Heineken Brewery, Amsterdam

THE HEINEKEN EXPERIENCE

As some of you will be aware, I spend time in Amsterdam on a fairly regular basis as part of my job. Normally I travel alone or with colleagues but when an all-day meeting was scheduled for a Monday recently, I decided to take advantage of the situation and book to spend the weekend there, as Les had never been to Holland and this would mean a nice weekend away.

During my frequent visits, I have ...
...include a trip to the Heineken Museum – or rather the ‘Heineken Experience’ as it is now known.

Until 1988, the location of the ‘HE’ was the site of a working brewery and until more recently, a museum with official tours and guides that had to be pre-booked. For whatever reason, the Dutch then decided to make some changes and the visits are now self-guided with the aid of a free brochure provided in a wide variety of languages.
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THE HEINEKEN EXPERIENCE

As some of you will be aware, I spend time in Amsterdam on a fairly regular basis as part of my job. Normally I travel alone or with colleagues but when an all-day meeting was scheduled for a Monday recently, I decided to take advantage of the situation and book to spend the weekend there, as Les had never been to Holland and this would mean a nice weekend away.

During my frequent visits, I have grown to love the country and the people but as this was a more informal visit, I decided we had to make the most of our time there and do the ‘tourist thing’; to lager lovers like Les and myself, that had to include a trip to the Heineken Museum – or rather the ‘Heineken Experience’ as it is now known.

Until 1988, the location of the ‘HE’ was the site of a working brewery and until more recently, a museum with official tours and guides that had to be pre-booked. For whatever reason, the Dutch then decided to make some changes and the visits are now self-guided with the aid of a free brochure provided in a wide variety of languages.

The ‘HE’ is situated in the former brewery on Stadhouderskade 58 in Amsterdam, Holland. Once you are there, you can’t miss it as it is a huge building standing majestically on the corner of a rather grand square. Because the use of public transport is encouraged in the capital and therefore car-parking facilities are limited, the HE staff recommend that the tram is taken and the number 16, 24 or 25 all stop outside the site (and the rather aptly named ‘Heinekenplein’ !)

The Experience is open on every day except Mondays between 10am and 6pm with last entry at 5pm. I believe the ‘HE’ closes it’s doors to visitors only on Christmas Day and New Years Day so plenty of opportunity to plan a visit into your trip. Costing a mere £5 to enter (or 7.5 euros), Les and I were pleasantly surprised to find that not only did our £5 entrance fee get us into the ‘HE’, but would also provided us with 3 free drinks and a free gift – but more of that later.

The ‘HE’ was created to do just that – give visitors a real experience of Heineken. Throughout the tour you learn about the history of the brand, the brewing processes utilised to create the unique Heineken taste and best of all taste some for yourself !

The ‘tour’ itself consist of 19 separate points, each of which I have provided a brief outline of below:

1) Amsterdam Alleyway – here, Heineken have created a mock-up street scene with actual pub, house and shop fronts to give the visitor a feel for what life was like in the city of Amsterdam back in the early days when Heineken was born.

2) What’s in the name – this section introduces you to the three generations of the Heineken family (Gerard Adriaan Heineken, Henry Pierre Heineken and Alfred Henry Heinken) through photographs and short biographies. You also learn that Heineken is the worlds most international brewing group with operations in over 170 different countries across the world. Last but not least, this section reveals the story of the smiling ‘e’ – if you check the letter ‘e’ on a bottle of Heineken, you will notice that it slants slightly. This was because Alfred decided this made the ‘e’ look like it was smiling and this was how he imagined those that drank Heineken would be !

3) Stairway – you climb stairs to get to the next point which are made from recycled Heineken bottles ! (Note – the ‘HE’ is wheelchair friendly and lifts are available throughout)

4) Ingredients – water, barley, malt and hops (the 4 ingredients of Heineken) are all brought to life here with actual examples to smell and touch

5) Brewing – here, photographs and stories help you to understand the process involved in brewing

6) Dr Elion – believe it or not, the Heineken ‘A’ yeast was isolated in the 29th Century by Dr Elion who was actually a student of the one and only Louis Pasteur !

