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Beer in the Netherlands mostly comprises pale lagers like Heineken and Grolsch. Heineken is the world's second-largest brewer. [1]
While pale lager makes up the majority of beer in the Netherlands, Dutch brewers also produce witbier (wheat beer) and Bok, closely related to German Bock.
The Netherlands exports the most beer of any country in the world – approximately 50% of production. [2] [ clarification needed ] In 2004, almost 1,300 million litres were exported out of a total production of 2,300 million litres.[ citation needed ]
There are three major brewery companies in the Netherlands: Heineken (also brews Amstel), Grolsch, and Bavaria. Belgian breweries also take part in the market. Inbev for example sells Jupiler in the Dutch market. According to the Centraal Brouwerij Kantoor, Heineken controls about fifty percent of the market and the other three fifteen percent each.[ citation needed ] Between the them,[ who? ] the large companies operate eight breweries.[ citation needed ] In addition to the multinationals, there are five[ citation needed ] independent lager breweries and around forty[ citation needed ] five small, new microbreweries and brewpubs. A dozen other companies own no brewing plant themselves and have their beers brewed by third parties in the Netherlands or Belgium.[ citation needed ] The new breweries mostly brew top-fermenting beers roughly similar to those from Belgium. In addition there are also examples of British-style ales and traditional lagers.
The Dutch province, North Brabant, is home to two of the ten Trappist Breweries. The monks that run the Koningshoeven Brewery in Berkel-Enschot brew several beers, mostly branded La Trappe, and has been active since 1884, while the De Kievit brewery of the Zundert abbey was only founded in 2013 and brews a beer named Zundert. The four classics La Trappe Trappist beers are awarded with Golden European Beer stars in 2018. La Trappe Blond did won a Golden award in the World Beer Cup 2016. It was chosen as winner out of 6600 other international beers. [3]
Some beers have their own regional consumption base. Bavaria, Budels and Dommelsch are popular in North Brabant. Grolsch is a favourite in the eastern province Overijssel.[ citation needed ]
Pilsner is a type of pale lager. It takes its name from the Bohemian city of Plzeň, where the world's first pale lager was produced in 1842 by Pilsner Urquell Brewery.
Stella Artois is a pilsner beer, first brewed in 1926 by Brouwerij Artois in Leuven, Belgium. In its original form, the beer is 5.2 per cent ABV, the country's standard for pilsners. The beer is also sold in other countries including the UK, Ireland, Canada and Australia, where it has a reduced ABV. Stella Artois is owned by Interbrew International B.V. which is a subsidiary of the world's largest brewer, Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV.
Royal Swinkels Family Brewers is a family business from North Brabant in the Netherlands, that is active in the beer, soft drink and malt sector. The company is fully owned by the Swinkels family for seven generations. The head office is located in Lieshout and there are subsidiaries in twelve countries.
Heineken N.V. is a Dutch multinational brewing company, founded in 1864 by Gerard Adriaan Heineken in Amsterdam. As of 2019, Heineken owns over 165 breweries in more than 70 countries. It produces 348 international, regional, local and speciality beers and ciders and employs approximately 85,000 people.
Pale lager is a type of beer originated in Pilsen, Bohemia Is a very pale-to-golden-colored lager beer with a well-attenuated body and a varying degree of noble hop bitterness.
Trappist beer is brewed by Trappist monks. Thirteen Trappist monasteries—six in Belgium, two in the Netherlands, and one each in Austria, Italy, England, France, and Spain—currently produce beer, but the Authentic Trappist Product label is assigned by the International Trappist Association (ITA) to just ten breweries which meet their strict criteria. As of 2021, Achel is no longer recognized as a Trappist brewery because it does not have any living monks.
The Oranjeboom Brewery was founded in Rotterdam in 1671. The brewery there closed in 1990, with production shifted to Breda. That brewery was sold to Interbrew in 1995 and was closed in 2004 by InBev, Interbrew's successor. Production of the brand Oranjeboom was moved to the Dommelsch brewery. In October 2013, Oranjeboom was relaunched as a "quirky" new European style lager.
