In the summer of 2014, Eymert van Manen was called by Jesse van Vollenhoven, former classmate of his son. The name was a coincidence – as beautiful as it would be, Jesse is not related to – but he did have a suggestion: let’s get serious about that brewery.

Within an hour there was a plan which would be executed in the coming years, The Spaniard Julián Álvarez Zárate – a molecular biologist with a PhD who had made a career switch by asking Brouwerij ‘t IJ if they needed anyone else – joined the founding team as the head brewer. Catering partners Dafne van den Boom and Jorn Stouten took charge of the gastronomy side.

And after a long search, a beautiful building presented itself: the former ammonium factory of the ‘Oostergasfabriek’, later converted to the well known ‘Dierenasiel Polderweg’ (the former animal shelter in East). With the help of crowdfunding, the bank and own money, the financing was quickly completed. But before opening up, a lot of work needed to be done…