Amstel Brewery ( ) is a Dutch

brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of b ...

founded in 1870 on the Mauritskade in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

. It was taken over by

Heineken International Heineken Naamloze vennootschap, N.V. (), branded as The Heineken Company is a Dutch multinational corporation, multinational brewery, brewing company, founded in 1864 by Gerard Adriaan Heineken in Amsterdam. Heineken owns over 165 breweries in m ...

in 1968, and the brewing plant closed down in 1982, with production moving to the main

Heineken Heineken Lager Beer (), or simply Heineken (), is a Dutch pale lager beer with 5% alcohol by volume produced by the Dutch brewing company Heineken N.V. Heineken beer is sold in a green bottle with a red star. History On 15 February 1864, ...

plant at

Zoeterwoude Zoeterwoude () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, Western Netherlands. It covers of which is water. It had a population of in . Located to the southeast of Leiden ...

History

The

was founded by Charles Antoine de Pesters (1842–1915), Johannes Hendrikus van Marwijk Kooy (1847–1916) and Willem Eduard Uhlenbroek (1839–1880). De Pesters and Van Marwijk Kooy were brothers-in-law, both coming from very affluent Amsterdam families. Uhlenbroek's father owned a small sugar refinery in Amsterdam. The brewery was named after the

Amstel The Amstel () is a river in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands. It flows from the Aarkanaal and Drecht in Nieuwveen northwards, passing Uithoorn, Amstelveen, and Ouderkerk aan de Amstel, to the IJ in Amsterdam, to which the rive ...

River. The brewery's symbolic first stone was laid on 11 June 1870. The first brew was completed on 25 October 1871 and months later, on 9 January 1872, the first beer was delivered to clients. The brewery was officially opened on 15 January 1872.Peter Zwaal, ''The history of De Amstel Brouwerij since 1870'' (Amsterdam : Bas Lubberhuizen, 2010) p.14-15. At this time its annual brewing capacity was 10,000

hectoliter The litre ( Commonwealth spelling) or liter (American spelling) (SI symbols L and l, other symbol used: ℓ) is a metric unit of volume. It is equal to 1 cubic decimetre (dm3), 1000 cubic centimetres (cm3) or 0.001 cubic metres (m3). A cubic ...

s (220,000 imp gallons). For the purpose of storing the beer, winter ice from

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface ...

s was kept in special double-walled cellars. Originally, Amstel beers were mostly drunk in Amsterdam. The expansion outside Amsterdam ran more or less parallel to the development of the Dutch railway network. Agents were appointed in towns along new railway lines. As from 1883, Amstel beers were also exported to

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

and the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

. In 1884 a special export bottling plant was built, where "tropical" beers for the Dutch East Indies and other overseas markets were pasteurised and packaged in metal kegs. On 1 January 1891 the firm De Pesters, Kooy & Co. operating under the name Beiersch Bierbrouwerij De Amstel (Bavarian Beer Brewery De Amstel), was turned into a public limited company. In 1915 the production of Amstel had increased twenty-fold and in 1926, Amstel consisted of a third of the Dutch beer exports. In 1941, Amstel, together with Heineken, bought up the Amsterdam brewery Van Vollenhoven's Bierbrouwerij, which was closed in 1961. In 1954, Amstel built a brewery in

Dutch Guiana Dutch Guiana may refer to: * Dutch colonisation of the Guianas, the coastal region between the Orinoco and Amazon rivers in South America * Surinam (Dutch colony), commonly called "Dutch Guiana" after the loss of other large colonies in the area ...

. A few years later, Amstel was the first Dutch brewery to export beer in cans. At this time, the total exports of Amstel beer amounted to 101,000 hectoliters. In 1958 a subsidiary of Amstel produced its first beer in

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

. In 1960, the third subsidiary of Amstel was opened in

Curaçao Curaçao, officially the Country of Curaçao, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located in the southern Caribbean Sea (specifically the Dutch Caribbean region), about north of Venezuela. Curaçao includ ...

. 1963 saw the opening of two new breweries, one in

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

and one in

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 ...

. Amstel was bought out by

in 1968. In 1972 the Amstel Brewery in Amsterdam was closed and production was relocated to the main Heineken plant in

. The building on the Mauritskade was torn down. Only the former administration building was kept and has since become part of the Hogeschool van Amsterdam. At the end of the 20th century, in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

decided to replace the local

centennial A centennial, or centenary in British English, is a 100th anniversary or otherwise relates to a century. Notable events Notable centennial events at a national or world-level include: * Centennial Exhibition, 1876, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...

El Águila and convert it into Amstel.

Beers

Heineken offers several beers under the Amstel brand. ''Amstel Lager'' uses predominantly light

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 ...

malt Malt is any cereal grain that has been made to germinate by soaking in water and then stopped from germinating further by drying with hot air, a process known as "malting". Malted grain is used to make beer, whisky, malted milk, malt vinegar, ...

, although some

dark malt Darkness is the condition resulting from a lack of lighting, illumination, or an absence of visible light. Human visual perception, vision is unable to distinguish colors in conditions of very low luminance because the hue-sensitive photorecep ...

is also used. It is sold in 75 countries. ''Amstel Light'' is a 3.5% Alcohol by Volume (ABV)

pale lager Pale lager is a pale-to- golden lager beer with a well- attenuated body and a varying degree of noble hop bitterness. In the mid-19th century, Gabriel Sedlmayr took British pale ale brewing and malt making techniques back to the Spaten Bre ...

sold in the USA and The Netherlands, a 2.5% ABV variant sold in New Zealand. In the United Kingdom Amstel Bier is 4.1% ABV, and 4.0% ABV in Mexico. ''Amstel 1870'' is a slightly dark 5% abv lager. In

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

a beer called ''Amstel Free'', with minimal alcohol content –about one per cent ABV– is produced. A non-alcoholic beer, ''Amstel Zero'', can be purchased in the Netherlands, Greece, Egypt and few other countries. ''Amstel Ultra Light'' is a beer made by Heineken Mexico for the Mexican market. Amstel also markets a

shandy Shandy is beer or cider mixed with a lemon flavoured beverage, usually half lemonade and half beer or cider, resulting in a lower ABV for the finished drink. Shandies are popular in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the Caribbea ...

called ''Amstel Radler'' in several countries. It contains 2% alcohol and it is a mix of lager beer and lemonade.

References

External links

* {{Heineken International Heineken brands Breweries in the Netherlands Beer brands of Netherlands Dutch brands 1870 establishments in the Netherlands Food and drink companies established in 1870 Food and drink in the Netherlands Companies established in 1870 19th century in Amsterdam 1968 mergers and acquisitions Zoeterwoude