Haarlem Beer Walk: Breweries and Medieval Trade

Grote Markt (start)

Around 1550 Haarlem had some hundred breweries within its walls. Beer excise paid for a large part of the city budget. Charters were negotiated in this town ha…

Warmoesstraat

Before hops, beer was flavoured with gruit, a regulated mix including bog myrtle and yarrow. Hopped beer came from Hamburg and Bremen in the 14th century and k…

Jopenkerk

Jopen Koyt follows the 1407 Brewers' Ordinance, a gruit beer with bog myrtle; Hoppenbier follows a Haarlem recipe of 1501. Both were launched in 1994, for the…

Brouwersvaart

Water barges carried dune water along the Brouwersvaart to the breweries. It gave clearer beer than canal water and kept longer.

Uiltje Bar

Uiltje started in 2015 with crowdfunding; the bar opened the same year. Rotating craft beers are on tap, not just the house beers. Take a good look at the pavi…

Janskerk

The Janskerk belonged to the Haarlem commandery of the Order of St John. In the hospital, boiled beer was safer than water. Their tax exemptions drew repeated…