*** The Heineken Experience - Amsterdam ***

I believe this was formerley called The Heineken Brewery

Where Is It?

Heineken Experience
Stadhouderskade 78
1072 AE Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Tel: +31 (0)20 523 96 66

www.heinekenexperience.com

Has excellent tram links which stop just outside the museum.

When Open?

Open Tuesdays - Sundays 10.00 - 18.00. Cash desk closes at 17.00. Closed on 25th December and 1st January.

What Is It?

A large building which tells you the history about how Heineken was brought about.

Would suit ages 18 and above in my opinion.

Entry:

10 euros per person. Under 18's are only admitted if accompanied by an adult.

Why Go?

On a recent long weekend to Amsterdam with two good friends, we stumbled upon the Heineken Experience. Being keen to experience the Heineken history, we decided to take a look inside.

This is a large, square brick like building, with Heineken Experience displayed on the outside. It is nestled amongst other buildings close to the main tram line and road. There is a river flowing outside the building.

Inside:

On entry to the Heineken Experience, you are greeted by a Heineken personel who gives you a leaflet about the experience in your own language. You then pay ten euros at the cash desk and you are given one white disk and three orange disks. (I will explain this later).

There is a locker desk where you can leave coats and stuff.

You are now inside the big square building and it is fairly dimly lit.

1 HISTORICAL AMSTERDAM

First stop - the toilets (not that we needed them at this point). We did take a visit to the toilets however, because in Amsterdam many of the bar we visited charged 25 euros for a visit to the toilet. So we completely emptied our systems free of charge.

You are then led through a corridor which has photos on the walls displaying historic photos of how the brewery came about in 1863. There are also historical artifacts such as bottles and books.

2 WHAT'S IN A NAME

This section tells you about the history from the first advertisement to sales in 170 countries.

You are also given the history of how Heineken got it's name.

There is a wall with three or four televisions (can't remember exactly) showing adverts dating back over the years. There are also some more historical photos and some kegs which are ideal for taking your photo by.

Cameras can be used throughout the museum. There are also floor to ceiling lit up photo displays of bottles of Heineken.

3 CLIMB THE BEER GLASS STAIRCASE

You then climb up a spiral staircase which is lit by green lights and I presume made of beer glass by the title. Though this was not apparent on going up the stairs.

4 THE INGREDIENTS

The ingredients used in making Heineken are - water, barley, hops and Heineken 'A' yeast.

There are open tubs of barley and hops which you can openly touch and smell. (Unsure how old they are though).

You are also taken through photos and visual displays of how the ingredients are used and harvested.

5 BREWING BEER

This takes you through photos of how the beer is brewed.

6 DR. ELION REVEALS THE SECRET

This cubbyhole has a floor to ceiling photo of Dr Elion with audio sound and tells you the secret of the Heineken's taste.

7 BOTTLING - HOLD TIGHT

In this area you queue and wait to be taken into a room.

The room itself is like a stand up cinema with hand rails and a big cinema like projection screen.

The film starts to run and you are asked to hold onto the rails as the floor moves. You are taken through the Heineken bottling process which is superbly done. You are an actual bottle among millions on the Heineken bottling line.

A great experience in itself.

8 THE BREWHOUSE

There are massive copper brew-kettles in this section which you can look into through holes cut in the sides of the kettles.

The are more like large copper vats than kettles and around ten foot in diameter.

8A HEINEKEN HORSES

There are life-size shire horses in this section which were used to deliver the Heineken.

9 BREWHOUSE BAR

This is the section we were looking forward to. This is an actual bar with seating and standing tables. You hand in one of your orange disks here and receive in return half a pint of Heineken in a proper Heineken half pint glass.

The atmosphere is relaxed, chatty and there is music though not too load. The bar is formal looking though cosy.

The Heineken is ice cold, though it has a rather large head on it, unlike in England where we don't like our heads at all. (Nevermind!)

It is rather warm inside the museum, so the Heineken went down swiftly and we moved on.

This is 'right at the centre of the antique heart of the brewery'.

10 MAKE YOUR FRIENDS JEALOUS

This area you can send a photo or video mail to anyone you like. Friends, family anyone who has an email.

The video area which was a large white screen, stage and music (think it was Tulips from Amsterdam playing).

You could get on stage with friends and sing along then send the video to anyone via email.

Past this part there is a larger than human size Heineken bottle which you can step inside and take a photo of yourself and friends and email this to anyone you want with an email.

Also dotted along the walls are other cameras (they look like web cams) with screens underneath where you can select a background of Heineken photos for your photo.

We did this one and sent the photo to ourselves, friends and more friends. There was just no limit to how many you took or sent. So we ran riot and took many funny photos.

We thought they were funny after a quick Heineken, until we came back to England to find that two days later the emails arrived to their English destinations.

11 APPRECIATE WATER

Apparently Heineken produces the most beer out of the least water. This is another visual display cinema.

12 TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

In this section there are touch screens which are full of useful information and there is also a colour quiz for all to try.

13 AUTHENTIC LAGER TANK

This shows you where the beer is matured for weeks at a time.

14 BE A COACHMAN

You can drive four horses through the streets of Amsterdam. A fun activity.

15 HEINEKEN MUSIC

In this room there is a DJ mixing desk on a small stage, music (which is made my the DJ) and disco lights around the room.

You need to get on stage and do some DJ mixing to create your own talented music. Right!

16 TRAVEL WITH HEINEKEN

This area tells you about Heineken in lots of different cultures.

17 HEINEKEN SHOP

There are many fantastic Heineken gadgets from bottle openers to other things. You can even get your name engraved on a glass while you wait. There is a large array of T-shirts and other Heineken souvenirs.

18 SEE YOU AGAIN BAR

This is nearly the last goodbye to the Heineken Experience.

The bar is lively and modern with grey walls and orange lights. There is another area where you can sit and sup and sup and stand which is dimly lit.

I felt as if I was in a room a world from anywhere. You gave in one orange disk, and you were given two half pints of Heineken with big heads. The heads are whipped off with spatular like things which can be brought in the shop. Even after whipping off the big head, you are still left with a considerably big head.

19 FREE GIFT AND FUN

As you enter this area there is a television screen which asks you to wait for the waiter. A waiter appears and asks you to follow him along around ten more television screens which he walks along. Cleverly done, but not very impressive.

We made our way to the last area and could not find our next beer. Or anywhere to spend our last orange disk. In this area it says 'Find your next beer'.

Maybe it was the comsumption of Heineken early in the day, but we could not find anywhere to spend the last coin, so nipped back into the bar we had just come out of at number 18 and had another half pint of Heineken.

There are also toilets here and the locker area.

We then went to the locker desk and handed in our white disk and received a green Heineken bottle. Inside this was a metal bottle opener.

Want more?

If this visit has left you wanting for more, you can visit the Heineken after party www.heinekenexperience.com or www.heineken.com for global hotspots, world gigs, contests for tickets,goodies and worldwide chat to Heineken fans.

Questions?

If you have any suggestions or questions you can mail to info@heinekenexperience.com

Overall Opinion

For adults who have an interest in Heineken and it's history it is a great way to spend around two hours or more. Very interesting and the free Heineken is well worth paying the 10 euros for.

The free gift was a nice touch too. Will be well used!

An interesting, historic afternoon for 18's and above.