The Oranjeboom Brewery () was founded in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

in 1671. The brewery there closed in 1990, with production shifted to

Breda Breda () is a city and municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Brabant. The name derived from ''brede Aa'' ('wide Aa' or 'broad Aa') and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. Breda has ...

. That brewery was sold to

Interbrew Interbrew is subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV is based in Breda, Netherlands. It has one subsidiary, Ambev S.A. of São Paulo, Brazil. Brands Interbrew brands have historically included Budweiser, Stella Artois, Boddingtons, Beck's, S ...

in 1995 and was closed in 2004 by

InBev InBev () is a brewing company that resulted from the merger between Belgium-based company Interbrew and Brazilian brewer AmBev which took place in 2004. It existed independently until the acquisition of Anheuser-Busch in 2008, which formed Anheu ...

, Interbrew's successor. Production of the brand Oranjeboom was moved to the

Dommelsch Dommelsch Brewery is a brewery founded in 1744 in the village of Dommelen, Netherlands. It is part of the Anheuser-Busch InBev group, and brews ''Dommelsch Pilsener'' for the Dutch market. History Dommelsch was founded in 1744 in the village ...

brewery. In October 2013, Oranjeboom was relaunched as a "quirky" new European style lager.

History

The brewery dates from 1671, and started with the merger of two Rotterdam breweries, De Dissel and van den Oranjeboom; it was originally housed on the Coolvest, in the center of town. Late 19th-century developments in the Dutch brewing industry all involved the then-new process of brewing

lager Lager () is beer which has been brewed and conditioned at low temperature. Lagers can be pale, amber, or dark. Pale lager is the most widely consumed and commercially available style of beer. The term "lager" comes from the German for "storage" ...

, which used a

yeast Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are estimated to constitut ...

with the capability of

cool fermenting Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with yeast. It may be done in a brewery by a commercial brewer, ...

; this allowed for production year-round, but required significant investments in modern technology and cold storage. In 1872, the brewery was owned by Willem Baartz, who was looking to get into the lager market. Baartz approached

Gerard Adriaan Heineken Heineken Lager Beer ( nl, Heineken Pilsener), or simply Heineken () is a pale lager beer with 5% alcohol by volume produced by the Dutch brewing company Heineken N.V. Heineken beer is sold in a green bottle with a red star. History On 15 Febr ...

but instead got involved in a new venture that led to the founding of Heineken's Bierbrouwerij Maatschappij. By 1882, Oranjeboom had been sold on to the (Protestant) brewing company ''De Gekroonde Valk'', one of the first breweries in the Netherlands to brew

. In 1885, a brand-new brewery was opened on Oranjeboomstraat in the

Feijenoord district Feijenoord (), not to be confused with the Feijenoord neighbourhood (which is located in the Feijenoord district), is a district in Rotterdam and is located south of the Nieuwe Maas. As of 1 January 2004 there were 72,320 inhabitants. The area is ...

, then a new development south of the city. The city named the street for the brewery, which, around the turn of the century, was an important employer providing over 200 jobs, and one of the largest breweries in the country. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, several other breweries were bought to meet demand and stay competitive: De Wereld (

Raamsdonk Raamsdonk is a village in the province of North Brabant, Netherlands. It is located in the municipality of Geertruidenberg, about 15 km northeast of Breda. Toponymy Raamsdonk (as "Dunc") is mentioned for the first time in 1253 as ''Ramesd ...

, 1948), Wertha (

Weert Weert (; li, Wieërt ) is a municipality and city in the southeastern Netherlands located in the western part of the province of Limburg. It lies on the Eindhoven–Maastricht railway line, and is also astride the Zuid-Willemsvaart canal. Popu ...

, 1960), Zuidhollandse Bierbrouwerij (

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

, 1960), Phoenix (

Amersfoort Amersfoort () is a city and municipality in the province of Utrecht, Netherlands, about 20 km from the city of Utrecht and 40 km south east of Amsterdam. As of 1 December 2021, the municipality had a population of 158,531, making it the second- ...

