The Fietscafe or Bierfiets (Dutch for 'Beer bicycle') is a 17-person pedal-powered bar. The Fietscafe was invented in The Netherlands and each one is handmade. Its makers, Henk and Zwier van Laar, have been making the bikes and renting them out since 1997. The 17-persons Fietscafe has ten pedaling seats, two non-pedaling seats, one driver's seat, a bench for three, and a space for a standing bartender in the middle. A 12-persons Fietscafe has 8 pedaling seats, two non-pedaling seats, one driver's seat and a space for the bartender The passengers provide the power for the vehicle by cycling and the sober driver steers, the rest are along for the ride.
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In 2007, two friends in Minnesota, Eric Olson and Al Boyce saw the bikes while on vacation in Amsterdam and brought the vehicle to America. They started Pedal Pub Twin Cities in Minneapolis. In the summer of 2009, a native of Houston living in Minneapolis, Gene Landry, worked as a driver for the Pedal Pub. When the season in Minneapolis was over he brought the Fietscafe to Houston with the name Pedal Party.
Since 2005 the beerbikes run in Germany as well. Bierbike in Cologne started a network of dealers all over Germany. In 2010 there are over 50 bikes running in 35 cities in Germany.