It was presented like a bottle of wine, but the white label read “Kriek” and underneath that “Bier.” Sitting around the back tables at In de Wildeman, a cave-like former distillery in the heart of Amsterdam’s historic and central De Wallen neighborhood and one of the preferred haunts of the late Anthony Bourdain, I placed my nose in the bell-shaped snifter glass and smelled more cherry than beer.
I took a sip and plucked a smoked mussel from the bowl at the center of the table. With a bite and a sip, the fruity acidity of the beer brightened the morsel’s intense smokiness, and I eagerly reached for another one. It was something I would never think to order myself in a bar that I might have walked straight past in the landscape of tourist-catering downtown restaurants, but it had come highly recommended by the expert who had led me to this midday indulgence.
Explore Amsterdam through the eyes and taste buds of an experienced beer sommelier.
Photo by Arcady/Shutterstock
James Kellow is a beer sommelier who traded England for Holland five years ago and now runs his formerly London-based beer tours in Amsterdam. On this expedition through the city’s classic pubs and beer shops, Kellow gives us not just the history of the Dutch craft brew scene but also the context of what’s very new and what’s very old, describing brewing traditions that date back to the monasteries and introducing us to a few of the city’s most exuberant characters.
Unlike other pub crawls, where you part ways with your guide after a few hours of tastings, Kellow would be joining me and the others in our beer-curious cohort aboard the 110-passenger Riverside Debussy river cruise ship for the next four nights. The Hops & Heritage Cruise is part of Riverside Luxury Cruises’ new foray into expert-led gastro-cruising experiences, and the next one is available to book for a July 29 to August 5, 2026, sailing from Basel to Amsterdam.
Sailing the Rhine with a beer sommelier
At the first port of call, the charming Dutch town of Enkhuizen, Kellow brought us to meet the vibrant De Browvrouw (the brew lady), also known as Karin Mazereeuw, who founded her brewery Schipperscafé ‘t Ankertje just across the canal from the town’s 16th-century tower. As we worked our way through six brews, including the Dubbel Leckertje, which Mazereeuw told us she made specifically for any woman who says she doesn’t like beer, Kellow explained the role women played in Europe’s brewing history. Prior to beer’s industrialization, women, especially nuns, were the continent’s original brewers, funding their convents while experimenting with new styles.
Multicourse beer-pairing tasting menus are served in the Riverside Debussy’s exclusive Vintage Room private event space.
Courtesy of Riverside Luxury Cruises
Before returning to the ship, we stopped at De Werf, a beer garden overlooking the harbor. I ordered something light, an Oedipus Thai Thai Tripel, because later that night, we would be treated to a highlight of the cruise, a multicourse tasting menu with beer pairings in the Debussy’s Vintage Room, the ship’s private dining area. Presented with white-glove service alongside dishes like caviar-topped tuna and foie gras, as well as a succulent venison fillet, each beer was also selected to cut through or blend or contrast with the flavors of each dish, while representing a prime section of Europe’s beer belt, which stretches from Ireland to Romania.
“This one,” Kellows said while pouring Moeursleutl’s Belgian Quad from a roughly textured can, “is a real juicy guy.” He then went on to explain that aluminum cans sometimes preserve the flavor of beer better than glass because they protect the brew from excessive light exposure that can change the flavor. To complement dessert, we had a malty finale of the Weihenstephaner Doppelbock. It was a perfect finish with toffee and chocolate notes and an emblematic beer of the world’s oldest brewery.
A port call in the Dutch town of Enkhuizen yielded an impromptu lesson on how women (particularly nuns) have played a role in Europe’s brewing history.
Photo by Jolanda Aalbers/Shutterstock
Overnight, we reached the next port of Wesel in Germany, where I spent an afternoon exploring the grassy banks of the Rhine on my own with one of the ship’s complimentary e-bikes to build my appetite for the evening. We returned to the Debussy’s tasting room, but this time Kellow drew his inspiration from the ship’s well-stocked cheese pantry for his pairings. To accompany a sharp yet somewhat sweet German blue cheese, he chose a Trappist Quadrupel, another rare and highly coveted beer from the St. Sixtus Abbey in Belgium, where the annual production is limited to what the small staff of monks needs to sustain their modest living. Knowing no beer could follow one of the world’s best, I ordered a nightcap negroni (made with coffee-infused Campari) on the top deck and watched the sunset as we sailed on toward Düsseldorf.
Here, Kellow challenged us to use our newly refined senses for detecting notes of caramel and hops. Düsseldorf is the capital of Altbier, an “old-style” ale the color of dark copper. We would see some of the city’s sights on the way, like the crooked church steeple, but our main mission was clear: to visit all five of the Altbier breweries and pick our favorites. We tried every brewhouse, from the classic and expansive Uerige to the younger, more industrial-looking Kürzer, but it was Schumacher that won my top ranking with the first sip, which hit smoothly with notes of strawberry and had the least bitter aftertaste.
Düsseldorf is the capital of Altbier, a traditional, dark copper-colored ale.
Photo by r.classen/Shutterstock
By the time I disembarked in Cologne, my palate for beer had expanded. I was drawn to the breweries of the Rhine as a way to unlock the region’s history while visiting the small cities along one of Europe’s meandering waterways. But Kellow’s tour was not just taking a deeper dive into the stories of reclusive monks and innovative nuns. It was also about the stories that beer can tell when given its place on the gourmand’s table, alongside the even better stories you’ll hear and tell when drinking alongside new friends at the local taproom.
