Maallust, a brewery on historic grounds

At Maallust Brewery, special beer is brewed in the former grain mill. This gives historical heritage a new function. And, the hops that are processed there are harvested by inmates of the Veenhuizen Penitentiary Institution.

Working on the land in Veenhuizen used to "re-educate" people. Over the years, the regime became increasingly strict and the village became closed and self-sufficient. Today, it is no longer a "pauper's paradise" or "prison village," but there are still similarities with the past.

Some two hundred years ago, the Drenthe village of Veenhuizen became the setting for an extraordinary social experiment. Thousands of people, often poor, were sent to this colony (part of the Maatschappij van Weldadigheid) to learn a trade and become self-reliant. They worked on the land or in the workshops.

The special history and unique layout made Veenhuizen a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In several places you can still see spells on the monumental houses, meant at the time to set an example to the inmates or to say something about the occupant of the house. 'Maallust' was the miller's house, with a grain mill behind it. It now houses today's Maallust, specialty beer brewery.

The idea to establish a brewery there came from Henk Timmerman, who has been professionally involved in the redevelopment of Veenhuizen since 2001. "A crowdfunding campaign yielded a club of 25 investors, including myself. We call ourselves the "Heavy Boys," he says. They lease the building from the Rijksgebouwendienst.

'We brew 20,000 bottles and 100 barrels of beer a week,' says Timmerman. 'That results in 1.5 million euros in sales per year.' Still, black numbers are not a given. 'We make a profit one year and it's more difficult the next. There are two things that play a role in this: there are an awful lot of new breweries in the Netherlands. So there is simply more and more competition. In addition, our profit margin is not great, because we sell a lot through liquor stores and restaurants. If you own a pub or restaurant, then your margin is bigger," he explains.

Although Maallust's goal is not primarily commercial - preservation and opening up of world heritage and a love of brewing are just as important - the Heavy Boys do want a nice annual result. So in recent years they have taken the catering business around Maallust into their own hands. 'Previously, we worked with operators. But now that we do it ourselves, we can sell some of our beer with a higher profit margin. It involves three venues: the tasting room at Maallust brewery, the adjacent snack bar Piepers and Paupers and Het Verenigingsgebouw further down the road in Veenhuizen, for parties, congresses and other gatherings,' Timmerman lists.

The in-house operation of The Society Building began in 2023. The Heavy Boys took over the snack bar and tasting room in 2025. Since they also made a substantial investment in 2018 - expanding the number of tanks in the brewery - they turned to external funding for the catering business. The Heavy Boys found that in MKB Fonds Drenthe, a fund through which Drenthe invests in companies that are positive for the province, for example, because they serve a social interest. Maallust, for example, contributes to the preservation of world heritage.

The Heavy Boys also try to take their social responsibility in other areas as well as revive centuries-old history. 'I live in Peize and that village is famous for growing hops in the 17th century. If people could grow hops in North Drenthe then, they should be able to do so now. So we contacted the Penitentiary Institution Veenhuizen and together set up professional hop cultivation on their agricultural plots. That is where we, and many other breweries, buy hops. So local cultivation, with minimal transport kilometers. And realized by people who temporarily do not participate in society and thus keep in touch with the world around them by working in the fields. Just as it used to be done in Veenhuizen. We want to enter into a similar collaboration in the future with grain cultivation.

In the coming years, the Heavy Boys will focus on optimizing their operations. 'We are going to fine-tune the three catering outlets, in the brewery we want to minimize breakdowns and failures, and we want to simplify our logistics between different warehouses. I believe we will then turn a better year's result.' About the image of alcohol, Timmerman wants to say the following. 'We don't know how the market is developing. Alcohol is becoming less popular, that is a fact. We see that as an external factor that we cannot influence. Excessive alcohol consumption ís really not healthy. But enjoying a special beer with friends or family can be relaxing. And the beauty of special beer is that you drink it in moderation. It's not 'soccer canteen lager,' but something to enjoy quietly.