The flagship lager from Kaapse Brouwers, brewed in the Fenix Food Factory on the Katendrecht waterfront. A clean, crisp Dutch pilsner with a distinctive hop edge that has become the defining Rotterdam craft beer.

Where to eat Kaapse Pils in Rotterdam

1 editor pick for Kaapse Pils in Rotterdam, ranked by editorial score. All Rotterdam signature dishes · Kaapse Pils across every city.

  • Kaapse Brouwers

    • ★ 4.7
    • Brewery
    • €€
    • Merwe-Vierhavens (M4H)

    Rotterdam's flagship craft brewery, brewing bold ales from session pils to imperial stouts at Keilestraat with the Kaapse Kaap taproom on Katendrecht.

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Make it at home

Serves 20720 hrAdvanced

Ingredients

  • 4kg German Pilsner malt
  • 300g CaraPils malt
  • 30g Saaz hops (60-minute boil)
  • 20g Hallertau Mittelfruh hops (15-minute boil)
  • 15g Saaz hops (flame-out)
  • 1 packet Saflager W-34/70 lager yeast
  • Brewing salts to adjust water for a Pilsen profile (low calcium, very low bicarbonate)
  • Equipment: 30L mash tun, kettle, fermenter, temperature-controlled chamber, sanitiser

Method

  1. Mash crushed malts at 65C for 75 minutes in 12 litres of brewing water. Sparge with 18 litres of 75C water until you collect about 25 litres of wort.
  2. Bring wort to a vigorous boil. Add Saaz at the start of the 60-minute boil.
  3. Add Hallertau at the 45-minute mark (15 minutes from end). Add final Saaz at flame-out.
  4. Chill rapidly to 10C using an immersion chiller or ice bath.
  5. Transfer to a sanitised fermenter, pitch yeast, ferment at 10C to 12C for 14 days until gravity is stable.
  6. Cold-crash at 1C for 2 weeks (lagering); this is the Pilsner-defining step. Skipping it gives a young, harsh beer.
  7. Bottle or keg with priming sugar at 4.5 vol CO2. Condition cold for another 2 weeks before drinking.

Editor tip. Lagering is the single non-negotiable step; without 2 to 4 weeks of cold conditioning you have a German Helles, not a Dutch Pilsner.