ROEM

Two men, one kitchen, and a dream: brewing better beer. Loek translated ideas into taste, Viresh into ambition. Since 2015, this has grown into the city brewery of Zoetermeer, with its own brewery on Edisonstraat — from a butter village to a beer city.

That stubbornness runs through the entire line. The Blond stays creamy and drinkable at six percent. The Tripel throws in coriander seed and sweet orange peel, letting the Tripel yeast blast out the fruit. The Stout is a Russian Imperial at 8.5 percent, in which a hint of star anise picks up the finish. And the IPA 0.3% was tinkered with for over a year, until low alcohol no longer tasted like a compromise.

There is also a beer that extends beyond the brewery: Beer Geeks beats ALS, brewed jointly by eighty-nine breweries, with the proceeds going to ALS research.

Artisanal, proud, and unmistakably Zoetermeers.