't IJ Brewery

The Netherlands

"For us, this brewery in Amsterdam is just the greatest place to go to work."

Amsterdam brewery, pioneer of local craft beer

Amsterdam might have some major and well known pilsner beer producers, but craft brewery ’t IJ, founded in the mid-80s, was one of the first Amsterdam breweries to brew well-crafted beers in Belgian style. Founder Kasper Peterson, a Dutch musician who wrote a few chart-topping songs, started the brewery in 1985 in a former municipal bath house.

The tasting room and a few of the brew rooms are still located here, right next to an iconic windmill. That's why 't IJ Brewery is often refered to as the 'Amsterdam windmill brewery'. It is actually the highest wooden windmill still standing in Holland, but it doesn’t belong to the brewery. It sure is a great landmark though for those looking for this venue. There is actually another craft brewery in Amsterdam that was founded by a professional musician: Brouwerij Walhalla.

Growing demand for specialty beers

After more than twenty years, Bart Obertop and Patrick Hendrikse took over 't IJ Brewery in 2008 and continued brewing beers like Zatte beer, a classic tripel of 8% ABV and Natte beer, a Dubbel of 6,5% ABV. Belgian beer styles that the Amsterdam brewery had become known for. Other well known beers in their core range are IJwit beer (wheat beer), Columbus beer (a strong amber beer at 9% ABV) and 't IJ IPA beer (at 6,5% ABV). By now the brewery had become a household name in the Netherlands.

As the demand grew they opened a second production brewery in 2013, a few hundred meters form the original location, to be able to fulfill the demand. The original brewery in the disused public bath house now produces all the beers for consumption in the bar in the same building.

’t IJ Brewery logo

The name might be a bit of a tongue breaker for non-Dutch speakers. ‘Het IJ’ is the name of the river that flows north of the center of Amsterdam. The other big river is the Amstel, but that name… well, you understand. The ’t’ is an abbreviation of ‘Het’ in Dutch, so ‘’t IJ’ means the same as ‘Het IJ’.

Still there yet? ‘IJ’ is pronounced the same way as ‘Egg’ in Dutch, that explains the egg on the bottle labels. And the ostrich? Well, original founder Kasper Peterson was a fan of ostriches. Because he realized that the ostrich had no direct connection to the brewery he added the windmill and the egg to 't IJ Brewery logo.

Beerbar and taproom in Amsterdam

Beerlovers that visit Amsterdam know that the bar and taproom of ’t IJ Brewery is definitely one of the places to be. Most of the beers being brewed here are available on tap. In winter, 'the windmill brewery' is a cosy place to find shelter from the cold. Find a spot outside in summer on one of the long tables and enjoy some cheese or sausages with your beer.

The organic soft cheese actually comes from the milk of sheep that are fed on brewing leftover grains from the brewing process. In 2019 't IJ Brewery opened a second taproom in a former tearoom, Het Blauwe Theehuis (The Blue Teahouse). This 1930's monumental piece of architecture is located in one of the most beautiful and well known parks of Amsterdam, the Vondelpark.

Updated: 24-01-2025