In early 2007, the Netherlands' café and bar owners called for a reduction in beer prices, following the record fines levied on the country's big brewers for price-fixing by the European Commission. The three biggest Dutch beer groups - Heineken, Grolsch and Bavaria - were fined a total of €274m for price-fixing between 1996 and 1999.

It took the Commission nearly 10 years to decide what to do about the brewers who are all going to appeal anyway, so you can wait a long while yet for your beer price cut.

Amsterdam has a couple of specialist beer shops.

The Bierkoning claims to have sold 3,000 different types of beer.

Brouwerij 't IJ is a tiny independent brewery next to a windmill in Oost.

Holland even has its own beer portal