Tag: brewery

Fort Everdingen up and running

For three days in the middle of August I attended a summer course to hopefully become a Beer Ambassador. The summer school was held at Fort Everdingen, now the home of the brewery Duits & Lauret. The last time I was here was almost 8 years ago on a slightly cold and somewhat rainy November day. My wife and I walked over the site of Fort Everdingen looking at old 19th century structures and sheds. It sometimes looked closer to collapsing than becoming usable again.

We were invited by Marco Lauret and Danielle Duits to come take a look at what was to be the site of their brewery and tasting room. You can read more about this in the previous article about how it all came to be.

Things have changed. The campground is now up and running: caravans, tents, campervans, there is space for all kinds of camping. And with some much grass and woods around it feels like you are out in nature. How nice is it to wake up, take a short stroll and look out over wide Dutch rivers.

The sheds and structures that looked somewhat downtrodden and had water standing in them have all been rebuilt. One houses a room for classes like the one I took, while the main structure is now both brewery and tasting room. The brewery is somewhat cramped and they can only fill kegs for consumption in bars and a few meters away in the tasting room. Most of the stone structures, the actual fort are still mostly in the same state. It is a monument after all.

The brewery also means they can be more experimental than before. Duits & Lauret is known for a selection of very good, well-balanced and award winning beers. Having your own tasting room means you can try more things and put it on in the tasting room. During the course we were treated to a great schwarz called Swarte Kray (Black Crow) and what I guess we can call a double schwarz in collaboration with De Leckere. But if dark beers are not your thing there you can go even more German with a kölsch or/and an alt. Another example of how brewers are starting to look eastwards across the border for beer inspiration?

When you decide to visit and you are not going by bike there are several routes to get there. By far the best one however is along the river by bike, or better yet on foot along the river. There is 19th century history, World War II history and an impressive number of birds and other animals. It might take two hours to walk this way, but the beer will feel even more refreshing. A faster way is to rent a  bike and cycle over the dyke. I felt like a true Dutch boy taking this route and getting rained on along the way. Brouwdok in Harlingen has a great view over the sea, but Fort Everdingen’s location next to the rivers that made Holland what it is, is equally stunning. And what better to enjoy that part of Dutch life with world class beer.

As local as can get: Klinkert in Blokzijl

At the end of February I spent a few days in Blokzijl. Blokzijl is a tiny town in the region where the provinces Overijssel, Flevoland, Friesland and Drenthe come together. It is one of those Dutch towns built with a strategic purpose. It still has part of the old walls, now adorned with some canons and a view over the mostly reclaimed land. Once built to defend that part of the country against the Spanish troops or bishops from Germany with a hunkering for expansion westwards.

It then became a fishing town with a comparatively huge inner harbor from which the boats sailed to the Zuiderzee to fish for herring. It is also where my family has lived for centuries before my great-grandfather decided to leave Blokzijl and look for a brighter future for him and his family in Amsterdam. It was this fact that brought me here.

Deze afbeelding heeft een leeg alt-atribuut; de bestandsnaam is img_77891.jpg
The Brouwersstraat in Blokzijl

Like any town Blokzijl needed food and drink. Water was unsafe to drink so the brewers got the task to brew beer for the entire community, including the children. The brewers were all located in the Brouwersstraat, which yes, means Brewersstraat. But then the town lost importance, people left and other liquids replaced beer as the number one source of hydration.

And so it remained for decades.

Until 2018 when Grytsje and Kees Klinkert decided to start a brewery. Kees’ parents once owned a vegetable store in the Brouwersstraat so it seemed only logical to start one in this street. The building itself is old, very old. You can still see parts of the walls and roof from centuries ago. Apparently it was even a brewery once called De Zwaan (The Swan). Apart from the brewing installation it also houses a sort of tasting room and a small store selling local food stuff and a few other local beers.

The brewing installation is tiny, just 100 liter. They brew once a week and they can easily get rid of the 300 bottles in Blokzijl in the restaurants and supermarket. And the restaurants that serve the three Klinkert beers are good ones, like the Michelin starred restaurant Kaatje bij de Sluis, located a few doors down.

This is not their job. 300 bottles is not enough to make a living from for a couple with 4 children. Grytsje works as a caregiver for handicapped people while Kees is a car mechanic. This is a hobby which is not (yet) making money.

Klinkert is a great example of a small local business adding something to the community. And not with a beer that seems local because it was commissioned by a store or a restaurant or bar but by an actual beer brewed in the town. It adds something to a city like Blokzijl. It might not ever reach beyond the town limits, making it more special. We need more small local breweries like this all over the country. It makes visiting a new part of the country a bit more interesting to the menu. The big international breweries will still have a huge chunk of the market and smaller national breweries are also carving out their piece, but please support your local brewer. And it doesn’t get more local than this.

So if you do decide to visit the beautiful Blokzijl and it’s harbor be sure to visit the store/brewery when it is open. Check the openings times if you want to visit. If not go to a restaurant nearby that does have Klinkert beers.

Klinkert Bier & Delicatessen Website.

Facebook Page.