Uiltje

Since 2012, Uiltje (which means "little owl" in Dutch) has been brewing some of the Netherlands' most exciting and outrageous IPAs and ales. The small brewery in the historic brewing town of Haarlem, just outside Amsterdam, was part of the first wave of bold, hoppy, American-style IPAs in the Netherlands and Europe. The uncompromising beers, individual artwork and absurd stories have made Uiltje one of the country's most famous and celebrated beer brands. Uiltje's beers and artwork are so limited that almost every can is a collector's edition.

The best beer in the Netherlands

In some ways, Uiltje began as a celebration and a protest. A celebration of fruity American West Coast hops, a protest against thoughtlessly produced lagers and pilsners. The brewery quickly earned a reputation for mischief and mayhem—throwing entire Christmas trees into their kettles and playing Johnny Cash songs 24/7 while their beer was barrel-aged. They pushed hop culture to the extreme in every way, including the pop-culture names of their beers. A fanatical collaborator with like-minded breweries around the world, Uiltje found itself at the forefront of innovation and ambition, gaining a strong following that helped the company grow. Mischief still drives most of Uiltje's diverse output, which relies on IPAs and barrel-aged beers but now includes blonds, sours and wheat ales. Today, after hundreds of awards and millions of fans, Uiltje is still passionate about quality hops, individual creation and... fun.

Hop incubator

At the back of the Uiltje brewery is a lab dedicated solely to hops. Before brewing a new beer, the brand meticulously searches for the best hops. If they can't find them, the beer isn't brewed. Last year, they refused to release one of their most popular archive beers, Mosaic Mammoth, because the quality of the hops just wasn't right. In addition to staples like Citra, Mosaic, Cascade and Simcoe, the brewery regularly partners with leading and unknown hop farms in the US, Europe and Oceania to test new, as-yet-unnamed varieties in Europe. How much does Uiltje care about hop quality? The company's founder named his dog after a German hop commonly used in IPAs: Saaz. With the in-house hop incubator, nothing is left to chance.