Baxbier Brewery

The Netherlands

"If you only brew safe recipes, it gets boring very fast."

Craft beer from Groningen

Over the years we have seen quite a growth of craft breweries in the northern provinces of the Netherlands. Until recently we covered only Maallust in the province of Drenthe and Brouwerij Dockum in the province of Friesland. It was about time to put a craft brewery from the province of Groningen on the map, so we paid a visit to Baxbier in the eponymous capital Groningen.

This northern city is just under a two hour drive from Amsterdam and amongst others due to a large student population, Groningen is quite a vibrant city! It is home to several other smaller craft breweries but Baxbier definitely stands out.

Starting a beer brand

It was of course no coincidence that it was students who came up with the idea of a brewery. Jeroen Bax and Sepp Jansen, two friends and both member of the Groningen Student Cycling Association, realized that besides cycling they had another common interest: home brewing!

In 2013 they started experimenting on the kitchen stove in Jeroen’s parental home. Soon their friends made it clear to them that their beers tasted actually really good. In 2014 the decision was made to start contractbrewing so that the volumes of beer could be increased to a level that there was enough beer for all friends (and their friends). A new beer brand was born: Baxbier!

Opening a brewery in Groningen

Who needs a bank when there is also crowdfunding? Well, we can't do without banks, but that crowdfunding is a blessing for many starting breweries, that's for sure. After a successful crowdfunding campaign, Baxbier opened its production brewery and adjacent tasting room in the fall of 2016.

The new Groningen brewery found a home on the northwest side of the city. It is doing so well that it does not take too long before additional fermentation tanks are installed to meet the ever-growing demand. It turns out that it is not only the students from Groningen who appreciate the beer of Baxbier, there is clearly a larger market for their beer.

Range of beers

Baxbier Brewery has now grown into an established name in Groningen. It has become a successful Dutch craft brewery with a core range of four beers. ‘Kon Minder’ is part of the core range but also a mini-range in itself and named after one of the first beers to be brewed. ’Koudvuur’ is a Smoked Porter, also dates back to the early years of the brewery. The range is completed with ‘Abbey Rave’, a classic Belgian Tripel and ‘Abel’s Ale’, a Pacific IPA’, named after the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman, born in Groningen and whose name lives on in Tasmania, the island state of Australia.

Apart from this core range there are of course the seasonal beers, one-offs, collabs with other local and international breweries and a series of big, fat IPA’s named the Bandwagon series. 

A tour of the Baxbier brewing facilities and a visit to the tasting room alone is a good reason to visit the city of Groningen. Add to that sights such as the Martinitoren tower (a.k.a. 'The old grey one'), Forum Groningen and the old warehouses along the canals and you certainly have a well-spent day. Don't forget the Groninger Museum either!