Tesselaar Familiebrouwerij Diks

Tesselaar Familiebrouwerij Diks is a Dutch family-owned craft brewery based on the island of Texel in the province of North Holland. It was founded on 16 June 2017 by Maurice Diks, a brewmaster who had previously spent nearly two decades at the neighbouring Texelse Bierbrouwerij, where he began in 1999 as operations manager and trainee brewer and became brewmaster and technical director in 2004. In 2017 he left to start his own family brewery together with his daughter Marinka and sons Sander and Jasper; son-in-law Sander Visser later joined the business. The brewery trades under the name Tesselaar Familiebrouwerij and markets its beers as "Bier van Texel" (Beer from Texel). The first beers, a filtered and an unfiltered pilsener, were brewed in July 2017 at Bierbrouwerij Breda while the family awaited permits for its own site on Texel. Those permits were granted in August 2018, and the brewery opened in February 2019. Its brewhouse combines modern stainless-steel tanks with authentic copper brewing kettles dating from 1967, salvaged from a closed German brewery and insulated with blankets of Texel sheep wool. Production reached 200,000 litres in 2021, double the previous year, and capacity has been expanded further since. In September 2023 the Texel municipal council approved a move to the former Landbouwcentrale Texel building on Meyertebos, a former potato storage facility, because the old site had reached its production limit and lacked storage space. The new location allows further growth, including solar panels and plans for an in-house malt house. In April 2024 the brewery became the first small Dutch brewery to switch to returnable deposit bottles, replacing the 33 cl single-use bottle with the 30 cl BNR deposit bottle and introducing washable paper labels. The core range includes Bruuzer (tripel), Dukdalf (a 10% quadrupel originally developed as an end-of-year beer), Eilandbiêr (unfiltered pilsener), Eilandkriebel (a 6.4% blond brewed with five hop varieties and citrus notes), Razende Bok (a bottom-fermented bock with caramel and coffee notes, 6.5%), Slufterbok (a top-fermented bock with caramel, coffee and laurel), Strandstruner (a copper-coloured weizen with fruity aromas) and Witte Tessel-Aar (a witbier with coriander and orange peel). Seasonal beers include Ezelenbok, an autumn bock taken over from the Stichting Noord-Hollandse Alternatieve Bierbrouwers, and Texelendje, an annually changing end-of-year beer such as a 9.5% barley wine in 2021. The brewery has won several Dutch Beer Challenge medals, including silver for Slufterbok in 2021, gold for Strandstruner in 2022 and silver for both in 2023; in 2024 its Kaap de Goeie Hop IPA, brewed with Strandpaviljoen Kaap Noord, won the Entree Huisbier van het Jaar award in the light beer category. The brewery operates a tasting room (Proeflokaal) with a view over the Waal en Burg nature reserve, a brewery shop open seven days a week, and guided tours from Wednesday to Sunday.

Tesselaar Familiebrouwerij Diks was founded on 16 June 2017 by Maurice Diks, a brewmaster with extensive experience in the Dutch beer industry. Diks had worked at the Texelse Bierbrouwerij on Texel since 1999, initially as operations manager and trainee brewer, and became brewmaster and technical director in 2004. In 2017 he left the company and decided to start his own family brewery together with his daughter Marinka and sons Sander and Jasper. Son-in-law Sander Visser later joined the business. The first beers of Tesselaar Familiebrouwerij Diks, a filtered and an unfiltered pilsener, were brewed in July 2017 at Bierbrouwerij Breda, while the family awaited the necessary permits for their own brewery on Texel. In August 2018 the family obtained those permits. The brewery opened in February 2019 and is equipped with both modern stainless-steel tanks and authentic copper brewing kettles from 1967, which came from a closed German brewery. The copper kettles are insulated with blankets of Texel sheep wool. In 2021 Tesselaar Familiebrouwerij Diks produced 200,000 litres of beer, double the previous year's output. The brewery has since further expanded its capacity. In September 2023 the brewery received approval from the Texel municipal council to move to the former Landbouwcentrale Texel building on Meyertebos, a property previously used as a potato storage facility. The move was necessary because the brewery had reached its production capacity at the old location and had insufficient storage space. The new location offers room for further growth, including the installation of solar panels and the establishment of an in-house malt house. In April 2024 the brewery switched to returnable deposit bottles, becoming the first small brewery in the Netherlands to make this choice. It replaced the 33 cl single-use bottle with the 30 cl BNR deposit bottle and introduced washable paper labels. The brewery's range includes various beer styles such as pils, tripel, quadrupel, blond, witbier, weizen and bock. The regular range consists of Bruuzer (tripel), Dukdalf (quadrupel, 10% alcohol, originally developed as an end-of-year beer), Eilandbiêr (unfiltered pilsener with a full flavour), Eilandkriebel (blond beer brewed with five hop varieties, with a citrus flavour, 6.4% alcohol), Razende Bok (bottom-fermented bock with notes of caramel and coffee, 6.5% alcohol), Slufterbok (top-fermented bock with notes of caramel, coffee and laurel), Strandstruner (weizenbier with a copper colour and fruity aromas) and Witte Tessel-Aar (witbier with coriander and orange peel). In addition, the company brews seasonal beers, including Ezelenbok (autumn bock, taken over from the Stichting Noord-Hollandse Alternatieve Bierbrouwers) and Texelendje (an annual end-of-year beer with a changing style, such as a barley wine with 9.5% alcohol in 2021). Tesselaar Familiebrouwerij has received several awards for its beers. In 2021 the Slufterbok won a silver medal at the Dutch Beer Challenge. A year later, in April 2022, the Strandstruner was awarded a gold medal in the same competition. In 2023 both aforementioned beers again received a silver medal in this competition. In 2024 the Kaap de Goeie Hop IPA, brewed in collaboration with Strandpaviljoen Kaap Noord, was named winner of the Entree Huisbier van het Jaar election in the category "Light (up to 6.5% alcohol)". The brewery is located at Meyertebos 7 in Den Burg and features a tasting room (Proeflokaal) with a view of the Waal en Burg nature reserve, a brewery shop open seven days a week, and guided tours from Wednesday to Sunday.

• Brewery founded by Maurice Diks and family

• First beers (filtered and unfiltered pilsener) brewed at Bierbrouwerij Breda

• Family obtains permits for own brewery on Texel

• Brewery opens on Texel with modern tanks and 1967 copper kettles

• Production reaches 200,000 litres, double the previous year

• Slufterbok wins silver at Dutch Beer Challenge

• Strandstruner wins gold at Dutch Beer Challenge

• Texel council approves move to former Landbouwcentrale Texel

• Slufterbok and Strandstruner win silver at Dutch Beer Challenge

• First small Dutch brewery to switch to returnable deposit bottles

• Kaap de Goeie Hop IPA wins Entree Huisbier van het Jaar (light category)

Island-based family craft brewery combining modern technology with traditional copper kettles, focused on Texel identity and local ingredients.

• Bruuzer

• Dukdalf

• Eilandbiêr

• Eilandkriebel

• Razende Bok

• Slufterbok

• Strandstruner

• Witte Tessel-Aar

• Ezelenbok

• Texelendje

• Kaap de Goeie Hop IPA

1. 1Bier van Texel – proef de smaak van het eilandbiervantexel.nl
2. 2Tesselaar Familiebrouwerij Diks - Wikidatawikidata.org
3. 3Tesselaar Familiebrouwerij - Wikipedianl.wikipedia.org