A long time ago local brewers made their beers with gruit instead of hops. When German merchants brought hopped beer to the city, it was an instant hit, though not with the local count who received tax over the gruit beer but not over the hopped beer. He tried to end the import of hopped beer but after two years he relented.
He reinstated the import, and gave the city of Amsterdam the rights to distribute it to the rest of the country and Flanders. This made Amsterdam the centre of Dutch beer distribution. As the beer trade boomed, Amsterdam also became a global trading port.
Later several local breweries gained international success, such as Heineken. At the same time smaller local brewers started to experiment with different styles, paving the way for the craft beer scene that thrives today.