Beer in the Netherlands
Encyclopedia
Pale lager
Pale lager is a very pale to golden-coloured beer with a well attenuated body and a varying degree of noble hop bitterness. The brewing process for this beer developed in the mid 19th century when Gabriel Sedlmayr took pale ale brewing techniques back to the Spaten Brewery in Germany and applied it...
s, especially Heineken
Heineken
Heineken is a Dutch beer which has been brewed by Heineken International since 1873. It is available in a 4.6% alcohol variety in countries such as Ireland. It is the flagship product of the Heineken company and is made of purified water, malted barley, hops, and yeast. In 1886 H...
and Grolsch, which are exported globally. Grolsch is the leading import lager in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. Heineken is the world's third-largest brewer of beer, after Anheuser-Busch InBev
Anheuser-Busch InBev
Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V. is a Belgian-Brazilian publicly-traded company, based in Leuven, Belgium. It is the largest global brewer with nearly 25% global market share and one of the world's top five consumer products companies by EBITA....
and SABMiller
SABMiller
SABMiller plc is a global brewing and bottling company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's second-largest brewing company measured by revenues and is also a major bottler of Coca-Cola. Its brands include Grolsch, Miller Genuine Draft, Peroni Nastro Azzurro and Pilsner Urquell...
.
While pale lager makes up the majority of beer production and consumption in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
(95% according to the Centraal Brouwerij Kantoor), most Dutch brewers also brew specials. The most common is 'witbier' (white beer). Also Bok, brewed in Autumn and Spring, a tradition closely related to German Bock
Bock
Bock is a strong lager of German origin. Several substyles exist, including maibock or helles bock, a paler, more hopped version generally made for consumption at spring festivals; doppelbock, a stronger and maltier version; and eisbock, a much stronger version made by partially freezing the beer...
beer, is an often brewed special.
The Netherlands exports the largest proportion of beer of any country in the world - approximately 50% of production, according to The Brewers of Europe. In 2004, almost 1,300 million litres were exported out of a total production of 2,300 million litres.
Breweries
There are three main brewery companies in the Netherlands: HeinekenHeineken
Heineken is a Dutch beer which has been brewed by Heineken International since 1873. It is available in a 4.6% alcohol variety in countries such as Ireland. It is the flagship product of the Heineken company and is made of purified water, malted barley, hops, and yeast. In 1886 H...
(which also brews Amstel), Grolsch and Bavaria. Belgian breweries also take part in the market. Inbev
Anheuser-Busch InBev
Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V. is a Belgian-Brazilian publicly-traded company, based in Leuven, Belgium. It is the largest global brewer with nearly 25% global market share and one of the world's top five consumer products companies by EBITA....
for example has got Jupiler and the Dutch brands Dommelsch and Oranjeboom on the Dutch market. According to the Centraal Brouwerij Kantoor, Heineken
Heineken
Heineken is a Dutch beer which has been brewed by Heineken International since 1873. It is available in a 4.6% alcohol variety in countries such as Ireland. It is the flagship product of the Heineken company and is made of purified water, malted barley, hops, and yeast. In 1886 H...
has around fifty percent of the market and the other three fifteen percent each. Between them, the large companies operate eight breweries. In addition to the multinationals, there are five independent lager breweries and around forty five small, new microbreweries and brewpubs. A dozen other companies own no brewing plant themselves and have their beers brewed by third parties in the Netherlands or Belgium. The new breweries mostly brew top-fermenting beers roughly similar to those from Belgium, though there are also examples of British-style ales and traditional lagers.
The Netherlands is also home to one of the seven Trappist Breweries
Trappist beer
A Trappist beer is a beer brewed by or under control of Trappist monks. There are a total of 174 Trappist monasteries worldwide ; only seven produce Trappist beer and are authorized to label their beers with the Authentic Trappist Product logo that indicates a compliance to the various rules of...
, located in Berkel-Enschot
Berkel-Enschot
Berkel-Enschot is a village in the Netherlands, in the municipality of Tilburg. Formerly, it consisted of two villages, named Berkel and Enschot.Until 1997, Berkel-Enschot was a separate municipality....
. The monks that run the Koningshoeven Brewery
De Koningshoeven Brewery
De Koningshoeven Brewery is a Dutch Trappist brewery founded in 1884 within the walls of the abbey Onze Lieve Vrouw van Koningshoeven in Berkel-Enschot .- History :...
brew a beer called La Trappe.
Although beer is a popular beverage throughout the country, some provinces or parts of the Netherlands have their own 'distinctive' beer. For example, in the south and southeast of the country bitter beers are popular, like Brand beer. Bavaria is popular in Noord-Brabant and Grolsch is a big favourite in the eastern provinces.