Brouwerij 't IJ
Amsterdam's craft beer pioneer, brewed inside a working windmill since 1985.
Brouwerij 't IJ is a craft brewery that has been operating inside De Gooyer windmill — one of Amsterdam's best-preserved wooden windmills — since 1985, making it one of the oldest craft breweries in the Netherlands. It sits in the eastern Plantagebuurt neighborhood, a part of the city that sees far more locals than tourists, and the combination of genuinely good beer and an extraordinary architectural setting has made it a beloved institution rather than a novelty act.
In practice, visiting means ordering at the bar inside the windmill's base — a snug, wood-heavy taproom — or grabbing a beer and heading outside to sit on the terrace along the Funen canal. The beer list leans Dutch-Belgian in style: malty dubbels, spiced tripels, and strong golden ales. The flagship Zatte (a tripel, around 8%) and Natte (a dubbel) are the ones to know, but rotating seasonal taps keep things interesting for regulars. There's no food beyond bar snacks, but the atmosphere — windmill looming overhead, cyclists drifting past, locals deep in conversation — is the point.
Brewery tours run on weekends and give you access to the production floor and the windmill interior itself, which is well worth the small fee. The taproom opens at 2pm on weekdays and noon on weekends. It gets genuinely busy on sunny afternoons when the canal-side terrace fills up, so arriving early or on a weekday gives you a more relaxed experience. Cash and card are both accepted, and the staff tend to be knowledgeable and happy to recommend.
