Amsterdam’s Craft Beer Scene Has Grown Up. Here’s What’s Worth Drinking.
Brouwerij ‘t IJ is the one everyone knows — the brewery at Funenkade 7 in Zeeburg, next to the De Gooyer windmill, open since 1985, serving its own beers in a tasting room that smells permanently of hops and wood. It’s genuinely good and genuinely worth going to. It is also not the whole story.
Amsterdam’s craft beer scene has expanded significantly in the last eight years. Here’s how I’d navigate it if I were explaining it to someone who knows nothing.
The anchor: Brouwerij ‘t IJ
Funenkade 7, Zeeburg. Open daily from 2pm (noon on weekends). The tasting room is the original space — wood benches, the brewery visible through glass, good natural light. Order the Columbus IPA or the Natte Dubbel. Guided brewery tours run on Fridays and Sundays and are worth doing once. The windmill is genuinely impressive from outside.
In Noord: Oedipus Brewing
Oedipus Brewing moved to a new location in 2024 — their Craft Space is now at Schaafstraat 21 in the Hamerkwartier area of Amsterdam-Noord. The range skews experimental: saisons with unusual spices, IPAs, and seasonal specials. The taproom has outdoor space that works well in spring. Take the free Buiksloterweg ferry from behind Centraal, then cycle or walk about 2km east into the Hamerkwartier.
For bars rather than taprooms
Café In de Wildeman on Kolksteeg 3, behind Centraal Station, has been doing Belgian and craft beer since the nineties. Over a hundred bottled beers, a good tap selection, and the kind of wooden-panelled brown café atmosphere that Amsterdam does better than anywhere. No music. Conversation and beer. That’s the whole thing.
What to avoid
The Heineken Experience is a brand museum, not a beer recommendation. The tourist bars around Leidseplein and Rembrandtplein are fine if that’s the environment you want, but they are not the beer culture of Amsterdam. Go 10 minutes in any direction from either square and the city becomes more itself.
