Region & History

How long has Holland been brewing with hops? The oldest mention in the Netherlands dates to 1321 and is tied to the dwindling revenue from the gruit right. Gruit was a herb blend used to season beer before hops came into play, including bog myrtle, yarrow, and wild rosemary, and whoever held the right to it earned a cut from every brew.

Haarlem became a beer city in the late Middle Ages. By around 1400, brewing was the town's most important trade, and Haarlem beer traveled to cities from France to Russia. The Jopen brewery later revived recipes from the municipal records of 1407 and 1501. For a time, Holland was a leading beer-exporting nation.

The brewery that stands for Amsterdam today is younger. Gerard Adriaan Heineken opened the brewery on Stadhouderskade in 1867, though the company itself cites 1864 as its founding year. When the site became too small, production moved to Zoeterwoude near Leiden in 1988, where the brewery has stood since 1975. The old building has housed the Heineken Experience since May 2001.

Heineken today belongs to Heineken N.V., controlled by the Heineken family. Two very different things coexist in the city: a global corporation and a small scene that emerged in the 1980s out of frustration with endless pilsner. The first bock beer enthusiasts met at Café Gollem in 1978, and Brouwerij 't IJ opened its doors in 1985.

There's no protected designation of origin here. No Dutch beer appears in the EU register of protected geographical indications, so "Dutch beer" isn't a legal term. The country's reputation as a beer nation rests on brands, cafés, and festivals instead.