Editing Haarlem (section)

====Beer brewing====
Beer brewing was a very important industry in Haarlem. Until the 16th century, the water for the beer was taken from the canals in the city. These canals were connected to seawater, via the Spaarne and the IJ. However, the canal water was getting more and more polluted and less suitable for brewing beer. A place {{convert|1.5|km|1|abbr=on}} south-west of the city was then used to take fresh water in. 

However, the quality of that water was not good enough either. From the 17th century, a canal (Santvaert) was used to transport water from the dunes to the city. The water was transported in barrels on ships. The location where the water was taken is called the Brouwerskolkje, and the canal to there still exists, and is now called the Brewers' Canal (Brouwersvaart).

Haarlem was a major beer producer in the Netherlands. The majority of the beer it produced was consumed in [[North Holland]]. During the Spanish siege, there were about 50 breweries in the city. In 1620, the city had about one hundred breweries.

There was another epidemic of the [[Black Death]] in 1657, which took a heavy toll in the six months it ravaged the city. From the end of the 17th century, the economy in the city worsened for a long time. In 1752, only seven breweries remained, and by 1820 no breweries were registered in the city. In the 1990s, the Stichting Haarlems Biergenootschap revived some old recipes under the [[Jopen]] beer brand that is marketed as a "Haarlem bier." In 2010, Jopen opened a brewery in a former church in central Haarlem called the Jopenkerk. In 2012, Haarlem gained another local brewery with [http://www.uiltjebrewing.com Uiltje Brewing] in the [[Zijlstraat]], which specializes in craft beer.