Yuri Hegge has a lot to say, and he’s not afraid of saying it. Hegge, originally from Hamont-Achel in Belgium but long since a resident across the border in the Netherlands, is a vocal presence in the Amsterdam beer scene, speaking out on social media about the pressures faced by small business owners—from capricious Untappd reviews to more serious questions about mental health struggles, depression, and suicide.
2020 was supposed to be different: the year he celebrated launching a new venue, alongside the beloved Foeders—the neighborhood café he opened in the city’s De Pijp area in 2017. Since then, Foeders has become the best place in Amsterdam for the wild and funky beers of Hegge’s homeland, and comes alive each summer as a central location for the Carnivale Brettanomyces festival.
Het Lagerhuys was Hegge’s move to expand from a buurtcafé, or neighborhood bar, to a beer-centric bistro just steps from Amsterdam’s Centraal train station. Opened in January 2020, Het Lagerhuys featured 50 taps leaning heavily on Foeders’ well-established formula. But the Netherlands has not escaped the pandemic, and while its government has been less draconian in its approach, Hegge and his businesses have been hit hard. To keep cash flowing, Hegge has thrown himself into the task of bringing Foeders online—first in the spring with an auction of his cellar, and again in the autumn as a full-on webshop. And through all this, he’s still had the energy to be a vocal advocate for the interests of his fellow bar and restaurant owners.
Words,Eoghan Walsh