Rotterdam craft brewery Vet & Lazy’s dream is coming true! This summer they will open their new taproom on the Maas next to their brewery, with possibly the best view in the city. The crowdfunding will run until May 1, but work on the taproom has already started. If all goes to plan, the bar will open in July. There will be a choice of 100 craft beers available, of which 15 from tap. They also plan to serve food, but that may take more time to realize. Until then, there will be bar snacks on the menu and perhaps an occasional food truck on weekends. Head brewer and co-founder Ruben Krommenhoek has many years of experience in the hospitality business and knows exactly what the new taproom should look and feel like. “I want people to feel at home and have a great experience. That is why the bar is near the entrance, so that our staff can greet people when they come in. We won’t be working with QR codes at the tables, but will have traditional table service instead. It’s all about feeling welcome and well taken care of.”
Though it’s a shame they will be leaving that beautiful location in the Oude Haven – where they currently have a Pub Up bar in the ‘Witte Huis’ that was always meant to be temporary – I am extremely excited about the prospect of walking 7 minutes from my home to a sunny terrace and friendly bar for my favorite Fluffy IPA!
The Vet & Lazy brewery is located in the old tropical swimming pool of Tropicana (which all us Dutchies swam in when we were kids). After standing empty for many years it now houses Blue City, an incubator for circular entrepreneurs. Sustainability is central to Vet & Lazy’s mission. Circular means striving to create zero waste. The brewery’s waste is a source for other entrepreneurs, like alga.farm who uses the CO2 for growing their spirulina. The spent grains are fed to livestock or used for making bread. Vice versa, Vet & Lazy has used ‘waste’ to make some of their beers, like oyster mushrooms from Rotterzwam for Le Phallus porter. All the grains for their beers are sourced locally from Buijtenland van Rhoon. Malting is still done elsewhere, though the ambition is to eventually also be able to malt the barley locally. There is serious interest in sourcing local hops and hopefully in the coming years this will become possible as well.
Help Vet & Lazy reach their crowdfunding goal
Within just two weeks they reached their goal of 100% (200.000 Euro). At the time of publishing this article they are at 139%. Possibly enough to just cover the costs of the bar (including some unexpected surprises like mandatory measures against pool fire (plasbrand), which no other establishment on the river has). If they get more, they will be able to also do some upgrades in the brewery like adding barrels! If you are a fan or if you fancy drinking their flagship tripel Je Moeder at a unique location on the river, check out their crowdfunding website and help them reach 200%!
All photos (except architectural designs) are by Tina Rogers.