Craft beer in Amsterdam

On Sunday we visited a fantastic brewpub in Amsterdam. Brouwerij 't IJ is located at the base of an old windmill on the outskirts of the city centre. We spotted it during a canal cruise in the morning, and headed back there in the afternoon to catch the free tour at 4pm.

The Brouwerij 't IJ beer garden

We arrived at the brewpub a little after opening time (3pm) and there were plenty of seats outside in the beer garden. We grabbed a tasting paddle and enjoyed the sunshine until it was time for the tour. They had four beers on tap when we visited, the Plzen, Natte (Belgian style dubbel), Zatte (Belgian style tripel) and Columbus (a big US inspired amber ale). They usually have their Wit available but they had run out, it is their most popular beer. All the beers were really solid and tasty.

Me with the Plzen, and right to left Natte, Zatte and Columbus

The tour took about 45 minutes. We were taken through the brewing room with the mash tun and kettle, which can be seen through windows behind the bar. Next we went down to the basement where the fermentation and conditioning rooms are. The fermenters were big cuboid shaped things, with a window on the side so you can see the yeast in action, and which can also be used to top crop the yeast for use in another batch. Back upstairs on the same level as the brewing room was the bottling room.

One of the cuboid fermenters with yeast harvesting window

After the tour we sat down with some friends (including a colleague from Sydney we randomly bumped into outside a cafe earlier in the day). We had another couple of beers, including the Struis which is only available in bottles and is a big, dark barleywine type of beer. We also tried some nice soft sheep's cheese that is made locally. The brewery gives the sheep farmer the spent grain from the brewing process to feed the sheep. The farmer then makes the cheese and gives it to the brewery to sell over the bar.

The bar staff hard at work

I also found a bottled beer made by Brouwerij 't IJ in a craft beer shop called De Bierkoning. They make it specially for this shop, and it's a big (9% ABV) Belgian Specialty Ale with some great Brettanomyces character. I'll try and pick up a couple of bottles of this to take home when we go back to Amsterdam for our flight back to Sydney.

Extra Speciale Vlo

On Monday night we went out in search of a craft beer bar in Amsterdam. We went by Cafe Gollem when we visited the Cracked Kettle bottle shop and it was closed, but I found out about another beer bar that only has Dutch micro brews, Nederlands Biercafe 't Arendsnest.

Stitchybritt enjoying a Dutch pils at 't Arendsnest

I can't recommend this place enough! They have 30 Dutch micro brews on tap, which is more than any craft beer bar in Australia, and outstanding considering we counted only about 30 seats in the bar! They also have a great range of bottled Dutch micro brews. Britt sat on a nice Pilsner while I tried a few different brews, with the triple IPA from a brewery called Emelisse being my pick of the night!

Cheers!