Brouwerij 't IJ tour under the Amsterdam windmill for 2.50 euro: three o'clock is in English, four is in Dutch

At the foot of the De Gooyer windmill in east Amsterdam sits the brewhouse of Brouwerij 't IJ, and every Friday, Saturday and Sunday it opens for a public tour: twenty minutes, 2.50 euro a head, covering what water, malt, hops and yeast each do. The thing to know is that the slots are split by language. The three o'clock tour is in English and the four o'clock one is in Dutch, with a possible extra English tour at half three when sign-ups are heavy. Each tour is capped at twenty people and you can put your name down at the bar. The same brewery sells a tasting at 35 euro a head, but that one only takes groups of ten to forty. The site is eighteen and over. Next step: pick a three o'clock and go to Proeflokaal de Molen.

• What you actually see: the tour runs inside the working brewhouse rather than a visitor centre, and the guide goes in through the four raw materials, water, malt, hops and yeast, before the brewery's own story under the windmill. The room at the foot of the mill is Proeflokaal de Molen, with more seating in the old bathhouse, and Café Struis stands nearby. (source 1, source 3)
• When and where: slots run every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, English at three and Dutch at four, with a possible extra English tour at half three when bookings are heavy. One tour lasts about twenty minutes and takes at most twenty people. Private tours are also possible, on weekdays after six or outside the regular weekend times, with prices given by email. (source 1)
• Who it is for: anyone who wants to see a real brewhouse for the price of a coffee, and new residents living in English, because the three o'clock tour is in English already and no arrangement has to be asked for. It is not for children: the site gates itself on age and this is eighteen and over. It is also not for two or three people hoping to book the tasting, which has a floor on numbers. (source 1, source 2)
• Check before you go: the brewery has several addresses in the same district and it is easy to land at the wrong one. The tour and the tasting under the windmill are at the Funenkade room, Café Struis is on the Zeeburgerstraat, there is a 't Blauwe Theehuis in Vondelpark, and the headquarters and the second brewery are two further addresses again. A tasting for up to twenty can be reserved online; above that you email. (source 2, source 3)

Work it out per minute of guiding. The tour is 2.50 euro divided by twenty minutes, so 0.125 euro a minute; the tasting is 35 euro divided by ninety minutes, so about 0.39 euro a minute. The extra 32.50 euro buys the seventy additional minutes, four beers on tap, normally Blondie, IJwit, IPA and the current tap special, a portion of peanuts, sheep's cheese and vegan or ordinary bitterballen for every three people, and someone talking you through all of it. So the real question is not whether that is dear but whether you can raise the heads: the tasting takes only ten to forty people, two or three cannot book it at all, and for them that tier does not exist and the 2.50 euro tour is the whole menu. Turn it round, and if you are arranging something for ten or more, put your number in: ten people on the tasting is 350 euro against 25 euro on the tour, and the 325 euro between them is what four rounds and the snacks cost, so compare that with ordering at the bar yourselves according to how much you actually plan to drink. (source 1, source 2)

Where

Proeflokaal de Molen, Funenkade 7, 1018 AL Amsterdam

When

Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday; English at three, Dutch at four, with a possible half three English slot

Price

Tour 2.50 euro per person・group tasting 35 euro per person

Booking

At the bar on the day or in advance; a tasting for up to twenty can be booked online

Note

The site gates on age at eighteen・maximum twenty per tour・the tasting takes only groups of ten to forty・private tours only on weekdays after six or outside the regular weekend slots・Café Struis and the Vondelpark room are separate addresses

Hokimi field note: the three o'clock tour is over by twenty past, which lands neatly on the terrace under the windmill, so it slots into an afternoon rather than filling one. Do not read the four o'clock as a later English option, because that one is in Dutch. On a busy weekend put your name in at the bar first; once twenty are in, you are waiting for the next one.