Netherlands

[atomeyes]

Thought I'd post about 2 cities:

Maastricht - there are lots of bars scattered throughout this town, and some will have some nice offerings on tap (Westmalle and St Berny 12 and the Chouffe line at the pub beside the tourist centre), but most have crap. Brand is the name of the beer. Brans Pils is what the locals pound back. But...there's a bar called Cafe Frappe and it is really nice. Husband and wife owned. Ignore the taps (local pils crap) and kind of pay attention to the menu (3 Fonteinin Kriek? yes please!) but the owner keeps the good stuff off the menu. ALL of the Struise barrel-aged beer at your disposal plus a few goodies. also has a full kitchen.

Not overly far from Maastricht is La Trappe's monestary. the property is stunning. the cafe is nice. you can drink draught (Isis D'or on tap? hell yea) or get bottles (oak aged La Trappe). if you are in the hood, it is worth the visit. not a huge fan of their beer compared to other trappist beer, but still nice.

Amsterdam - drank at a few places. Two stand out. Second best is the Arendsnest, which features only Dutch beer. Most are ok to pretty good. http://www.arendsnest.nl/

But my favourite always is Golem. I went to the one near Anne Frank Museum. Very nice tap list and a pretty good bottle list. Strong focus on Belgian beer and they pretty much have as good of, if not better, of a list than Bruge Bertje.

went to In De Wildeman. Heard good things. bottle list is typical. tap list was good but not overly inspiring. had 1-2 american beer on tap. tap list leans more towards the bitter/IPA side, if that's your thing.

Bottle shop: De Bierkoning. it begins and ends here. best bottle shop i've seen. lots of Struise offerings, some 3 Floyds (??), lots of lambic, lots of everything.

[Philip1]

went to In De Wildeman. Heard good things. bottle list is typical. tap list was good but not overly inspiring. had 1-2 american beer on tap. tap list leans more towards the bitter/IPA side, if that's your thing.

Prices have gone up considerably. Some bottles that were 4 euro a few years ago are now 6.95.

Beer Temple (Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal 250) is almost all American micros. Way too many hophead on draught that all seemed the same as far as I'm concerned along with exotic flavoured beers. They'd quite a few Rogue draught and bottled selections. Lots of bottles from Lagunitas, Mercury Brewing, and Lost Abbey. Lots I'd never heard of (21st Amendment Brewing, Westbrook). Even their Anchor beers were unusual (Big Leaf Maple and California Lager but none of the others).

Beer Temple has a sister bar called Arendsnest which only serves Dutch beer (I don't think they mean Amstel) but I didn't get to it.

[atomeyes]

Beer Temple has a sister bar called Arendsnest which only serves Dutch beer (I don't think they mean Amstel) but I didn't get to it.

i only got there once.
didn't realize until a few months later that the beauty of Arendsnest is their bottle list. they have tonnes of De Mollen stuff.

[Philip1]

Bottle shop: De Bierkoning. it begins and ends here. best bottle shop i've seen. lots of Struise offerings, some 3 Floyds (??), lots of lambic, lots of everything.

If you still need some bottles on your last day there is a shop at Schiphol Airport called Food Village. They have a decent selection of Belgians from, among others, Brasserie Dupont, Achouffe, (two or three selections from each of those breweries), some German wheat beers, and US microbrews, most for less than 3 euro for the smaller bottles. No good Dutch stuff though, just Heineken and Amstel.

[FEUO]

Bottle shop: De Bierkoning. it begins and ends here. best bottle shop i've seen. lots of Struise offerings, some 3 Floyds (??), lots of lambic, lots of everything.

If you still need some bottles on your last day there is a shop at Schiphol Airport called Food Village. They have a decent selection of Belgians from, among others, Brasserie Dupont, Achouffe, (two or three selections from each of those breweries), some German wheat beers, and US microbrews, most for less than 3 euro for the smaller bottles. No good Dutch stuff though, just Heineken and Amstel.

Yeah, but he just said De Bierkoning. 'nuff said
That tiny shop is pound for pound one of the best shops I have ever been in. First bottle I saw on the counter when I walked in was a '11 Kuhnhenn Dark Heathen. WTF? They work hard to bring limited distro'd beers in NA to their shelves. Crazy.

Can't imagine what lurks beneath and in back.

[Philip1]

Bottle shop: De Bierkoning. it begins and ends here. best bottle shop i've seen. lots of Struise offerings, some 3 Floyds (??), lots of lambic, lots of everything.

If you still need some bottles on your last day there is a shop at Schiphol Airport called Food Village. They have a decent selection of Belgians from, among others, Brasserie Dupont, Achouffe, (two or three selections from each of those breweries), some German wheat beers, and US microbrews, most for less than 3 euro for the smaller bottles. No good Dutch stuff though, just Heineken and Amstel.

Yeah, but he just said De Bierkoning. 'nuff said
That tiny shop is pound for pound one of the best shops I have ever been in.

You are correct about De Bierkoning. I went there Sunday during a one day stopover before returning to Canada. Unfortunately, I didn't have any real room in my luggage for beer. Fortunately though I had stuff (toiletries, a book I'd already read, and an item of clothing), that I figured I could live without, so I dispensed with them and squeezed three bottles into my bag. As soon as English was spoken (myself and a customer before me) the woman behind the counter reaches for the newspapers she wraps the bottles in as if Anglo tourists wanting to bring beer back home were a regular part of the clientele. I guess we are.

BTW the Food Village shop that I mentioned above doesn't seem to be at Schiphol Airport anymore. Duty free beer limited to Grolsch and Heineken.