Something big is brewing…

Heineken N.V. one of the world’s largest brewing companies, is about to begin construction on the region’s first “large-scale brewery”. That’s according to an article shared on Bloomberg.com. 

Cheers 

Construction of this landmark development will be carried out by Sirocco, a joint venture between Heineken NV and Dubai’s MMI and is set to begin in 2025, with completion coming to a head in 2027.

Sirocco has been operating in the UAE for almost two decades and has borne witness to some big changes in UAE licensing, particularly in the last few years.

Green bottles hanging on the wall

Heineken N.V. is responsible for some of the most popular brands on the market, and the Bloomberg piece suggests that the Dubai plant will be producing pours of “Heineken, Kingfisher, Amstel and Birra Moretti”.

Why are they setting up shop here now, when imports have been working perfectly fine? It’s to service increasing demand, as well as providing a “fresher beer experience,” Bloomberg records the firm’s general manager, Georgios Polymenakos, as saying. Presumably a more profitable one as well.

Pub facts

As of 2019, Heineken N.V. had a portfolio of more than 165 breweries across more than 70 countries, with an annual beer production of 24.14 billion litres.

The birthplace of Heineken – the beer, as well as Heineken N.V. the brewing company is Amsterdam in the Netherlands. It produced its first beer in 1873.

In a strange act of theatrical foreshadowing, Heineken was actually the first beer exported to the US following the American prohibition of alcohol in the 1920s and 30s.

Other beer brands owned and produced by Heineken include Sol, Tiger, Italy’s Birra Moretti, Edelweiss, Harar, Windhoek, Bintang, and Red Stripe.

How do you like dem apples? Carbonated, on ice and with 4.5% ABV. Heineken N.V. also happens to be the world’s leading cider maker, with perhaps its most famous orchard squeeze being, Strongbow.

More pint-sized operations

This won’t be the UAE’s first brewery. The bar Craft by Side Hustle, which opened in Abu Dhabi earlier this year, has an on-site microbrewery, but the planned Heineken project – will be a long way from micro.

Images: Unsplash