Croatia
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Last Updated : 30/03/08 |
The report will be along soon...
t
a guess, Croatia probably isn't the first place you'd think of for scooping beer
and, in the main, you'd be right with most beer being produced by large
multinational-owned concerns. Despite this, however, there are some decent
beers around to be sampled by the adventurous tourist as well as superb scenery
down towards Split and a peek into a corner of Europe most people know nothing
about - or want to due to the scenes of war witnessed on TV during the 1990's.
I visited both Croatia and Slovenia in early 2003 with 5 others, mainly for the railways but also for the beer (pivo), and wrote one of my first ever "gen pages" about the trip which was also one of the first Foreign pages to be uploaded to Scoopergen when it burst onto the scene in May 2003... well, I needed something to fill the space!
Now I've finally been back to Zagreb, mainly to scoop the remaining heritage trams before a tidal wave of blue plastic tapeworm-looking junk sweeps them aside in the name of progress, and whilst there we managed to scratch a few beers too and get a proper sense of what the city is about. Consequently, I've rewritten this page after the visit with all the new gen added, but if you know anything else then please let me know... after all, we didn't find much to get excited about although that was expected!
Thanks to Marko (of Split) for all the corrections he's sent me and for ignoring my ignorance - cheers!
Pubs and bars in Zagreb.
There are a few places worth a look in Zagreb and these are listed below along with details on how to get to them and what you'll find there. See my updated Google map here.
Pivnica Medvedgrad, Božidara Adžije 16.
Open 10:00-24:00 daily. (
)
The brewery itself has now moved out to Zabok
(north of Zagreb) and so there isn't technically a Medvedgrad brewpub any
more although they now operate five bars in the city and it's environs and I
suspect also supply food/beer to Zlatni Medo too. The beer range has
now expanded to five; Zlatni Medvjed (pale hoppy beer), Grička Vještica
(strong 7% amber brew), Crna Kraljica (dark lager), Dva Klasa (wheat) and Mrki Medvjed
(brown beer, which may or may not be mixed in the pub itself), all pretty
decent and well worth a try. The Adžije restaurant is a large rambling
building without the "beer hall" atmosphere of the old brewpub at Savska
Cesta although it's a lot quieter!
Take tram 2 from the main station (Glavni Kolodvor) heading
for Črnomerec to Adžijina, turn left under the railway bridge opposite
the stop, and walk down Božidara Adžije for 200 metres. On your right
is an unpaved track and the pub is easily visible around 100 metres along
here on the right; it's only a five-minute walk from the tramstop.
Mali Medo (Little Bear), Tkalčićeva 36, Kaptol.
Situated on the main tourist road in Kaptol, this is a new addition to the
Medvedgrad estate and serves all the beers plus their standard food menu; one of
the better options in Kaptol.
Tkalčićeva is the main road just NW of the famous Dolac
market and the bar is around 200 metres north of the Krvavi Most (bridge of
blood which isn't a bridge...!).
Zlatni Medo (Golden Bear), Savska Cesta
56. Open 10:00-00:00, Sundays from 12:00. ()
The old Medvedgrad brewpub on the
corner of Vukovarska/Savska Cesta is (or was) now under new ownership and
brewing it's own beers, Zlatno (golden), Trenk (brown) and Ban (dark) although I
have my suspicions that these are not brewed on-site any more and are simply
rebadged Medvedgrad beers... if anyone has any proof otherwise (not the waiters
saying it's brewed there, that's not proof!) then please let me know! It's
still a good place for a beer and meal although the food menu is suspiciously
similar to that of the Medvedgrad bars, make of that what you will, plus the
beer is cheaper than usual for the city and very good.
Take tram 4 from the station (Glavni Kolodvor) heading for Savski
Most to the Zagrepčanka stop and the brewpub is on the ground floor of
the curved buildings on your right at the major road junction.
Hop Devil Pivnica, Branimirova 29. Open 10:00-02:00 daily.
()
A strange pseudo-Belgian bar situated in the basement of the new Branimirova
shopping centre just a few minutes' walk east of the main station (Glavni
Kolodvor). It's full of fake monastic decoration, some huge prints of
Breugel and the like plus a rather strange full-length wall of water but the
beer is what matters and, to be honest, it's not a bad list featuring all
trappist beers except Westvleteren plus 100 or so others of which there's a fair
few worth a go amongst the predictable crap. Expensive for Zagreb although
20-25 kuna a bottle isn't too bad when you consider how far the beer has come...
it's well worth a look. Food comes from the pizzeria next door.
Leave the train station, turn right, and walk along
Branimirova past the hotel Central and post office until you
reach the centre on the left-hand side of the road just past the tramstop (trams
2,4,6,9,13).
