named after the city of Grol, where it was founded in 1615 by Willem Neerfeldt. Grolsch is the Netherlands’ third largest brewer. Bottled in distinctive green swing-top bottles that were introduced in 1897, its pilsner is easily recognized in at least 70 foreign markets. Grolsch was a public company listed on the Dutch stock exchange from 1984 until it was sold to SABMiller in 2008. About 50% of their production is sold within the Netherlands and counts for about 15% of the total Dutch beer market. Grolsch transferred all of its production to a new site in Usselo just outside Enschede in 2003 and closed their Enschede and Groenlo breweries in 2005. A very conservative pilsner brewery, Grolsch only had three beers in its portfolio until they started experimentation with a wide range of spices, fruit essences, and yeast strains in 1995. None of these 40-odd beers has remained on the market, except their mixed-fermentation 11.6% alcohol by volume (ABV) “Het Kanon” (the Canon), and they occasionally release one-off beers for special civic celebrations. The release of two Bavarian-style weizen beers, a 5.5% ABV blond in 2005 and a 6% ABV dark version in 2007, pleasantly surprised many Dutch beer enthusiasts.

See also netherlands, the.