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?

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 

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.

Café Gollem is perhaps the largest name when it comes to beer in Amsterdam. With over 40 years of history, Gollem has become something like a brand that has 6 locations spread around the city. Our subject, however, will be their main and oldest bar situated at ‘’Daniel Stalpertstraat 74’’.

We can safely say that Café Gollem beats all the records when it comes to the diversity of their beer selection. There is no other bar of this size that offers so much beer in Amsterdam. If you need the numbers, we can safely say that there are around 300 choices that include bottles and tap.

The only minor disadvantage of this location is its size. The chances are that you will not have much free space around you but that shouldn’t worry you if you bring the party spirit everywhere you go. Our personal suggestion for your visit is to try their house IPA paired with an incredible cheese plate (each generously-sized portion can easily feed you for a day or two).

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.