Grolsch Brewery
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| Grolsch Brewery | |
|---|---|
 Grolsch Brewery logo |
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| Location | Brouwerslaan 1 Enschede, Netherlands Tel: 31 53 483 3333 |
| Owner | Royal Grolsch NV |
| Year opened | 1615 |
| Annual production | 3.2 million hectoliters |
| Active Beers | |
| Premium Lager | Pale Lager |
| Premium Blond | American Blonde Ale |
| Premium Weizen | Hefeweizen |
| Premium 2.5 | Light Lager |
| Lemon 2.5 | Light Lager |
| Het Kanon | Märzen |
| Oud Bruin | Bock |
| Seasonal Beers | |
| Lentebok | Helles Bock |
| Herfstbok | Bock |
| Amber Ale | Altbier |
| Amsterdam Mariner | Pale lager |
| Amsterdam Maximator | Doppelbock |
| Eurobrand | Pale lager |
Grolsch Brewery (Grolsche Bierbrouwerij) is a Dutch brewery founded in 1615 by Willem Neerfeldt in Groenlo. It is located today in Enschede and is owned by Royal Grolsch N.V. (Koninklijke Grolsch N.V.) (Euronext: GROL)
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[edit] Brief details
The Grolsch brewery was founded in 1615 in Groenlo. The town of Groenlo was then known as Grolle, hence the name Grolsch. Grolsch is best known for its 5% abv pale lager. The brewery was first operated by Willem Neerfeldt. Later his son in law, Peter Cuyper, took over
The beer from Groenlo (Grolle) gradually became better known in the surroundings of Groenlo. Through the years the demand for Grolsch beer shifted from a local to national and eventually international level. Today Grolsch exports to about 50 countries. Grolsch beers are imported into the U.S. by Anheuser-Busch. However, two other sites list Grolsch as being imported to the U.S. through them. One is the Import Brands Alliance (IBA) and the other is Coors Brewers, Ltd. Although all of the IBA brands are also listed on the Anheuser-Busch site which may be an indication of the IBA actually being a business under Anheuser-Busch.
Most Grolsch sold in the UK is brewed under licence in the UK by Coors.
[edit] The brewery
Though built as a secondary facility, the Enschede brewery over the years became the main producer of Grolsch. This brewery was heavily damaged during a fireworks explosion on 13 May 2000. The brewery in Groenlo has closed and a new brewery replacing both the Groenlo and Enschede affiliate opened in 2004 in Boekelo.
[edit] Beers
The main brand name is Grolsch, which is mainly used for a variety of pale lagers ranging in strength from 11.6% abv down to alcohol free. Grolsch also produces an Oud Bruin, a wheat beer and some low alcohol flavoured lagers and shandies. The brand name Amsterdam is also used, mainly for low priced, high alcohol lagers. Its also one of the few 'mainstream' brewers known to be vegetarian [1].
[edit] Beugel
Grolsch uses a distinctive shape of bottle for some of its product, known as the beugel or "the grundle".
Bottles of this type use a swing-top cap, eliminating the need for an opener. They can simply be opened by hand. The top used to be made from porcelain, but is now made of plastic; the porcelain ones are still in circulation in the Netherlands. The exported bottles are mostly green. Bottles destined for the home market in the Netherlands used to be brown. Starting 2007 Grolsch also uses green bottles for the home market. Grolsch being the first brewery to stop using the brown re-usable bottle that could be used by almost every brewery in the Netherlands. Sometimes Grolsch uses different color bottles according to the brew, e.g. the bottle for the blonde lager is yellow.
These bottles are popular among home brewers, as they can be easily re-used. In North America, however, traditional metal-capped Grolsch bottles are becoming increasingly prevalent.
[edit] Pop culture
In 1988, British pop group Bros sparked a fashion trend by attaching Grolsch bottle caps to their shoes.
