The Heineken Experience, located in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

, is a historic brewery and corporate

visitor center A visitor center or centre (see American and British English spelling differences), visitor information center, tourist information center, is a physical location that provides tourist information to visitors. Types of visitor center A visi ...

for the internationally distributed Dutch

pilsner Pilsner (also pilsener or simply pils) is a type of pale lager. It takes its name from the Bohemian city of Plzeň (german: Pilsen), where the world's first pale lager (now known as Pilsner Urquell) was produced in 1842 by Pilsner Urquell Bre ...

, Heineken beer.

History

Background

The industrial facility was built as the first Heineken brewery in 1867, serving as the company's primary brewing facility until 1988 when a more modern, larger facility was constructed on the outskirts of the city.

Foundation

In 1991, the brewery opened its doors to the public through a visitor centre, known as the "Heineken Treat and Information Centre" ( nl, Heineken ontvangst- en informatiecentrum). Although the Heineken Experience began in 1991, there were tours of the original brewery while it was still fully operational. The attraction grew to become one of Amsterdam's most popular tourist attractions and by 2001 the visitor centre changed its name to "Heineken Experience".

Expansion and Reforms

After a year of extensive remodeling and expansion, the Heineken Experience reopened to visitors on 3 November, 2008. The latest transformation of the visitor experience comprises four levels of historical artifacts, product exploration and sampling, and interactive exhibits which employ the latest high-tech multi-media technologies. The museum underwent a renovation and expansion process from 2021 to the end of November 2022, which lasted approximately fourteen months. During this period, the façade and entrance were renovated and the Reception Center was expanded in order to put an end to the queue of people in the street.

Redesign

In renovating this visitor experience, the brewery tour was designed to educate the public on the process of pilsner brewing as well as to bringing the Heineken product and brand to life. As described by branding expert Bob Rogers of BRC Imagination Arts, an

experience design User experience design (UX design, UXD, UED, or XD) is the process of defining the experience a user would go through when interacting with a digital product or website. Design decisions in UX design are often driven by research, data analysis, an ...

firm based in Burbank, California, commissioned to design the visitor center renovations: "We wanted to bring back the connection with beer-making, and the history of Heineken, to help people see it, touch it, taste it".

European Route of Industrial Heritage Site

While the original brewing facility which houses the Heineken Experience is an historic landmark for the Heineken company, it serves also as an Anchor Point on the

European Route of Industrial Heritage The European Route of Industrial Heritage (ERIH) is a tourist route of the most important industrial heritage sites in Europe. This is a tourism industry information initiative to present a network of industrial heritage sites across Europe. The ...

. The European Route of Industrial Heritage presents 845 sites in 29 European countries. Of these, 66 Anchor Points comprise the ERIH main route. In whole, eleven Regional Routes host the industrial history of the European landscape in detail, and all sites relate to ten European Theme Routes which show the diversity of European industrial history and their common roots.

References

External links

Heineken Experience
{{Heineken International 1991 establishments in the Netherlands Amsterdam-Zuid Beer museums European Route of Industrial Heritage Anchor Points Heineken Museums established in 1991 Museums in Amsterdam Beer in the Netherlands