Dockum Brewery
The Netherlands
"I didn't have a brewing education, I was a math teacher."
It didn’t stop raining all day, but the urge to get on the road again and explore a new brewery outweighed the miserable weather conditions. It was on to Friesland!
Dokkum beer history
The town of Dokkum in the northern province of Friesland is a well preserved fortified town. It is a fairly small city with a little less than 13.000 inhabitants that achieved city rights already in 1298. The beer history of Dokkum goes even further back, to the early Middle Ages that is! Monks of the Dokkumer abbey of Saint Boniface used the clear water from the Spring of Boniface to brew beer with. It is even whispered that this holy water might be able to cure a number of diseases.
Over time more and more private brewers settled in Dokkum until there were no less than nineteen breweries in this town. It was not until 1876 that the last brewery closed its doors. The opening of Dockum Brewery in 2018 restored the Dokkumer brewing tradition.
Kâld Kletske
The story of Kâld Kletske should have been this homebrewer’s secret fantasy come to life. The Frisian town of Burgum is where Sytze Hoogstins started homebrewing in his garage in 2012. His first beer, Kâld Kletske Ljocht (light) was quite a succes and soon he couldn’t meet the demand with his rather modest brewing installation.
He started brewing larger batches at a contract brewery nearby and over the years he expanded his core range series to seven different types of Kâld Kletske beers. Unfortunately this story turns sad. Sytze is found to be terminally ill and his ultimate dream to build his own brewery got shattered.
A couple of good friends didn’t hesitate, got the money together and were able to fulfill his dream. Sadly he didn’t live to see the day of the opening of Dockum Brewery. Sytze did pass on his brewing knowledge and recipes to the son of his neigbours, Tim Cuperus, now head brewer of Dockum Brewery and producing ten types of Kâld Kletske beers!
Dutch IPA
In addition to the Kâld Kletske brand, that is based on classic Belgian beer styles, Dockum Brewery also introduced a new brand in 2020: Dutch IPA. A bold move at a time that Covid-19 disrupted the world and The Netherlands went in lockdown. Because everything came to a standstill it actually didn’t turn out that bad as there suddenly was time to invest in developing the brand Dutch IPA.
The leading role in this concept is for Captain IPA, a character that sails across the world in search for new flavors and new adventures. Although the brand name might suggest otherwise, that doesn’t mean it is restricted to just India Pale Ales. As long as they are well hopped, other beerstyles will fit in this concept as well.
Visiting Dokkum
Besides Dockum Brewery there is more brewing activity going on in this town. At Stadsbrouwerij Bonifatius, run by volunteers, small experimental batches are brewed upstairs which you can enjoy in the tasting room. Four kinds of Bonifatius beers are brewed at a contractbrewery nearby, among them ‘Wadwit’, a witbier, made with seaweed from the Wadden Sea World Heritage Site.
But there are more things to do in Dokkum. As we mentioned in the intro, it is a well preserved fortified town. Prince William of Orange gave the assignment in 1581 to build a hexagonal defense work around Dokkum. Take a walk over these strongholds that stretch out over 2.4 kilometers and you encounter four entrance gates, some 19th century cannons and two working windmills.
Updated: 15-01-2025
