Brouwerij Maximus

The Netherlands

"Brouwerij Maximus is not known for extreme beers, we try to keep it sort of subtle in a way."

Utrecht brewery with local roots

Brouwerij Maximus in Utrecht is a young and ambitious small brewery and brewpub, located in Leidsche Rijn, a new city district on the west side of town. The three founders of the brewery were not exactly new to the Dutch brewing scene, but already had a story of home brewing, gypsybrewing and running well known Utrecht beer bar Kafé België.

Marcel Snater had previously been home brewing and started gypsybrewing with his brewery De Snaterende Arend in 2002. Ewald Visser and Arend-Jan Van Dieën managed for years well known Utrecht beer bar Kafé België. Together they started contract brewing in 2011 and a year later they opened their own brewery and brewpub.

Brewery, brewpub and social enterprise

Besides being a commercial brewery and brewpub, Brouwerij Maximus is also a social enterprise. People with a distance to the labour market like long-term sick and early school leavers, get the chance to do an internship in the hospitality business, brewing and practice their social skills which can help them to get ahead in life. 

Beer styles of Brouwerij Maximus

They like to brew beers that taste sort of subtle at Brouwerij Maximus. No extreme amount of hops are added and you won’t find any beers here with a real high alcohol percentage. They produce a core range of traditional beers with a modern twist, like Pandora (Best Blond beer at the Dutch Beer Challenge 2020), Little Fred, Dakhaas, Brutus and HighHops.

Besides this line of beers, the brewery also started releasing a new series of quirky and special canned beers in 2020. Inspired by their vision to bring people together. But also to show that everyone is different, has an intriguing / crazy side, but can still be themselves.

Leidsche Rijn district

The location of Brouwerij Maximus might at first glance raise eyebrows but it's well worth the detour. On the western side of Utrecht a new city district is taking shape: Leidsche Rijn. The largest housing site in the Netherlands to be precise… 30.000 houses are being built. In the beginning there were hardly any spots for people to meet and socialize. See here the reason why they settled here: what better place to build a brewery and brewpub?

And it’s not all bricks. The brewery is located right next to Máximapark, an area consisting of 300 hectares. When finished this will be one of the largest city parks in the Netherlands.