, 1961), and Barbarossa (

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

, 1964). None of these breweries remain. In 1967, Oranjeboom was taken over by UK company

Allied Breweries Allied Breweries was the result of a 1961 merger between Ind Coope (of Burton), Ansells (of Birmingham), and Tetley Walker (of Leeds). In 1978, Allied Breweries merged with the food and catering group J. Lyons and Co to form Allied Lyons. The bre ...

, which made an important acquisition in 1968 when it bought the brewery De Drie Hoefijzers in

, a town with a long history of beer brewing. The Breda brewery took on the name Oranjeboom. In 1973, the brand Oranjeboom was replaced by

Skol Skol Lager was developed originally by Ind Coope breweries in Alloa, Central Scotland. In 1958, Graham's Continental was launched (based upon a local brew called Graham's Golden) and quickly changed to Graham's Skol to give a Scandinavian impre ...

, which was deemed to be a more attractive name for the European market, but it was a failure, and the brand name Oranjeboom was reintroduced in 1982. The plant in Rotterdam was closed in 1990, and in 1995, the Breda brewery was sold to Belgian beer giant

, which modernized the plant, but poor results in 2001 led to the plant's closure in 2004, (at a loss of 335 jobs), with production moved to Belgium and to the (Dutch)

Dommelsch Brewery Dommelsch Brewery is a brewery founded in 1744 in the village of Dommelen, Netherlands. It is part of the Anheuser-Busch InBev group, and brews ''Dommelsch Pilsener'' for the Dutch market. History Dommelsch was founded in 1744 in the village ...

Ownership

With the exception of the

Benelux The Benelux Union ( nl, Benelux Unie; french: Union Benelux; lb, Benelux-Unioun), also known as simply Benelux, is a politico-economic union and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of three neighboring states in western Europe: B ...

area, the tradename Oranjeboom is owned by United Dutch Breweries. It was previously owned by Allied Breweries of the UK.

Beers

The Oranjeboom brewery mainly produced Oranjeboom pils and other lagers, and also Trio Stout. Oranjeboom Breweries were also the manufacturers of the popular Dutch Gold beer, which is one of the best-selling lager beers in retail around the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

. The main beer produced under the brand name is Oranjeboom Premium Pilsner - a 5%

ABV Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as ABV, abv, or alc/vol) is a standard measure of how much alcohol (ethanol) is contained in a given volume of an alcoholic beverage (expressed as a volume percent). It is defined as the number of millilitres (mL) o ...

lager. There is also an Extra Strong 8.5% ABV version, a Super Strong 12.0% ABV version as well as lower strength and alcohol-free versions and a bokbier sold under the brand name.

International versions

* The lager was brewed in Faversham, UK under license by

Shepherd Neame Shepherd Neame is an English independent brewery which has been based in the market town of Faversham, Kent, for over 300 years. While 1698 is the brewery's official established date, town records show that commercial brewing has occurred on the ...

at a strength of 3.9%. * Oranjeboom pilsener brewed in Germany is labeled for US sales and exported to the US. * A high percentage Oranjeboom has been imported to the UK, in 500 ml cans at 8.5%

* In New Zealand, Oranjeboom has been brewed under license by

Lion Nathan Lion is an alcoholic beverage company that operates in Australia and New Zealand, and a subsidiary of Japanese beverage conglomerate Kirin. It produces and markets a range of beer and cider in Australia, and wine in New Zealand and the Unite ...

since 2005.''"...Oranjeboom, brewed and distributed by Lion Nathan..."''
21 June 2005, Press Release: Lion Nathan * A variant known as "Premium Strong Beer" is brewed in France for export. It has a high alcohol content of 16%

and is labelled "imported mega strong".

References

External links

RateBeer

Oranjeboom: Add Some Dutch to Your Life

D'Oranjeboom Luxury Dutch Heritage Beers
{{Use dmy dates, date=March 2017 Breweries in the Netherlands Defunct breweries Defunct food and drink companies of the Netherlands Companies established in 1671 1671 establishments in the Dutch Republic Breweries in North Brabant Buildings and structures in Breda History of Rotterdam Manufacturing companies based in Rotterdam