By Stuart Whytcross

Nederland’s and Heineken

Memberstuff_box On my travels, I reckon you can get a pretty good feel for a city in terms of the beers offered in the hotels mini-bar. Upon opening the fridge in our hotel in the Red Light District in Amsterdam, I was greeted by a selection of Grimbergen and Leffe bottles. It was at this stage I was really regretting not researching Amsterdam and its breweries and pubs. Not that these were Dutch beers, but any country that recognizes good beers surely possesses a great beer culture?

Amsterdam wasn’t on my Beer Travels at all, but it had been recommended by several other travelers we met as a ‘must.’ Needless to say I was overwhelmed and excited at the beer culture of the city. In terms of beer culture, Amsterdam is thriving. Obviously they cater for their market (loads of male pom’s on bucks parties and footy trips) by offering Amstel and Heineken on tap in many small sports style bars. But you won’t have to walk far to discover some terrific outlets with some fantastic Belgian and trappist beers, and of course a good selection of local Dutch beers available both on tap and in bottles, and here is a selection of the most noteworthy.

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The Canberra Brewers Club holds many events throughout the year, including regular monthly club meetings, brew days, brewery tours, club competition judging and the ACT Amateur Brewing Championships. Here is a calendar of the events we have planned (so far) for the rest of the year, along with some other events that members might find of interest.

By Sam Highley

Primator Before Czechoslovakia gave us cake, they gave us beer. The little town of Náchod in the Czech Republic has a long history of brewing beer, with the townsfolk themselves brewing beer in their homes up until 1872, when the town council founded a local brewery. The Náchod brewery — now known as Primator — produces about a dozen different beers including a weizenbier, English pale ale and a stout. It was owned by the town itself until last year when it was sold to an investment fund which also owns another couple of Czech breweries in Svijany and Rohozec. Part of the condition of sale was that the new owners had experience in beer, and that a guarantee was made to continue the brand for a period of at least five years.

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The Canberra Brewers Club has a number of generous sponsors who regularly and generously donate to the cause of the club. We would like to thank our sponsors:

Brew Your Own At Home

CraftBrewer

Mashematics 

Plonk 

Wig & Pen