Cafe Gollem Amstelstraat

Gollem Craft Beers — better known to visitors as Café Gollem Amstelstraat — is a specialty-beer bar at Amstelstraat 34 in Amsterdam-Centrum, two minutes’ walk from Rembrandtplein. It pours 30 rotating taps and 100-plus bottles and cans, leaning heavily on Dutch craft, Belgian classics and international sours, stouts, barrel-aged specials and IPAs. It is one of six Gollem cafés in the city.

Quick facts

Official name	Gollem Craft Beers (part of the Café Gollem group)
Address	Amstelstraat 34, 1017 DA Amsterdam
Neighbourhood	Amsterdam-Centrum, between Rembrandtplein and the Amstel
Phone	+31 20 737 0273
Website	cafegollem.nl
Draught beers	30 taps, constantly rotating
Bottles and cans	100+, listed on the wall menus
Food	Bar snacks only, including a Trappist cheese board with bread and appelstroop
Hours (official site)	Mon–Thu 16:00–01:00; Fri–Sat 14:00–02:00; Sun 14:00–00:00
Group bookings	Possible in advance; sit-down meals only at Gollem’s Proeflokaal, Overtoom 160-161
Best for	Beer-focused drinkers, expat and traveller meet-ups, groups wanting a central bar

What Gollem Amstelstraat is really like

Amstelstraat sits on the loud edge of Rembrandtplein, where most doorways promise cocktails and dance floors. Gollem does the opposite. It is a compact, wood-and-taplist bar where the beer menu is the entertainment: a bank of 30 taps at the counter, a wall of bottle and can lists to read through, and a crew who will talk you from “I usually drink lager” to something barrel-aged without any snobbery.

The café describes itself as an international meeting place for beer lovers, and the room reflects that mix — Amsterdam locals, expats and travellers sharing a small space. Reviewers consistently single out the staff’s product knowledge and the willingness to steer newcomers toward a style they will actually enjoy. There is a dartboard tucked at the back, free Wi-Fi, and a handful of seats outside when the weather allows.

One useful piece of context: the Gollem name has been part of Amsterdam’s specialty-beer scene since 1974, when the original café opened on Raamsteeg. The Amstelstraat bar is the group’s craft-forward branch, still being reported on as a new arrival in early 2015, and it was built around 30 taps and a large bottle list from the start. Today the group runs six addresses across the city, each with a slightly different character.

The beer list and what to order

The tap line-up changes constantly, so treat any published beer list as a snapshot. What stays consistent is the shape of the selection: Dutch craft breweries, Belgian classics including Trappist ales, and international “icon” beers, spread across sours, hop-forward IPAs, rich stouts and barrel-aged specials.

• New to Belgian beer: ask for a Trappist or abbey ale and order the cheese board with appelstroop alongside it — the sweet-savoury pairing is the house snack for a reason.
• Hop chaser: ask which Dutch IPA landed most recently. Small breweries rotate through quickly here, so the freshest keg is usually the best pour.
• Curious but cautious: ask for a fruited sour. It is the easiest bridge from wine or cider into specialty beer.
• Cold night: ask for the strongest dark beer on tap and check the ABV before committing — Belgian quadrupels and imperial stouts here run well into double digits.
• Cans over draught: read the wall menus rather than the taps. The bottle and can list is larger than the tap list and holds the rarer releases.

Do not arrive expecting dinner. Amstelstraat serves borrelhappen — Dutch bar snacks — and nothing more substantial. If you want to eat a full meal under the Gollem banner, go to Gollem’s Proeflokaal at Overtoom 160-161, which is the only location with a kitchen and the only one taking dining reservations.

Opening hours and the deals worth timing

Gollem Amstelstraat opens in the late afternoon on weekdays and early afternoon at weekends. Listings disagree about closing time, which matters if you are planning a late night, so here is the comparison rather than a single guess.

Source	Listed hours
cafegollem.nl (official)	Mon–Thu 16:00–01:00; Fri–Sat 14:00–02:00; Sun 14:00–00:00
Tripadvisor listing	Mon–Thu 16:00–01:00; Fri–Sat 14:00–03:00; Sun 14:00–01:00

Treat the official site as the baseline and check the Google listing on the day if you are arriving after midnight, since late-night closing shifts with the season and the crowd.

Recurring events

• Pint Night, every Thursday: ten selected craft beers from the regular taps at €7.50 per pint, all night.
• Bartender’s Choice pop-up tastings: themed tastings curated by the crew, €10 per person, limited places, sign up in advance by message or at the bar.
• Oktoberfest, late September: extra German beers on tap and in bottle, from traditional styles to modern craft versions.

Dates for the pop-up tastings are announced on the café’s own page and its Google listing rather than fixed to a monthly slot, so confirm before building an evening around one.

Best time to visit

• For a seat and a conversation: Monday to Thursday, shortly after the 16:00 opening. The bar is small, and this is the window where you can actually work through the list with a bartender.
• For atmosphere: Friday and Saturday evening. Reviewers note it gets crowded at weekends, and with a room this size that means standing.
• For a cheap round: Thursday, for the €7.50 Pint Night pricing.
• Quieter months: late autumn through early spring, outside the December holiday weeks. April, May, September and October are the compromise between decent weather and thinner crowds.
• Groups of six or more: reserve ahead rather than turning up. The bar is set up for larger parties, but only if the space is held for you.

How to get there

Amstelstraat runs from Rembrandtplein toward the Amstel and the Blauwbrug, so the square is your landmark from any direction.

• Tram: lines 4 and 14 stop at Rembrandtplein. Both connect to Amsterdam Centraal, and the walk from the stop into Amstelstraat takes two to three minutes.
• On foot from Centraal: roughly 20 minutes, via Damrak, Rokin and Muntplein, then east along Reguliersbreestraat to the square.
• Metro: Waterlooplein is a short walk east across the Amstel, useful if you are coming from Amsterdam-Zuidoost or Noord.
• Bike: racks around Rembrandtplein fill up on weekend evenings; use a frame lock plus a chain, and avoid leaving anything on the saddle or handlebars.
• Car: not worth it. Central Amsterdam is a one-way maze with metered street parking at city-centre rates; a P+R site plus tram is faster and cheaper.

The other five Gollem cafés

• Café Gollem — Raamsteeg 4, the original, near Spui.
• Gollem’s Proeflokaal — Overtoom 160-161, the only location with a kitchen and dining reservations.
• Gollem de Pijp — Daniel Stalpertstraat 74, in Oude Pijp.
• Het Elfde Gebod — Zeedijk 5, at the edge of Chinatown.
• Gollem aan het Water — Entrepotdok 64, on the water in the Eastern Docklands.

Nearby on the same walk

• Rembrandtplein neighbourhood guide — what else sits around the square.
• Bruincafé ‘t Centrum — a traditional brown café directly on Rembrandtplein.
• Café Kuyl — square-side drinks at Rembrandtplein 26.
• Café Slijterij Oosterling — jenever and no music, a five-minute walk down Utrechtsestraat.
• De Sluyswacht — canalside terrace in a leaning 17th-century lock-keeper’s house, across the Amstel.
• BeerTemple — American-style beer bar if you want a second stop on the taplist crawl.
• De Pilsener Club — tiny vintage pub near Spui, close to the original Gollem.

Frequently asked questions

Hours, prices and event dates change. Confirm current details on the café’s own page for Gollem Amstelstraat before you go.