But Sloterdijk lost its position as the center of business in Amsterdam. Zuid (South) attracted a lot of company headquarters and businesses in Sloterdijk vacated their buildings too for the move south. At the same time Amsterdam was looking for more space for new hotels, something there is a big lack of in the capital. The old office buildings in Sloterdijk are now converted into hotels. A convenient location because both downtown Amsterdam, Zaandam and Haarlem or 10 to 15 minutes away by train (http://dutchbeerpages.com/category/amsterdam-beer/).
homas Boonstoppel, one of the two guys running Nordman, showed me around the construction site of a new project in the west of Amsterdam they will be a part of. Next to the Sloterdijk railway station a jenga tower of red containers is being constructed. In the end of April this will become ‘Bret’ , a organic food bar that will serve great craft beer.
The Sloterdijk railway station connects the city with the rest of the country above the IJ canal, with most of the Western cities and also to the harbor of Amsterdam next to it. Large multinational companies have left the area to relocate to the new boom part of Amsterdam around the World Trade Center railway station to the south. This led the city to a decision that parts of this area needed a new purpose, to remodel this area into something else than a place where people work and then leave. The companies leaving the office space means empty buildings but the location meant hotels got interested and this is now the new market. With people staying there overnight new restaurants and bars are slowly trying to get a foothold in this area.
Bret
The idea for Bret is not entirely Nordmans idea. They already had plans to open a German-style beergarten somewhere in Amsterdam and were walking around looking for help. They came across someone who was already working on a new idea, which is now Bret and Nordman fit perfectly in the idea. This will give Bret a multipurpose designation. A beer bar, but also a diner type place for coffee, sandwiches and other to-go stuff, all for reasonable prizes. It will also be a little slice of green heaven in concrete. In the building there is also room for theater shows and beer workshops.
Bret(t)?
The name Bret fits the purpose beautifully, but is not named for the kind of yeast that makes your Orval so tasty. The area nearby is called the Brettenzone, and trees from this area have been incorporated into the building.
The idea of turning containers into a structure isn’t new. The first thing it reminded me of was the Frau Geroltsgarten in Zurich. In a jungle of mostly concrete Zurich-West is in the middle of an urban renewal renaissance. Old factory buildings are turned into office space, restaurants and shops, sometimes with some of the factory gear still in place. Spaces under bridges are now small companies or daycare centers. In this area someone played Legos with sea containers to build a garden that is part art center, part food center. A restaurant offers homemade food, with some of the ingredients being produced on the actual site. You can eat your bowl of chili sitting next to the herbs that were cut a few hours before to be a part of your meal (http://dutchbeerpages.com/category/amsterdam-beer/).
Pampus was started by the two-man team of Timothy Wareman and Nando Servais. If you have been to Amsterdam and went to the great beer places we told you about earlier chances are you have met them already. They got to know each other while working at the Beertemple, yes, that cathedral of beer in downtown Amsterdam that is turning into a school for beer with some of the Oedipus people also ‘graduating’ from here.
Tim then went to that other temple of beer het Arendsnest to become the manager there. After doing this for a long time he returned to the Beertemple where he currently is the manager there. For those who don’t know, both places are owned by the same guy (Peter van den Arend) (http://dutchbeerpages.com/category/amsterdam-beer/).
Amsterdam’s new beer scene episode V: The Cinema Strikes Back
And you thought we were done with the new Amsterdam beer scene! Well, you’re wrong there buddy, there’s still a lot more to talk about. New brewing initiatives are popping up in Amsterdam faster than I can keep up with writing about them. One of those new initiatives is one that has been getting some attention in the press lately are the Cinema Brewers. New brewers with a different angle on beer; because they come from the movie industry they bring ideas from that art to the brewing world.
Feauturing
The Cinema Brewers are screenwriter Roelof Jan Minneboo and director Finbarr Wilbrink and yes, they have IMDB pages. Go ahead, look it up while I wait.
