Alfa Brewery (Alfa Brouwerij) is a family-owned independent brewery located in

Schinnen Schinnen (; ) is a village and a former Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg, the Netherlands. It was home to United States Army, US Army Garrison Schinnen, a support base for People fr ...

, the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. Alfa was started in 1870 by Joseph Meens and is one of the few independent breweries left in the Province of Limburg.

Availability

Until 1960 Alfa

beer Beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grain—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats are also used. The grain is mashed to convert starch in the ...

s were only available in the local area, but since then the brewery has expanded, and their beers are now available throughout the Netherlands. Since 1993 Alfa also expanded their distribution to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

. Alfa has also produced brews for other companies, such as the unfiltered

pilsner Pilsner (also pilsener or simply pils) is a type of pale lager. It takes its name from the Bohemian city of Plzeň (), where the world's first pale lager (now known as Pilsner Urquell) was produced in 1842 by Pilsner Urquell Brewery. History ...

Puur produced for Bier Fabriek.

Brief details

The brewery follows the

Reinheitsgebot The (; ) is a series of regulations limiting the ingredients in beer in Germany and the states of the former Holy Roman Empire. The best known version of the law was adopted in Bavaria in 1516 (by William IV), but similar regulations predate the ...

and is the only brewery in the Netherlands that uses an officially certified underground spring. The Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare, and Sport certified the underground spring in 1995 and retests it every six months to ensure it continues to meet the stringent standards. It is one of only 10 such springs in the country and the only one used in the production of beer. The water is so pure that it does not require any processing before it is entered into the brewing process. Only a certain amount of water is permitted to be withdrawn each year, and this has led Alfa to number their beer bottles to ensure that only the authorised amount is used.Spring water
. Alfa Brewery. Retrieved on 2010-07-05

Awards

* Royal Warrant by Royal Decree from HM Queen

Beatrix Beatrix is a Latin feminine given name, most likely derived from ''Viatrix'', a feminine form of the Late Latin name ''Viator'' which meant "voyager, traveller" and later influenced in spelling by association with the Latin word ''beatus'' or "ble ...

(1995). *Gold medal in the 31st and 33rd

Monde Selection Monde Selection is an annual non-competitive award open to food, drinks, and cosmetics products, created in 1961. It is run by the commercial company, International Institute for Quality Selections, Brussels Brussels, officially the Brusse ...

s in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

*Award in the 1999 UK Beer and Cider Competition

References

External links

{{Commons category-inline
Alfa Brouwerij website
in Dutch and English (archived versio
here
Breweries in the Netherlands Breweries in Limburg (Netherlands) Companies based in Limburg (Netherlands) Food and drink companies established in 1870 Companies established in 1870 1870 establishments in the Netherlands South Limburg (Netherlands) Beekdaelen 19th-century architecture in the Netherlands