retained. It also radiates 'women's power', although that was not the intention. Brewed By Women initially used the brewing facilities of De Noord-Hollandse Bierbrouwerij. Other breweries were used incidentally. In 2020 they brew the beers at Jopen and Troost. In 2019, the brewery started a crowdfunding campaign to fund its own bar in Amsterdam, located on the site of Café Frieda in the Jan Pieter Heijestraat in Amsterdam Oud West.
Heineken was founded in 1868 by Gerard Adriaan Heineken, who opened a new brewery on the Stadhouderskade where the Heineken Experience still sits today. Over the course of the 20th century, Heineken led the consolidation of the Dutch beer market, capped off with the merger with Amstel in 1968, after which these breweries controlled more than 50 percent of the Dutch beer market as well as multiple foreign breweries. In 1975, a new brewery was opened in Zoeterwoude leading to the closure of the Amsterdam branches on the Mauritskade and on the Stadhouderskade in the 1980s. Until the mid-1980s, Heineken's range was almost exclusively limited to pilsner, old brown and bock beer but was later expanded through the introduction of Buckler, Wieckse Witte and Murphy's Irish Red and the acquisitions of Brand and Affligem. To meet the demand for craft beers, acquired Lagunitas Brewing Company in 2017, Beavertown Brewery in 2018 and Oedipus Brewing in 2019.
Homeland Brewery started operations in 2015 as a home brewery for Pension Homeland, a hotel located on part of a former naval site on the IJ, next to the Maritime Museum. The name Homeland was inspired by the location, formerly the home port for both the Dutch Navy and merchant shipping, where wooden frigates were loaded with supplies of beer for hundreds of years. The brewery was founded by veterans of the festival and catering world Koen Vollaers, Astrid van der Meiden and Joost Carlier, who teamed up with Erik Spratte and manager Bart Maes of the Maes beer brewing family. In 2018, the brewery moved to larger facilities at Bierwerf Homeland, 100 meters next to the old brewery. Led by current brewers Wietse Postma and Willem Bink, the brewery has approximately fourteen beers in its range, ranging from modern innovative beers to classics with a twist.
Founded in 2020 by Ward Venstra, previously of Bruut Bier. After the closure of Bruut Brouwcafe, Krux took over the the former shipyard at Cruquiuseiland. Krux is a nano-brewery and brew-pub, featuring an expansive beer garden.
Lion's Head was founded in 2018 by Shaun and Katja Mahon, a couple from South Africa and Germany respectively. The name Lion's Head is inspired by the iconic mountain in Cape Town, South Africa. It started as an on-site craft brewery with a gastropub in De Pijp. The menu features light beers and gastronomy with an African/German twist. Inspired by the food culture in Cape Town and German beer culture. The initiators were inspired by the vibrant food culture in Cape Town and the German beer culture. In 2020, they moved brewing operations to a a larger site in Hoofdorp.
Lowlander Beer was founded by Frederik Kampman in 2016 and uses plants, herbs and spices during the brewing process, a traditional practice that has been forgotten in the last century as breweries began stressing purity. "Chief Botanical Officer" Frederik Kampman worked for years with gin and jenever and brought that knowledge to the noble art of beer brewing. In 2023, they opened the Botanical Bar and Restaurant, previously not having their own taproom.
Peter van der Arend started Proeflokaal Arendsnest in 2000 with the goal of putting Dutch specialty beer on the map. In 2009, he opened BeerTemple in 2009 near Dam Square to focus on American craft beers and expanded further in 2015 with Craft & Draft on the Overtook and 'Cause BEER loves FOOD near Leidesplein. To keep his growing empire well supplied, he founded Morebeer Brewing in 2015 to brew craft beers together with Dutch brewers which could always be found in his cafés. In 2021, 'Cause BEER loves FOOD was reopened Mikkeller at Morebeer, a collaboration with Danish craft brewer Mikkeler. Fifty percent of the taps are reserved for the special beers of this progressive Danish brewery while the other half is made up of beers from MoreBeer and guest taps.
Oedipus Brewing was founded by Sander Nederveen, Rick Nelson, Alex Mager and Paul Brouwer. In the early days, brewing took place at Brouwerij De Molen with their first beer, Mannenliefde. In 2014 they opened their own brewpub with funds coming from a succesful crowdfunding. In 2019, it was announced that Heineken had taken a minority stake in the brewery with the owners continuing to run the brewery. In 2023, it was announced that Heineken had acquired all shares of the brewery and thus became full owner of the brewery. The takeover coincides with the move of Oedipus into a larger building, which is located close to the old building in the North district of Amsterdam.
Van Vollenhoven Bieren is an initiative of Eymert van Manen, Jesse van Vollenhoven, Julian Alvarez and Pieter Teepe of the De Gekroonde Valk Foundation in 2014. Eymert and Pieter had been contract brewing the namesake Stout as early 2006, and later brought on head brewer Julian and Jesse of the Van Vollenhoven family. In 2016 the brewery was renamed Poesiat & Kater, after the names of two special employees of the former brewery. Bart Poesiat and Klaas Kater, who meant a lot to the brewery and the Netherlands on a social level in the second half of the 19th century. The brewery and tasting room were officially opened on Thursday, March 23, 2017. In 2021, the brewery was moved to a larger location. The tasting room will remain at the same location. In January 2024, Morebeer Brewing and Poesiat & Kater announced their intention to merge with Morebeer Brewing, with Moreover founder Peter van der Arend becoming a co-owner of Poesiat & Water.
Founded in 2012 by two former chefs, Koen van der Plas and Martijn Disseldorp, the brewery's story began with the shared passion for beer they had developed during their culinary careers. Initially, the brewery used the brewing facilities of the Sallandse Landbier Brewery moving to a small warehouse in Amsterdam-Noord in 2014. A crowdfunding campaign was started in 2016, raising € 300,000 to move into a new warehouse in the western port area of Amsterdam, after which Sebastian Feind joined as a brewer, previously of BrewDog. The webshop was opened in 2018 and in 2020, they opened a separate taproom and restaurant named Foodbar West on Hugo de Grootplein. In 2021, they opened Goodbar Zuid on Stadionplein that was later closed in 2023. In 2023, they completed their second crowdfunding, raising € 1,000,000 for expansion at their current site.
Walhalla Craft Beer opened in 2016 in the Compagnietheater in Amsterdam, later moving to a building in Amsterdam-Noord that previously housed a car company in 2017. The move was supported by a crowdfunding campaign to fund the brewing kettles and a tasting room and opened in 2018. Since January 2019, Paul Troost, who worked at the brewery, has been 10% owner of Walhalla.