[intermission]
How cool was that! Roelof Jan and Finbarr are being helped by Naos Wilbrink and Bart Breedijk now that they are taking of....Right now the beer is brewed at the Noordhollands Bierbrouwerij in Uitgeest (http://dutchbeerpages.com/category/amsterdam-beer/).
Amsterdam’s New Beer Scene Episode IV: Two Chefs Brewing
In 2012 Martijn and Sanne took this skill from food to beer and joined to make new beers and experiment with new ingredients. The feedback was positive enough to start brewing commercially for the first time and the reactions to this were also positive. Two Chefs Brewing was born and in 2013 when it was still a side project next to their normal day jobs. In January [2015] they took bigger steps towards a professional brewery with bigger batches and since August Two Chefs is their day job (http://dutchbeerpages.com/category/amsterdam-beer/).
For a while the beer scene in Amsterdam was remarkably uneventful. Het IJ en De Prael were quite visible but for interesting craft beer you had to go somewhere else. But things are looking up and the number of new brewers from the capital is rising steadily. In this new series we will discuss a few of these brewers, and will look at what challenges they face.
Friendship
Of the Amsterdam brewers in this series De Vriendschap has been around for a little while longer. De Vriendschap means ‘The Friendship’ and is the result of the long comradery between Aart van Bergen and Peter Harms who have known each other for more than half of their lives. In yet another convergence between beer and good music they first played in their own rock band and music still plays a big part in their lives.
Peter was the DIY guy and had made wine with grapes from their own garden before. In late 2011 they were drinking Belgian beers and above his head an imaginary lightbulb shone bright: “One day I want to make my own beer.” Aart replied affirmatively and a few weeks they were stirring in a pot in their first attempt to make beer (http://dutchbeerpages.com/category/amsterdam-beer/).
People who read this blog but have only spent little or no time in this country often ask me the what which beer related places they should visit. Since Amsterdam is often the first and only destination it will feature in the first installment of a new series: Dutch beer for tourists!
Amsterdam, the city I was fortunate enough to live in for over a decade. While Utrecht might be a more interesting place to visit when it comes to beer, Amsterdam is making a comeback lately and in one years’ time there will be even more to visit, but for now I am sticking with what some, including myself, call the ‘Golden Quartet’.
Proeflokaal het Arendsnest (Herengracht 90)
If you are only in Amsterdam for an hour but still want to go to an iconic place for Dutch beer, then the Arendsnest is the place. About a 10-15 minute walk from the local railway station you pass one of the most beautiful canals in the city, aptly named the Brewerscanal (Brouwersgracht). Though you could easily linger on the small bridges for hours, tear yourself away until you reach the Herengracht where you will find the Arendsnest.
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BeerTemple (Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal 250)
The BeerTemple has been open for a few years now, can sometimes be empty but what is on offer there is unequaled in the Netherlands, maybe in Europe.
Think the great bigger American craft brewers, but also Mikkeler and Struise. Usually there are around 4 Dutch beers on tap too.
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Bierkoning ( Paleisstraat 125)
Just around the corner is a shop that doesn’t look like much from the outside. But walk through the door and small corridor and you enter beer heaven. This is easily the best beer store in Amsterdam.
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In De Wildeman (Kolksteeg 3)
If you really need to go back to the station with your backpack heavy with the bottles you just bought at de Bierkoning, the ghost of Michael Jackson (the beer writer who once recorded a bit for his series here) will haunt you forever if you don’t go to In De Wildeman first. This is a specialty beer with beer from all over Europe, but you can easily sit here all day and only have Dutch brews either from one of the many taps or bottles. Like the other bars, the staff knows what they are selling.
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Brouwerij ‘t IJ (Funenkade 7)A little outside of downtown, but easy to reach by tram, is one of the oldest craft breweries in the country: Brouwerij ‘t IJ. Located in an old bathhouse underneath a windmill it’s a pretty place to visit.
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De Prael (Oudezijds Voorburgwal 30)
If you haven’t been to Amsterdam much you will likely end up in the red light district. Don’t forget to wander into the Prael, a newer brewery with a shop and tasting room (http://dutchbeerpages.com/category/amsterdam-beer/page/2/).