Brouwerij ‘t IJ

Brouwerij ‘t IJ (The IJ Brewery) has been brewing quality beers since 1985. It all started when musician Kasper Peterson looked for an official outlet for his experimental home brewing of the Belgian style beers he loved. Since similar beers were not yet brewed in Amsterdam, Kasper decided to produce them himself and he opened the first new brewery in Amsterdam for 120 years.

Searching for a suitable building to start an official brewery, he came across an old municipal bath house named Funen in disuse. Built in 1911 it still had its water supply and drainage system, easy-to-keep-clean tiles and steam generator. It was, in short, the perfect building for a brewer. As a bonus, it had the biggest wooden windmill of the Netherlands – the De Gooyer – right next door as the ultimate landmark.

The windmill plus an ostrich with an egg made up the logo and ‘t IJ (named after the nearby IJ waterfront) gradually grew into the biggest and best-known craft brewery in Amsterdam. But the ostrich often raises questions. Apparently, many of Amsterdam’s best breweries in the past had names derived from birds (’t Ooievaartje, Brouwerij de Gekroonde Valk, De Witte Zwaan, or ‘The Little Stork’, ‘The Crowned Falcon’ and ‘The White Swan in English), and Kaspar just liked ostriches. That’s all there is to the story.

After more than twenty years, Kasper handed over to Bart Obertop and Patrick Hendrikse who continue to brew the distinctive quality beers ‘t IJ has become known for. With demand increasing, another brewery was opened in 2013, a mere 700 meters from the original location. The new facilities at the Zeeburgerpad produce the bottles and kegs whilst the original brewery at the Funenkade now produces all the beers for consumption in the bar in the same building and any experimental brews.

In 2015, Brouwerij ‘t IJ and Duvel Moortgat entered into a partnership for support in areas such as brewing technology and distribution, as well as financial strength.