Grolsch Brewery , known simply as Grolsch, is a Dutch brewery founded in 1615 by Willem Neerfeldt in Groenlo. In 1895 the de Groen family bought the brewery. They had started their own brewery in Enschede in the early 19th century. It held a significant stake until November 2007. Today the main brewery is located in Enschede.
Westmalle Brewery is a Trappist brewery in the Westmalle Abbey, Belgium. It produces three beers, designated as Trappist beer by the International Trappist Association. Westmalle Tripel is credited with being the first golden strong pale ale to use the term Tripel.
Grimbergen is the brand name of a variety of Belgian abbey beers. Originally made by Norbertine monks in the Belgian town of Grimbergen, it is now brewed by different breweries in Belgium, France, Poland and Italy.
Beer in Belgium includes pale ales, lambics, Flemish red ales, sour brown ales, strong ales and stouts. In 2018, there were 304 breweries in Belgium, including international companies, such as AB InBev, and traditional breweries, such as Trappist monasteries. On average, Belgians drink 68 litres of beer each year, down from around 200 each year in 1900. Most beers are bought or served in bottles, rather than cans, and almost every beer has its own branded, sometimes uniquely shaped, glass. In 2016, UNESCO inscribed Belgian beer culture on their list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity.
De Koningshoeven Brewery (Brouwerij de Koningshoeven) is a Dutch Trappist brewery founded in 1884 within the walls of Koningshoeven Abbey in Berkel-Enschot (near Tilburg).
Brewing in Ireland has a long history. Production currently stands at over 8 million hectolitres, and approximately half the alcohol consumed is beer.
Beer is the most popular alcoholic drink in New Zealand, accounting for 63% of available alcohol for sale. At around 64.7 litres per person per annum, New Zealand is ranked 27th in global beer consumption per capita. The vast majority of beer produced in New Zealand is a type of lager, either pale or amber in colour, and typically 4–5% alcohol by volume.
Amstel Brewery is a Dutch brewery founded in 1870 on the Mauritskade in Amsterdam. It was taken over by Heineken International in 1968, and the brewing plant closed down in 1982, with production moving to the main Heineken plant at Zoeterwoude.
The modern history of beer in Bulgaria dates back to the 19th century, when it was introduced to the country by foreigners shortly before the Liberation of Bulgaria. Until then, beer was practically unknown in what used to be a mainly rakia and wine-drinking country. Today, Bulgaria ranks 15th by beer consumption per capita, with 73 litres a year.
Heineken N.V. is a Dutch brewer which owns a worldwide portfolio of over 170 beer brands, mainly pale lager, though some other beer styles are produced. The two largest brands are Heineken and Tecate; though the portfolio includes Amstel, Fosters, Sagres, Cruzcampo, Skopsko, Affligem, Żywiec, Starobrno, Zagorka, Zlatý Bažant, Laško and Birra Moretti.
Hengelosche Brewery was a brewery in Hengelo at the heart of the Twente region in the Netherlands. It brewed Hengelo Bier which disappeared in 1988 after its owner Stella Artois lost a major supermarket contract and decided to promote Dommelsch as their brand for the Dutch market.
Tripel is a term used by brewers mainly in the Low Countries, some other European countries, and the U.S. to describe a strong pale ale, loosely in the style of Westmalle Tripel. The origin of the term is unknown, though the main theory is that it indicates strength in some way. It was used in 1956 by the Trappist brewery, Westmalle, to rename the strongest beer in their range, though both the term Tripel and the style of beer associated with the name, were in existence before 1956. The style of Westmalle's Tripel and the name was widely copied by the breweries of Belgium, and in 1987 another Trappist brewery, the Koningshoeven in the Netherlands, expanded their range with a beer called La Trappe Tripel, though they also produced a stronger beer they termed La Trappe Quadrupel. The term spread to the U.S. and other countries, and is applied by a range of secular brewers to a strong pale ale in the style of Westmalle Tripel.
Zundert Trappist is a Trappist beer produced by De Kievit Trappist Brewery, part of the Trappist abbey Maria Toevlucht, from the town of Zundert in the Netherlands.
Japan's Nikkei business daily reported that Heineken would pay around 100 billion yen ($872 million) for the business.
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