Neil Sowerby circles the Red Light District and discovers only amber ales
IT’s rare that I’d visit a city and base myself in an airport hotel, but I was delighted with the quirky yet well-equipped citizenM, just a 10 minute covered walk from Arrivals at Amsterdam Schiphol and a further 15 minutes by train into the city centre
It was a case of needs must – I had to be there for an early morning flight to the States, but it gave me a perfect opportunity to check out the city’s beer bar scene. The picturesque canals and gabled mansions were incidental to my quest. One proviso – don’t over-indulge and miss the plane!
Many thanks for the advice of Dutch beer specialist and veteran CAMRA activist John Clarke, whose extensive list I whittled down to three, necessarily in the city centre. I enjoyed and can recommend them all…
I FIRST ran into its impressive bottle shop around the corner from the brewery tap. Your first thought here is of a cosy home from home, all wingback chairs and old tables with Sixties vintage posters and music biz clutter. Their artisanal beers, named after famous Dutch singers like Andre Hazes or Johnny Jordaan, are organic, unfiltered, and unpasteurised. Grab a traditional bar snack – the likes of old cheese with mustard and pickles or beer bitterballs, round ragout-filled croquetettes.
Proeflokaal, Oudezijds Armsteeg 26, 1012 GP Amsterdam.
HOUSED in a former distillery dating back to 1690, this atmospheric (no music) venue offers more than 250 bottled beers and around 20 on tap, changing regularly. The emphasis is on local Amsterdam breweries and Belgian Trappist ales. on my visit there was even an English ale from the Wild Beer Company and some US bottles. Check out the entertaining ‘wildeman’ gable stone at the back of the building, which gave the bar its name. Food is basic pickled eggs or Indonesian style rice.
In De Wildeman, Kolksteeg 3, 1012 PT Amsterdam.
The name of this mega-cosy bar on the edge of the Red Light District translates as the 11th commandment. I take that to mean do not covet your neighbour’s Belgian Trippel. They only sell beers from Belgium and what a fine choice (gin and food menus looks tasty, too.
Het Eldfe Gebod, Zeedijk 5, 1012 AN Amsterdam.
Other recommended bars across the city include Gollem's Proeflokaal, which has four venues (don’t miss their own precious IPA), Brouerji ’t IJ, independent brewery tap underneath the city’s tallest windmill and the waterfront Delirium Cafe following in the footsteps of the Brussels cafe of that name and offering beers from the Belgian Huyghe brewery, and more than 700 varieties from around the world.
Fact file
Neil flew from Manchester to Amsterdam with KLM.
He stayed at the citizenM Hotel, Jan Plezierweg, 1118 BB Schiphol, Amsterdam. Netherlands.
Trains depart for Amsterdam Central Station every 10 minutes from platforms 1 and 2 under Schiphol Airport arrival plaza. A return ticket costs 14.50 euros and the journey only takes 10-15 minutes. It’s difficult and hectic buying them at the Airport; better to buy online in advance via this link.
