Breweries in/near Amsterdam

[kindnblue]

Hello; I am planning to be in Amsterdam late April/early May and would love to visit some small, local breweries / houses. I will not be able to tromp through Belgium on this trip, so I was hoping to treat ourselves to some excellent beer, food and people. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks :)

[Richard English]

There are some reasonable beers brewed in the Netherlands, although far fewer than in Belgium.

Fewer still, of course, than in England.

Stop in London en route and visit one of our breweries. Both Fuller's and Young's are in London and no more than an hour from any London airport.

[Theakston]

copied from another user group.
Hope it is useful:

Subject: Amsterdam Beer Bars

Greetings all...having spent quite a bit of time over the last several years
beer hunting in Amsterdam, I thought I would pass on some recommendations:

* Cafe Belgique; tiny pub by Dam square, has six or seven taps
including DeKoninck, La Chouffe, usually something from Brouwerij 't Ij,
etc.. Love the atmosphere - dark wood and gleaming copper taps.
* In de Wildeman; perhaps the most famous of the Amsterdam beer bars.
Phenomenal selection.
* De Beiaard; with many taps of Dutch and Belgian beers, located on
Spui square, great place to have a beer in the glassed-in patio and watch
traffic chaos unfold outside.

There are many more. My most important suggestion is to proceed immediately
to the bottle shop De Bierkoning, near Dam square, and buy a copy of the
"Serious Drinker's Guide to Amsterdam" by Hugh Shipman. It's a
comprehensive guide to all the best beer bars, and is all you need to spend
several days stumbling around town. By the way, Bierkoning has an
incredible selection of beer and glassware - you'll be tempted to throw away
the contents of your suitcase and replace them with beers.

try out a new bar specializing in Dutch beers, 't Arendsnest; check it
out at www.arendsnest.nl
Cheers,

[scamborn]

When in A'dam there are a few musts....you must visit De Wildeman pub; you must visit Cafe Belgique; you must visit Brewery 't IJ and you must stop at the Bierkonig beerstore for bottles to carry home.

Details: Wildeman and Belgique are not far off the main pedestrian shopping street in the tourist area - Wildeman is phenomenal for its selection of beers and atmosphere - it's a stop for locals even though it's in the tourist district. Belgique has a number of taps and lots of bottles however it is small (the trip to the restroom is an adventure after a few beers).

IJ brewery is under the windmill at Funekade 8 (spelling?). It is out past the botanical gardens and the zoo so ask how to get there by tram/bus rather than walking. Lots of good Belgian style beers - lots of locals too so it must be good!

The Bierkonig is on Paliessestraat (spelling?) near the Palace/Dam Square. When looking at the palace from the Damrak, with Madam Tausauds on your left it is down the street to the left of the Palace (about 2 streets down?) keep your eyes open and its hard to miss. 800+ beers for sale with lots of glassware and other breweriana. I make this one of the first stops and one of the last (carry an extra hard-side suitcase full of bubblewrap and pack you bottles in that to get them home).

Unfortunately the Maximilian brewpub has closed. It had the most beautiful brewing set up I've ever seen; and good beers too.

cheers, scamborn