Worldly Chatter

Want to do something fun and a little off beat in Amsterdam, maybe even get a little tipsy with some beer in the middle of the afternoon? Try going to the Heineken Experience! Dutchie and I went with my brother and his girl to the Heineken Museum at around one in the afternoon. My brother, being a fan of beer, tried some of our beer here in Holland and enjoyed them thoroughly and finally understood what I was telling him about Heineken tasting different in the Netherlands verses America. So, with this new found passion for Heineken on his taste buds we set out to find out all about Heineken on one of his days in Amsterdam.

For €11 you get admittance into the museum with four tokens; one token for a gift when you leave and the other three are for beers at their bars along the way! When you get in, you start off with a history of Heineken with interviews from Mr. Heineken himself as well as a picture tour, first billboards and commercials.

Let me take you back to 1863, Amsterdam, with Gerard Heineken who has just risked his entire family fortune by buying out a 250 year old brewery that is on its last legs. He wants to make the best beer in his little corner shop and you get a little interactive piece of how this came about as you walk through. You walk through the huge kettles and see the process made. The ingredients and methods used by a master brewer, Mr. Feltmann and chemist, Dr. Elion was considered scientific yet magical. Some of the information is technical yet much of it was fun and amusing for the visitor. You get to take control of two Shire horses and ride them through the narrow streets of Amsterdam delivering beer in this neat ride. There is also the feel of being a Heineken bottle from filling to delivery; that was a bumpy ride! The four of us drank our beer, learned how it was made and the business that is Heineken. There was music to listen to; a place to relax and we even learned what the company is doing to help reduce use of electricity and water. I suppose it just isn’t beer anymore when you learn what it does on an environment friendly stand point.

The free gift was a hollow bottle of Heineken with a bottle opener inside. We took a little more home with us though; pictures and a jacket for Dutchie! My brother took home a t-shirt or too and a wonderful understanding of his favorite Dutch beer! It was a blast through and the beer was good. I do, however, feel my brother had the best time out of all of us because when asked what his favorite thing in Amsterdam he had done, this was it, the Heineken Experience!

Amsterdam tourism, Heineken Experience, Worldly Chatter, Heineken Beer, Holland Tourism