A quick note from cold and wet Amsterdam.

The Netherlands is the neighbor of Belgium, Germany, and the United Kingdom. All three of these countries have deeply rooted ale and lager traditions that the Dutch have no problem in consuming. Bitters, pilsners, and golden ales can all be easily acquired.

Which is why it was rather surprising to find this shop the the old area of downtown Amsterdam, a pub highlighting several dozen brands of American beer, many of which are microbrews. Rogue, Southern Tier, and Great Divide are but a few of the smaller breweries represented here.

This isn't the only location where I've come across American micro-brews overseas. Another beer seller here in Amsterdam readily sells brews from Rogue, and last year at the Borough Market in London, I happened upon other similar brands.

It's interesting to me, and possibly to other people who follow these sorts of trends, that in a country that has ready access to so many marvelous beers that there's enough room for (somewhat) lesser known American brews. That these brands can make inroads into these beer strongholds has got to put a smile on American craft brewers.