Brouwerij 't IJ: the Craft Brewery and Terrace by the De Gooyer Windmill

Brouwerij 't IJ is an Amsterdam institution: a craft brewery and tasting room set in a former public bathhouse right beside the De Gooyer windmill, the tallest surviving wooden mill in the country, on the eastern side of the old centre. It has been brewing on the spot since the mid-1980s, long before the wider craft-beer wave, and its beers, with names like Zatte, Natte and IJwit, are a fixture of the city. The draw for a visitor is the pairing of that history with a large terrace at the foot of the windmill, which catches the sun and fills the moment the weather turns.

It is not a canal-front terrace in the way the Amstel and harbour spots are; the appeal here is the windmill, the beer brewed a few steps away, and a broad open terrace in a corner of the city where the eastern canals and the old fortifications meet. That combination, a working brewery, a landmark mill and a sunny place to sit, is what has made it a landmark of its own.

Where it is, by the windmill

The brewery sits on the Funenkade, at the eastern edge of the centre where the ring of canals gives way to the old defensive line. The De Gooyer windmill stands right beside it, and the canal water is close by, so while the terrace faces the mill rather than a quay, it sits within the same network of waterways that threads this side of the city. It is an easy add-on to a day spent around the eastern islands, alongside the waterside spots gathered in the waterside cafes and bars roundup.

Getting there

It is a short walk or ride east from the centre, out past the eastern islands toward the windmill, and easy to combine with a wander through the surrounding neighbourhood. Because it sits back from the main waterways rather than on a mooring, it is a place to reach on foot rather than tie up at; if you are exploring the canals by boat, it makes a natural stop ashore. The guide to getting around Amsterdam by boat covers the eastern waterways, and the boating rules apply on the canals nearby.

What to expect at the tasting room

Expect a compact, characterful tasting room in the old bathhouse and, in fine weather, a large terrace at the foot of the windmill that is among the best sun-traps in the city. The range is the brewery's own, poured fresh, from the well-known year-round beers to seasonal and specialty brews, and the food is kept simple, snacks and boards to go with the beer rather than a full kitchen. It is busiest on sunny afternoons and weekends, when the terrace fills fast; opening hours run to the afternoon and early evening and can change with the season, so it is worth checking before a special trip rather than assuming.

A brewery with a long history

Brouwerij 't IJ was one of the first of the modern Amsterdam breweries, started in the mid-1980s when independent brewing in the city had all but disappeared, and it helped set the pattern for the craft scene that followed. Setting up in a former bathhouse next to a historic windmill gave it a home as distinctive as its beer, and decades on it remains both a working brewery and a landmark. For a visitor, that history is part of the appeal: this is not a new arrival riding the craft-beer wave but the place a good deal of it started, and drinking its beer in the shadow of the windmill where it is made is a small piece of the city's living history. It rounds out a list of waterside spots with something a little different, a brewery and a landmark rather than a quayside terrace.

Brouwerij 't IJ and the canal events

The brewery sits just east of the centre, off the main canal-event routes but within easy reach of them, which makes it a good place to escape the crowds for an hour. On a busy event weekend it offers a change of pace from the packed central canals: a sunny terrace, a beer brewed on the spot and a landmark windmill, a short way from the water. The events map and calendar shows what is on across the city, and the rent-a-boat guide helps if you are pairing it with time on the water.