Enter the shopping centre via the main doors on Branimirova and when you reach a
coffee shop/seating area turn left around the back of this where you will find
some escalators, go down these and the bar is right in front of you.
Zagrebačka brewery tap, (K Pivovari), Ilica
244. ()
An institution on Zagreb, this restaurant has been comprehensively
refurbished over the last few years and now offers decent meals to go with the
full range of
Zagrebačka and InBev beers on draught
from the bar including Ožujsko, the winter seasonal Božićno and it's one of the
rare places to serve Tomislav on draught.
Take trams 2 or 6 (direction Črnomerec) to the Mandaličina
stop and the brewery is on the right-hand side of the road with the restaurant
at the front - you can't miss it. I'd take the route 2 as the unique Duro
Dakovic bogie trams (series 2xx, run weekdays only) will be replaced by plastic
junk shortly and already are at weekends.
Dobar Zvuk, Gajeva 18 / Ljudevita Gaja 18.
Open from 08:00, 10:00 Sundays!. ()
A bar with an above average beer range (although not worth a special trip)
which plays lots of alternative music at loud levels. Smoking is
compulsory.
Walk south from Trg Bana Jelačica along Gajeva and the bar is up some steps
after the junction with Berislavićeva - you'll probably hear it before you see
it.
Route 66, Paromlinska 47, Novi
Zagreb. ()
This unusual bar is a live music venue seemingly built from an old farmhouse
along one of the southern approaches to the city which also just happens to sell
bottled Velebitsko beers from Ličanka at fairly cheap prices. Worth doing
if you're tram bashing or just fancy a change from the centre of town.
Take tram 5 from the Autobusni Kolodvor (direction Prečko, usually plastic) or
13 from Glavni Kolodvor (direction Žitnjak, operated mainly by ex-Mannheim Düwag
trams) to the Lisinski stop. Looking south across a field you'll see some
buildings 300 metres in the distance - take the path over the grass until you
reach the bar.
Carpe Diem, Opatovina 23, Kaptol.
()
A nice vaulted cafe/bar with Laško on draught and Liçanka beer in bottles.
Good for a stop when wandering around Kaptol and not that far from the main
square either. One of the few places to serve Ličanka in Zagreb.
Opatovina is one of the main roads in Kaptol and the bar is
half-way along it. I've also heard that Ro&Do, a few doors further
north, also sells Velebitsko beers but it was closed when we visited so I can't
confirm this.
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| Inside Zlatni Medo brewpub Zagreb | Zlatni Medo's plant, Zagreb - used or not? | Tram frenzy - Duewag, Duro Dakovic and K6 at Branimirova, Zagreb | ||
| 13/03/08 | 13/03/08 | 14/03/08 |
Multinational-owned breweries.
As I've stated, multinational beers rule with the three major producers being seen everywhere. Of them, Zagrebačka (owned by InBev) is by far the best, as their standard lager Ožujsko actually tastes of Slovenian Goldings whilst their dark beer, Tomislav, is a 7.3% stunner which can be found on draught at a select few bars in Zagreb (including the brewery tap, see above) and in bottle at a great deal more plus most supermarkets; Tomislav is the name of the first Croatian king who ruled over 1,000 years ago and his name adorns many squares, roads and bars all through the country. This particular beer is roughly based on the "Baltic Porter" style and is dark, sweetish and caramelly with a bitter finish and a good alcoholic kick meaning it's probably the best beer InBev produce anywhere! The winter beer, Bozčino, is basically a 6% version of Ožujsko with less hops and a more caramelly aftertaste.
Another major brewery, Karlovačka, (owned by Heineken) makes a standard lager with almost no flavour and has now discontinued production of the slightly better Crno which was very caramelly and smooth, and the Zimsko (winter) beer, formerly a mid-brown and fairly rich brew. I've sampled both of the main beers from Panonska in Koprivnica (owned by Carlsberg and now called Carlsberg Croatia!) which are pretty common throughout the country and also very bland; their standard lager, Pan, should really be called Pants and their other major beer, Podravka, is way too toffee-ish and laden with diacetyl to be serious.
Smaller brewers.
Now to the more interesting brewers, the regionals and micros; we sampled beers from the Bohemia Pivovara which were distinctly average and not really worthy of the "Bohemian" connection. A new-ish micro (1997) called Ličanka from Donje Pazarište in the centre of Croatia produces tasty beers under the Velebitsko name which are becoming more common throughout the country maybe at the expense of some character. The beers from the large-ish Pivovara Osijek were generally thought to be the worst of the trip with a tasteless Svijetlo and a Crno which admitted to containing caramel on the can (we never saw it in bottles); I’d put money on it that it was just the Svijetlo with added caramel, which gave a tasteless dark beer (as opposed to a tasteless light one).
