With only 48 hours in Holland, day two was devoted to guess what……BEER!! We began the day at the Heineken Experience (recommended for museum-esque quality of Heineken’s history and brand marketing/packaging) and then made our way back through Amsterdam to the Central train station.
Following in the footsteps of some great beer aficionados who already completed this journey before us (please see my Amsterdam Beer Scene post on this and don’t forget to check out Chris and Merideth’s “beer geek” blog), we began our afternoon at the Amsterdam central train station. Luckily we wound up purchasing tickets from the nicest gate agent I’ve ever met, who even printed a complete itinerary and highlighted the track numbers. Easy to confuse them when there’s more than one track 13 (Track 13A, Track 13B, etc.)
For those also looking to make the trek, your best bet is to take a train to Utrecht Central (25 min), and switch to a regional train from Utrecht to Bodegraven (25 min). It’s worth the hour ride and the scenery is beautiful.
A town known as a centre for cheese trade, Bodegraven used to have many warehouses and a market devoted to cheese. It currently still houses a cheese museum and a cheese monument in front of the church (Wikipedia).
Bodegraven was cold, snowy and tranquil. From the train station, we walked a short 10 minutes away in the direction of a historic windmill from the late 17th century, which now is the site of the De Molen Brewery.
Where: 10 minute walk from the Bodegraven, Netherlands train station. See map.
Why you should visit: A historical landmark wrapped into a brewery should be enough of a reason! That and the beer is some of the best beer we’ve ever tasted.
Overall comments: A private party reserved the tasting room so we sat in the front restaurant area next to Dutch locals who were enjoying a quiet afternoon tea.We were beyond impressed with the selection and quality of the beer. De Molen’s selection of hoppy-styled beers made Jim very happy.
The most unique beers were the Tsarina & Esra, a 10% ABV imperial porter, which to me had the perfect balance of dark, chocolate malty-ness. Our winner pick of the specialty beers was the Laurie & Aperkool, as 12% ABV stout, aged one year in a whiskey cask, another year in a French Bordeaux cask, then another year in a standard keg to smooth out the balance of flavors before being served to customers.
Jim and I shared a mixed platter of nuts, cheese and olives and a club sandwich. The entire experience could not have been more perfect.
Next to the restaurant they also house a beer shop that stocks all the De Molen beers as well as other great craft beers from around the world.
Before we left, the Manager allowed us to go inside the windmill. Embarking on our own private self tour, we climbed up level upon level of stairs to check it out.
An amazing experience all around, we have made it a goal to get back to Brouwerij De Molen at a future point in our lives.
Where: In Haarlem’s town center, 20km west of Amsterdam and a 15 minute walk from the Haarlem train station. See map.
Why you should visit: At one time “Haarlem was a major beer producer in the Netherlands…in the year 1620 the city had more than one hundred breweries.” (Wikipedia) It’s great to see that Jopen has once again helped restore the town’s image for quality beer-making.
Housed in an old cathedral church, the interior space of the brewpub was spectacular! Copper kettles extended all the way to the 100 foot high ceiling. Bright red walls and the Jopen logo in red gave it a modern, sleek feel.
Overall comments: A surprising amount of house beers to choose from, we enjoyed our first beers as we watched the brewer at work behind the clear glass that separated the brewery from the restaurant. Active bubbles rose from the stainless steel fermenter tanks, an indicator that the fermentation process was going strong.
Snapping photos from the minute we arrived, Jim and I were noticeable tourists.The staff treated us wonderfully and even let Jim step back to the staff service area to take a close-up picture of the fermenter tanks. Historic church outside vs. brewery, bar and restaurant inside. And it worked perfectly.
Great craft beer (MooeiNel IPA, Witte Rook, and Malle Babbe among the ones we tasted) and good food made for a fun night. But for me, the icing on the cake was the incredible way Jopen redeveloped an existing, historic structure to show off state of the art brewing equipment and create a spacious, superb two floor restaurant and brewery.
October 8, 2013 at 5:59 pm
Really cool post, Tanya! Love the contrast of old and new between De Molen and Jopen. Shame Bell and I never visited De Molen, but those pictures remind me of the Cantillon lambic brewery in Brussels which is great…I can’t believe we also didn’t visit Jopen. That was one of our favorite beers in Holland and we even house sat friends’ apartment for 3 weeks in Haarlem. Sometimes when stuff is next door you never think to go!
October 8, 2013 at 7:12 pm
I need to get to Brussels..i’ll put the Cantillon lambic brewery on my list. I really loved the town of Haarlem, too. It seemed like it would be a cool place to live as well. Thanks for reading, Alex!