Top 10 Breweries in Amsterdam
Amsterdam built its brewing reputation on the back of a single windmill and a decades-long tradition of idiosyncratic, community-oriented beer. Today the city supports a remarkably dense cluster of independent producers ranging from the experimental to the traditional, concentrated in post-industrial east Amsterdam and the canal belt. What connects them is an outlook that takes craft seriously without taking itself too seriously — a characteristically Dutch balance.
1. Brouwerij 't IJ, Amsterdam
No brewery in the Netherlands is more iconic than Brouwerij 't IJ, housed since 1985 in the De Gooyer windmill on the Funenkade. The windmill, a 1725 post mill that once milled grain, now serves primarily as a backdrop to the brewery below — though it is occasionally operated. 't IJ's beers span a wide range of styles: Zatte (a Tripel), Natte (a Dubbel), Ijwit (a witbier), and Struis (a barleywine). The taproom at the base of the mill opens at 14:00 and serves directly from the fermenters in a low-ceilinged, atmospheric space that fills quickly on weekends. The connection to the Dutch organic brewing movement — 't IJ became a certified organic brewery — distinguishes it from most of its peers. It is the Amsterdam brewery that every beer traveler visits first, and most leave having understood what makes the city's scene distinctive.
2. Oedipus, Amsterdam
Oedipus was founded in 2012 by four friends who wanted to challenge the convention that beer should taste like beer — their range deliberately draws on global flavors including Southeast Asian spices, Japanese sake yeast, and tropical fruit. Mannenliefde (Man Love), an IPA brewed with coriander and grapefruit, became their signature and the beer that put them on the national craft map. Their second location in North Amsterdam, near the NDSM Wharf post-industrial creative district, operates as a taproom and barrel-aging facility. Oedipus represents the Amsterdam approach to craft at its most experimental — every beer is unusual, few are repeated exactly.
3. De Prael, Amsterdam
De Prael occupies a unique position in Amsterdam's beer landscape: a social enterprise brewery that employs people with mental health conditions and uses brewing as a form of occupational therapy and rehabilitation. Founded in 2002 in the red-light district, De Prael now operates from a large brewing facility in Amsterdam Noord and maintains several café locations across the city. The beers — named after Dutch musical artists (Johnny, Willy, Heintje) — are approachable, well-made, and deliberately unpretentious. The brewery's existence as a functioning social enterprise alongside its commercial operation has made it a point of civic pride in a city that values both good beer and progressive institution-building.
4. Walhalla Brewery, Amsterdam
Walhalla opened in 2017 in a repurposed sugar factory in Amsterdam Noord and quickly developed a reputation for technically polished, Nordic-influenced beers. The Irminsul series uses foraged local ingredients including elderflower, yarrow, and juniper alongside conventional ingredients, producing beers with genuinely unusual aromatic profiles. Walhalla's taproom in the factory complex is one of the better Amsterdam beer experiences — a large, carefully designed space that serves both brewery visitors and the surrounding creative district neighborhood. Its Viking-influenced branding is consistent with the beer: dramatic without being gimmicky.
5. Two Chefs Brewing, Amsterdam
Two Chefs was founded by two former kitchen professionals who applied culinary thinking to brewing — the result is a range of beers that takes food pairing and flavor coherence seriously. Based in Amsterdam South, Two Chefs distributes broadly across the Netherlands and exports to several European markets. Their Funky Bastard series of sour and wild ales has been particularly well received, though the core range of pale ales and IPAs forms the commercial backbone. Two Chefs demonstrates that Amsterdam craft brewing can be both commercially ambitious and technically serious.
6. Butcher's Tears, Amsterdam
Butcher's Tears occupies a converted slaughterhouse in the Rivierenbuurt district, an address that provides both name and atmosphere. The brewery, founded in 2013, focuses on lower-alcohol, highly drinkable styles — session ales, saisons, and farmhouse-adjacent beers — in deliberate contrast to the high-ABV arms race that characterized much of the early craft movement. The taproom is one of Amsterdam's most pleasant drinking environments: a high-ceilinged, light-filled space adjacent to the brewing equipment. Butcher's Tears has built a devoted local following that treats it as a neighborhood fixture rather than a craft beer destination.
7. Brouwerij De 7 Deugden, Amsterdam
De 7 Deugden (Seven Virtues) is one of Amsterdam's older craft operations, founded in 2011 and based in Amsterdam West. The beers are Belgian-influenced — strong ales, tripels, and saisons — made with careful attention to yeast character and carbonation. The brewery maintains a low profile in the noisy Amsterdam craft scene, which is partly why it retains a loyally devoted following among those who prefer substance to self-promotion.
8. Poesiat & Kater, Amsterdam
Poesiat & Kater operates from a former industrial space in Amsterdam East (the Cruquiusgebied area) and brews a range of IPAs, session ales, and experimental beers with a particular focus on hop-forward styles. The taproom serves the local residential and creative community and has become a reliable neighborhood anchor. The beers are technically clean and consistent — the hallmark of a brewery that prioritizes repeatability alongside creativity.
9. Brouwerij De Bekeerde Suster, Amsterdam
De Bekeerde Suster (The Reformed Sister) holds the distinction of being Amsterdam's oldest in-city brewery in the current era, tracing its origins to a 2002 opening in the city center. Located on the Kloveniersburgwal, one of Amsterdam's historic canals, the brewery and café occupy a building with genuine medieval foundations. The beers are accessible rather than adventurous — pilsner, witbier, IPA — but the location and history give the experience context that most Amsterdam craft breweries lack.
10. SNAB (Noord-Hollandse Craft Brewery), Amsterdam
SNAB (Stichting Noordhollandse Ambachts Brouwerij) is a cooperative brewing collective based in Amsterdam that produces a rotating range of specialty and seasonal beers brewed by its members in collaboration. The cooperative structure means the range is unusually diverse, reflecting the individual interests of different member-brewers rather than a unified brand direction. It is Amsterdam's best example of beer as community practice rather than commercial venture.
Explore on the map
Amsterdam's breweries are concentrated in the eastern post-industrial districts and Amsterdam Noord, making a cycling tour a natural format — the city's flat geography and cycling infrastructure are ideal. All ten breweries here are on the interactive map. Open the map to plot the route and find opening hours before your visit.