Leiden and the coming together of worlds

Leiden, home of one of the most prestigious universities in the world. The starting point of the families who took the Mayflower to New England to start their city upon a hill. But for a long time, like many of the other cities in Zuid-Holland, not a city of beer. Well, not for new beer or dare I say craft beer. Heineken’s big brewery is just outside the city.

Only the excellent, mostly Belgian, beer café Lemmy’s and the beautiful Bierwinkel made it worth a visit. The Leidsche Bierbrouwerij for a long time was the only brewery, but not widely available in the rest of the country.

But then I walked into the Stadsbrouwhuis. A brewpub with a whopping 25 taps and no bottles. The mix of these 25 taps is very interesting, and is the main focus of today’s piece. How to offer something to both the drinker of normal, easy-to-get beers but also to the beergeek.

A big portion of the public still wants to go somewhere where they can drink what they know. This blog may sometimes try and prove other

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