Days of the Beer, October 27

The beer for today is Amstel Light.

On October 27, 1275, the city of Amsterdam was founded.

Amsterdam is the capital and largest city of the Netherlands. The name of the city comes from Amstel Dam, a dam in the river Amstel, where the Dam Square is.

Originally, it was a small fishing village, but became an important port town during the Dutch Golden Age. The city is home to the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, historic canals, the Van Gogh Museum, Anne Frank house, and the red-light district (prostitution) and cannabis coffee shops.

The city draws about 4.2 million tourists each year.

Amstel is a river in the Netherlands that runs through Amsterdam. It comes from Aeme Stelle which is old Dutch for "area abounding with water".


As to the beer:

A special light beer containing only 3.5% alcohol and approximately 35% fewer calories than regular lager beer. But every bit as thirst-quenching and refreshing.

The Amstel brewery is located close to the river, and is named for it. The brewery was founded on June 11, 1870. The water of the river was used for refrigeration, winter ice from the canals was cut out and kept in special double walled cellars.

Amstel was bought by Heineken in 1968, the brewery was closed in 1972, and production was moved to the main Heineken plant in Zoeterwoude.

So, have a light, thirst-quenching (read watery) Amstel Light for the city of Amsterdam, the commercial says its a Dam good beer. But don't believe everything you see on TV.