Brouwerij Duits en Lauret

The Netherlands

"I was already brewing in a time that craft beers in the Netherlands were not so common."

How to name your brewery?

How to come up with a great name for your brewery? Owners Danielle Duits and Marco Lauret didn’t have to think long and simply combined their last names. Both are coming from a background in healthcare, one a former psychologist and the other a former physical therapist.

Marco started brewing already at the age of sixteen. You might need to know that at the time the legal drinking age in the Netherlands was still sixteen. Nowadays it’s eighteen. He met Daniëlle later on in life and when they found out they had a mutual love for craft beer they decided to join forces and start brewing together. In 2009 they made the decision to start brewing larger batches and the commercial craft brewery Duits & Lauret was born.

From contract brewing to an onsite brewhouse

Like so many other craft breweries in the Netherlands they took the step from home brewing to contract brewing to be able to produce on a commercial scale. In Belgium they found the right brewery to collaborate with and soon they started winning awards for their beers at national and international beer competitions like the Dutch Beer Challenge and the Brussels Beer Challenge.

Not exactly with ‘beginner brews’ but with well balanced, unpasteurized and flavorful Blonds, Stouts and a Smoked Dubbelbock to name a few. The obvious next move was the wish to set up a brewery of their own. The search for a good location took quite some time but the result was definitely worth it.

Fortress brewery

The 19th century fortress along the shores of the river Lek is part of the New Holland Water Line. This defensive construction was used to flood the lower areas of land as a defense line against agressors from the east. The trick was to maintain the water level at a height that made it impossible to go by car and difficult to go by foot. However the water level would not be high enough to make use of a boat.

By the time it was finished technology had already caught up. In World War II it was occupied by the Germans, but after the war it was used by the Dutch military and the last occupant of the gated complex was a Bomb Squad.

Nature Campsite

Where on earth do you find a campsite with its own craft brewery, tasting room and a small bottleshop… well, here in Fort Everdingen you’ve got it all! Don’t get us wrong, it’s not a party place but a natural and quiet little campsite with room for tents and for a couple of camper vans.

Combine your visit with a walk across the dikes or enjoy the walking paths through the floodplains. Bringing your bicycle might be another good suggestion. This unique location is also nominated to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site, just like the quite similar Defense Line of Amsterdam already is.

Copyright aerial shots by Albert Speelman -  For more great aerial videos of Dutch castles, manor houses and fortifications check his YouTube-channel.

Updated: 11-09-2024