THE BEST BEER LOCATIONS AND BARS IN AMSTERDAM

Amsterdam is a place where you can make your wildest and dirtiest dreams come true without much effort, and has been so for centuries. People from all over the world are heading to Amsterdam to experience the freedom and embrace their vices which are unattainable elsewhere in the world.

When you put the apparently unique nightlife and free access to coffee shops and other light drugs aside, many people miss out on a small but important side of the Amsterdam culture – beer.

If you are not a local, it is normal for you to be unfamiliar with the ongoing development of beer culture here. Dozens of new bars and pubs that offer unique craft beer open every year and increasingly shape Amsterdam as a literal paradise for beer lovers.

If tasting new beers is your priority, continue reading below to find out the best beer locations and bars in Amsterdam. We have prepared an in-depth list of the best places to drink beer during the day and at night.

To start things on a high note, we chose a craft beer location that never stops changing. If you are lucky and go to Craft & Draft for two days in a row, you may see two entirely different craft beer selections. This is because the bar never stops rotating their beers and in fact, they do it almost every day.

Nonetheless, it does not matter when you go as there are always at least 40 beers on tap written on a large beer board. You can choose an international beer or something made in the Netherlands or even select a tasting set of three.

Craft & Draft is not only a beer bar but also a beer shop where you will find a large selection of bottles from the Netherlands and around the world. If you find the small bar a little crowded, you can simply take a bottle or two somewhere else. In addition, you surely have at least a few friends that want to try Dutch beer back at home, right?

If you are looking for a secluded spot in the center of Amsterdam to enjoy a glass of lovely craft beer, De Pilsener Club has to be one of the few perfect locations. The best thing about this bar apart from the atmosphere and the satisfying selection of beers is the staff.

It is easy to get lost when you know nothing about the beer culture in a given country and you see a long list of local beers. Fortunately, the staff at De Pilsener Club will make the choice easier with their in-depth knowledge of every beer and the different tastes.

All you need to do is ask for assistance, explain what beers you like, and the member of the staff will suggest what to drink. Locals love this location and you will easily end up in a conversation with a fellow beer lover like you. This is a great bar for outgoing people who wouldn’t mind connecting with new people.

The Delirium family in Amsterdam has two special locations – Delirium Café and Little Delirium. Both places offer incredibly large selections of beers and food, and now I will tell you why you definitely need to visit at least one of them.

To begin with, Little Delirium is, obviously, the smaller of the two locations but that does not make it any less incredible. Their craft beer selection includes 20 beers on tap as well as over 100 bottled options. With the Amsterdam Nightlife Ticket, you can also take advantage of the 2 for 1 on all beers and spend a few good hours tasting unique Dutch beers.

All of this is great but you haven’t heard about the full Delirium experience at the larger café. Little Delirium has over 100 craft beers which are outstanding for such a small café but Delirium Café is definitely one of the best places for beer in Amsterdam with over 500 bottled choices as well as 20 beers on tap.

As for the full Delirium experience, in the larger café, you can try their Beer Tasting Experience. It includes 5 specialty beers that will be presented to you over the course of 1.5 hours in addition to snacks for each one that has been perfectly paired in order to give you an unforgettable tasting experience. If this is not enough for any beer enthusiast, with the Nightlife Ticket, you not only get a 2 for 1 on all beers but also on the Beer Tasting Experience as well.

Needless to say, we highly recommend visiting Delirium Café in Amsterdam especially if you own a Nightlife Ticket as there are few other places that can offer such a vast selection of beers.

Proeflokaal Arendsnest is all-around a perfect location for people that want to try Dutch beers and experience the city at the same time. Situated at a central location along the grand Herengracht canal, you should have no excuse not to spend an hour or two at this bar.

The well-informed staff will guide you through the selection of over 50 beers on tap as well as another 100 in bottles and make sure you choose the most suitable beer for your taste. You will not find any international beers at this location as this bar offers an entirely Dutch-made selection.

