Den Haag Craft Beer: Smaller Than Amsterdam, More Interesting

Den Haag’s craft beer scene is about five years old in any meaningful sense. It is smaller than Amsterdam’s and less visible than Rotterdam’s. It is also, in some specific ways, more interesting — because it is small enough that everyone knows each other and the experimentation is genuine rather than commercial.

The venues

The craft beer bars in Den Haag are concentrated in a few pockets. The area around the Grote Markt and the Plein has the highest concentration. The Statenkwartier has a smaller selection but better quality — the bars here serve good beer to people who actually live in the neighbourhood rather than to tourists and office workers.

Statig

Statig is the Den Haag craft beer brand worth knowing. They brew lagers and ales with a specifically Dutch sensibility — clean, not trying to out-hop everyone, designed to be drunk with food. Their taproom events when they do them are the best introduction to the local beer community.

The bottle shop scene

The specialist bottle shops in Den Haag stock Dutch, Belgian, and international craft beer and function as informal community centres for the scene. The staff tend to know what they are selling. Ask what’s local and what’s new and you will usually get a genuine recommendation rather than a margin-driven one.