7) Bottling – you learn here that the Zoeterwoude brewery (where Heineken continues to be produced) produces 500,000 bottles of Heineken per hour. The best part of this section though has to be the ‘cinema ride’ – visitors stand on a moving platform whilst watching a film about bottling and movement creates the illusion of being a bottle amongst thousands ! Fantastic !

8) Brewhouse – parts of this actual brewhouse date back to 1913 and the view is awesome to say the least. Eight huge copper vessels are still on display to give visitors an idea of the scale and volume of these monsters – each accompanied by documented histories to allow you to understand the role of each when in use. Also in this section is a chance to catch a glimpse of the Heineken horses – an impressive collection of Shire horses names after the Executive Board of Heineken and which, along with the special Heineken dray cart, make regular appearances all over the world !

9) The Brewhouse Bar ! One of my personal favourite points of the tour for obvious reasons. By exchanging a section of your admission ticket, you are presented with a half pint of Heineken – just to get into the mood obviously !

10) ‘Show the world you’ve been here’ – an excuse to get visitors to experience the slightly slanted old cellars (to ensure no beer remained in the tanks), Heineken have installed five PC’s with facilities to send a photo back home to prove you visited the ‘HE’ !

11) Aware of Water – because an average of 7 bottles of water are required to produce 1 bottle of Heineken, they know a lot about water and are keen to share their thoughts and views on environmental issues including a water policy. This section aims to educate through posters, literature and a short film

12) Test your knowledge – an interactive section where you are tested on aspects of the tour visited so far

13) Authentic lager tank – the opportunity to see a storage tank in it’s original condition

14) Be your own coachman – another ride, this time visitors climb into a mock-up cart that again moves in time with a cinema screen (3D) to give the impression you are travelling through the streets of Amsterdam. Not exactly a spine-tingler but impressive nonetheless

15) Heineken Music – in 2002, Heineken Music launched ‘Thirst’ – a series of dance events around the world. This section gives you chance to listen to some of the music played

16) The world of Heineken – lay back in the most comfortable chair you have ever had the pleasure to sit in and watch Heineken TV adverts from around the world and through the ages. The Millennium one was fab if anyone remembers ?

17) Heineken Shop – your chance to purchase a souvenir of your trip

18) See you again bar – the place where you redeem your final two drinks token and savour the flavour once, or should that be twice more !

19) Give away – last but not least, this is where you are handed your free-gift. Les and I expected the usual badge or car sticker at best but were pleasantly surprised to receive a rather attractive tin complete with a Heineken tulip glass inside !

Les and I thoroughly enjoyed the Heineken experience as you could probably tell and for £5, felt it offered fantastic value for money. Suitable for all the family, kids loved the rides and interactive games and adults favoured the free drinks ! The free glasses of Heineken could swapped for soft drinks so no-one was left out and despite visiting on a Sunday, we didn’t have to queue for anything except ‘The World of Heineken’ and even then it was only for about 5 minutes as people couldn’t face getting out of those comfy seats !!

Under 18’s are only admitted with an accompanying adult – presumably because alcohol is served – and no reservations are required. It took Les and I about 2.5 hrs to complete the tour but we were in no rush and savoured the free drinks probably a little too much ! The ‘HE’ recommends approx 75 minutes for an average visit.

To me, it seemed like the staff at ‘HE’ couldn’t do enough for you – there was a cloakroom provided where coats, hats, bags etc could be stored and as well as being permitted to take photos throughout the tour, visitors were actually encouraged to ask staff to take photo’s of them and their family to keep !

All in all, an excellent way to spend a couple of hours, particularly if the weather lets you down. Les and I considered spending another £5 each and taking the tour again but we managed to resist…

http://www.heinekenexperience.com

T21AMY©
 

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