One decent beer was from Regent (now Tvornica) brewery; Svijetlo 5.2% was fairly bitter and tasty, with a generous dosing of hops - something quite rare in Croatian beers. Another small concern is Daruvarska in Daruvar whose Staročeško beers we felt to be fairly bland although we had a lot worse! We couldn't really understand the "Old Czech" connection with this brewery either; it seems like a few of them try and make connection with the quality beers from the Czech republic to try and create a market for their beers which the quality doesn't really deserve.
We tried some beers from
Jadranska in Split, a division of the
large Laško brewery from Slovenia, which were basically just versions of the
Laško beers; pretty boring really. Laško also allegedly have a plant in
Varaždin, but working out if this still
existed was almost impossible although there were a lot of Laško beers available
in town on our visit, so maybe it does brew? At least they have the
decency to put the source brewery on the cans and bottles so you can tell if
they are Slovenian or Croatian!
The only brewpub we found in Croatia was the
Medvedgrad (city
of bears) in Zagreb, which resembled a large German beerhalle.
All 4 standard beers were on during our visit (the wheat not initially, but the barman came to our table to tell us it had come on as he realised we were there for the ticks!) and were the best
we sampled in Croatia. Zlatni Medvjed (golden bear) was hoppy (Slovenian Goldings - very lemon jelly-ish)
and bitter and of full malty body; Crna Kraljica was rich and roasted: Mrki Medvjed was probably a mix of the other 2 (not done on the bar as far as we could tell) and was superb
whilst the wheat
(pšenično) was not to my taste but
the sip I had told me that it was very bubblegummy and wheaty.
Medvedgrad has now moved to Božidara Adžije 16 as of 2005 although a new
brewpub has opened on the old site, namely
Mini Pivovara i Pivnica
Zlatno Pivo at Savska Cesta 56; to reach it take
tram 4 from outside the main station (Glavni Kolodvor)
going to Savski Most to the Zagrepčanka stop and the brewpub is obvious on the right hand side of the
road, with large glass windows and brewing vessels visible, at the junction of
Savska and Vukovarska. I'm not convinced that Zlatno still brews it's own
and suspect the beer is simply rebadged Medvedgrad, but if anyone sees brewing
occurring then please let me know...!
To reach the new Medvedgrad pub take a No.2 tram from the
central station, direction Črnomerec, to the Adžijina stop and from there
go under the rail bridge, follow the road, and you'll see the large building on
your right down a track after a few hundred metres. Medvedgrad are opening more beer halls
throughout the city, all supplied from their brewery which is now out of town
near Zabok, the first to the
north of the city centre is at Tkalčićeva 36 on the main tourist drag
in Kaptol.
We also scored a beer from Serbia on a train from Ljubljana to Zagreb, en-route to Beograd, so I checked out the buffet car, as you do. The crew were Serbian and my request for “dva piva, molim”
(2 beers please) brought forth Beogradska Industrija Piva Premium Pils 5%, not too bad, it actually had a bit of hop taste and was reasonably balanced.
So, all in all, Croatia isn't a destination I’d recommend for the beer tourist but it is a fascinating place with some decent beer; if you’re there you won’t go thirsty, put it that way. Go for the scenery and to see at first hand a very disturbing snapshot of Europe’s very recent history but watch out for the dangers - there are still minefields and lots of bullet/shell holes in buildings as well as burnt out houses especially near Knin and Osijek, although these are now being repaired quickly as Croatia tries to join the European Union.
Gazza's 5 favourite beers in Croatia.
This is actually quite embarrassing as one of my best beers is from InBev, although in a country with few decent breweries it wasn't that difficult to pick some winners...
Medvedgrad Zlatni Medvjed ()
Medvedgrad Mrki Medvjed (
- in 2003)
Zagrebačka
(InBev) Tomislav Pivo ()
Ličanka
Velebitsko Svijetlo (
)
Ličanka
Velebitsko Tamno ()
- it scored 4 in 2003)
Breweries (Pivovara) in Croatia (Hrvatska)
Mini Pivovara i Pivnica
Zlatno Pivo, Savska Cesta 56. To
reach it take tram 4 from outside the main station (Glavni Kolodvor)
heading for Savski Most to the Zagrepčanka stop and the brewpub is obvious on the right hand side of the
road. They do pale, medium and dark beers although I
have suspicions that the beers are rebadged Medvedgrad and they no longer
brew...
Pivovara I Pivnica Medvedgrad
This list was compiled by "Little" Andy Buchan before we visited the Balkans and updated by Marko from Split.
The
best beer in Croatia?
Zagrebačka
brewery, Zagreb 22/02/03.
© Gazza 23/03/08 : v4.0