In order to get the full experience and make your senses celebrate, you also need to add one of their sausage and cheese plates that are specially selected to pair perfectly with the beer you drink.

Few things pair better with beer than sports. Just because you are on a vacation doesn’t necessarily mean that you should miss the next match of your favorite club. Sportsbar Heffer is the perfect location to enjoy a few beers and watch a sports game.

While you will not find such a large selection of beers at this location, the accompanying abundant food menu, the atmosphere and the large screens will surely compensate. You can not only watch football but tennis and basketball as well.

If the smaller beer selection acts as a drawback, you should know that with the Amsterdam Nightlife Ticket you can double-up your beer at Sportsbar Heffer. This bar was really created to fit all the needs and requirements of a sports fan so if you have an important game to watch, you now know the perfect location.

Beer Temple may actually sound like a familiar name to you because there is surely at least one bar or beer store named this way in every large city of the world. The one in Amsterdam is actually owned by the same people that own Proeflokaal Arendsnest and it stands nowhere behind it in terms of beer selection and atmosphere.

Nevertheless, if you put the two bars next to each other, you would never think that they are owned by the same person. While Arendsnest is a classic-style establishment that can make you feel like you went back in time, Beer Temple is a modern bar that kind of resembles the home of a messy teenager – hundreds upon hundreds of stickers on the walls, not enough light, and a decoration made out of empty craft beer bottles.

The other difference is the beer selection. While Proeflokaal Arendsnest offers Dutch-only beers, the Beer Temple is dedicated to the international beer culture and offers beverages from America and around the world. In other words, this is the perfect location for expats that miss the taste of their homeland beer and locals that want to get a different taste from countries thousands of kilometers away.

If you need the numbers to make your final decision to go, there are over 30 beers on tap and over 100 other bottled choices from around the world. Be honest, do you need more convincing to visit this unique spot?

Although the majority of our selections are located in the dead center of Amsterdam, Bar Joost is situated in Amsterdam Oost, far away from the tourists. Understandably, if you are here for just a couple of days you wouldn’t want to go so far away from the hustle and bustle but rather experience the most of the spirit of Amsterdam.

Nevertheless, visiting bar Joost gives you the opportunity to explore parts of the city that tourists would rarely visit. Besides that, Bar Joost has absolutely everything to offer when it comes to beer and tranquility. With a lovely selection of Amsterdam-based craft beers, it is one of the few places that offer the newest beers.

We can safely say that no other location on our list has such a calm atmosphere. Besides that, few places in the center can give you a more genuine feel of life in the Netherlands accompanied by a glass of the best beer in Amsterdam. 

Das Café Gollem ist einer der größten Namen, wenn man Bier und Amsterdam verbindet. Mit über 40 Jahren Geschichte hat sich das Gollem zu einer Marke entwickelt, die an 6 Standorten in der ganzen Stadt verteilt ist. Wir konzentrieren uns hier jedoch auf die wichtigste und älteste Bar in der Daniel Stalpertstraat 74.

Wir können mit Sicherheit sagen, dass das Café Gollem in Bezug auf die Vielfalt seiner Bierauswahl alle Rekorde übertrifft. Es gibt keine andere Bar dieser Größe in Amsterdam, die so viele verschiedene Biere anbietet. Wenn Du es in Zahlen hören möchtest, können wir Dir bestätigen, dass Du hier eine Auswahl von rund 300 Bieren in Flaschen und vom Fass findest.

Der einzige kleine Nachteil dieses Lokals ist seine Größe. Die Chance, dass Du eine Menge Platz zum Tanzen und Dich bewegen hast, stehen eher schlecht. Aber dank dem Partygeist, der einem in Amsterdam überall hin begleitet, sollte Dich dies nicht beunruhigen. Unser persönlicher Vorschlag für Deinen Besuch ist die Verkostung des hausgemachten IPA zusammen mit einer fantastischen Käseplatte (die großzügigen Portionen machen jede weitere Mahlzeit für ein oder zwei Tage hinfällig).