Brouwerij Oersoep

The Netherlands

"With simple ingredients we brew flavorful beers with a quirky character"

Brouwerij Oersoep, what's in the name?

Like so many other Dutch craft breweries it all started merely as a hobby with brewing on the kitchen stove at Brouwerij Oersoep in Nijmegen. Mixing a few simple ingredients and making complex flavors arise from it. That’s where the name Oersoep came up, which translated in Dutch means ‘primordial soup’, the mysterious environment of organic molecules from which life on earth originates.

Brewery crowdfunding

When Oersoep founders Kick van Hout and Sander Kobes decided to take the step from home brewing to a ‘real’ production brewery they found a suitable location in a former soup factory. Ah… such a coincidence!

Due to a growing demand and the fact that they reached the maximum capacity, a successful crowdfunding campaign was started in 2015. It resulted in a grow in capacity and even higher quality Oersoep beers. That doesn’t mean that they are afraid to experiment, on the contrary!

From 'slow beer' to hoppy and sour beer

Oersoep Brewery initially began brewing layered and complex beers. They called it Slowbeer. Because of their penchant for wild yeasts and barrel-aging beers, they could take anywhere from three months to three years to finish. It was an impressive sight to see a former factory space filled with large German and French wine barrels. The self-imported giant French Foeders each held 7,000 liters. They also experimented with their own cooling vessel for which they even enlisted the help of the renowned American brewers at Jester King Brewery in Austin, Texas.

Over the years, however, the focus has shifted to the more dry and hoppy beers as well as sours. The permanent collection now consists of very accessible beers, including an IPA, a Blonde and a Witbier, among others. The specials and collabs with other breweries are a bit more adventurous.

From Honig Complex to NYMA

The former Honig Soup Factory became a creative hotspot on the outskirts of Nijmegen, right next to the river Waal, where entrepreneurs and creatives gathered workplaces. However, the bustling place where several (food) markets, fairs and events took place every year was on the verge of demolition. Well, housing development...

Fortunately, a new, permanent spot was found downstream along the Waal River for Oersoep's brewpub. Again on a factory site, this time, however, of a former textile factory, the NYMA. In addition to Oersoep, the site will be home to other entrepreneurs, catering and sports facilities.