ex-yu 3 :p

Guess that the old thread passed its’ expiry date.

And what better way to open the new one with an invitation to the Second Brewers’ Conference and Beer Fair/Market, at the Magic Beer Room on the 27.9.2014!

Possibly the most important beer event of the year, en par with the Homebrew Competition at the same location, featuring a ton of brilliant home & micro brews on tap, live music, superb barbecue, presentations and lessons, games & such, all on one spot, all included in the 60KN you pay for the entry.

If you can, get there!
http://www.ratebeer.com/event/26179/

But be quick, the number of people who can attend is limited, and when the quota’s filled, you won’t be able to register no more:
http://www.pivarstvo.info/konferencija/

Zmajska Pivovara’s Porter and Pale Ale available @ Tolkien’s right NOW! :)

More exciting things happening in Croatia. :)

http://www.splitbrewingcompany.com

Love these threads. Thanks Marko!!!

Originally posted by Marko
More exciting things happening in Croatia. :)

http://www.splitbrewingcompany.com

Yeah... but the problem is... what I’m seeing here is a concept imagined in advance, with recipe development & all, but, unless I’m mistaken, without an actual brewery built & without a registered company in Croatia (I see they’re registered in the states, but I’m not sure how that will function).

And with our bureaucracy (even worse than Slovenian), unless they have everything sorted out, it might be a (shockingly for them) bumpy ride before & if it’s realized.

We’ll see, it’d be great to have a western-style micro in Split. :)

Apart from the "non-pasteurized" version of the regular Karlovacko popping up here and there on random fests they do, Karlovacka Pivovara, deciding that 35476434536544534624634510945832509845034 pale lagers on the same market still aren’t enough, plans to release "Karlovacko Royal", a golden lager with Spalter Select hops, pale and roasted malt as well. So yay, more of the same thing, only maybe less bad, woo hoo!

I got the chance to try their "KIDAM" pivo as well, which is actually an acronym from the names of the 5 "beer ambassadors" of theirs - 2 guys working in production, 2 working in sales and 1 in marketing. They claimed it’s "homebrew-style", and they won’t be selling it, it’s only for "internal parties". It’s a 6% amber... well... lager I guess. Looks great, dark amber, with a kinda nice strawberryish & malty note in the aroma - but it’s oh so unsurprisingly watery as fuck with nearly no taste. Less taste than any "homebrew" I’ve tried.

But at least they are doing something different and marginally better, even if it’s borderline redundant. At least some people "up above" are trying to be more "craft-like", and they actually supported homebrewers at their festival some weeks ago, and acknowledging craft is something that Karlovacka never came close to in the past decades, which is certainly an improvement. One can but hope that it’s all not just for show.

Osjecka, on the other hand, released another 4.7% pale lager (read: almost certainly a relabel of Slavonsko), this time for Opca Opasnost - a "popular" Croatian rock band from roughly their region, sponsored by the Croatian Music Channel. On one hand - at least the bottle I had isn’t as tasteless as most Hajduk beers I’ve had this summer - on the other, it’s another bloody pale lager on an oversaturated market.

Macros will be macros.



Good news from Serbia though. A Scottish-run cidery opened near Novi Sad. :)
http://www.scottscider.com/

Yes! The cider from Novi Sad is delicious. We’re going to visit next week I hope.

First commercial IPA brewed in Croatia is on the market - Medvedgrad Fakin IPA. Dry hopped, 7%, 70IBU and a damn good rendition of the style, with only a few small, almost negligible faults they are well aware of. If it sells well, they’ll turn it into a regular fall seasonal - so it had better sell well! :D

If anyone is in Ljubljana on the weekend around October 18th, there will be a great even called Pivo & Burger Fest (Beer & Burger). In addition to burgers, there will also be quite some Slovenian craft beers present.

Sounds quite interesting :) I’ll consider it.

In any case, the conference this weekend will host 20 kegs of homebrew of various styles (from strong Belgians through funky IPAs to dry stouts)... Zmajska & Nova Runda will be there, Medvedgrad will bring their IPA, HumanFish is coming too, and so are Visibaba and Bošnjak. Fun times!

Several lectures (including one of mine), several guided tastings... can’t wait!