Slovenia in July

Hey there!
Planing a trip around Slovenia for the end of July. We haven’t looked for a route or anything, but I’m already looking for breweries to visit. We’ll most likely start with lunch at Pivohram Golar and make our way to Piran, maybe go to Triest for a day.

Looking at the Top 50, I’ve singled out the following must-drinks:
- Pivovarna Hopsbrew
- Reservoir Dogs Brewery
- Pivovarna Pelicon
- Human Fish Brewery
- Pivovarna Mali Grad

Most likely we’ll just go, have a flight, pick up some bottles for later. So I’m mostly looking for places with brewpubs and options to pick up beer directly from the source. Brewery tours are optional but not necessary.

The five breweries above are all around or west of Ljubljana. Any tips for the east are welcome. Also, any other must sees, ranging from best beer pubs to hop farms are much appreciated.

Thanks guys, cheers!

Hi there.
Nice to hear you’re coming to our part of the land.
Anyways, the 5 mentioned breweries are definitely the top choices. HumanFish and Mali Grad have their own tap room next to the brewery where you can get most of the stuff. Pelicon has a bottle shop next to it (maybe you’re lucky and score something on tap as well). Reservoir Dogs have moved and increased their place just recently so I can’t say what’s the deal with tasting and visits.
Places in the east. In Maribor there’s Lobik Brewery that also just recently moved to larger spaces. They make some interesting beers, as well as some soury and barrell aged stuff. If you contact them I’m sure they’ll be more than glad to show you around. On the way to Ljubljana you can stop in Žalec. There’s the "famous" beer fountain which has nothing spectacular on the taps, quite a touristy stuff.
But there’s also Green Gold Brewery which is owned by Rojnik Hops farm, so maybe that would be worth looking at.
As for best pubs - Sir William’s in Ljubljana is definitely a place to look for - most of the Slovenian brews can be found there. Closeby is Že v Redu Primož bottle shop, where you can find also some nice taps. In Koper there’s also Bar Cameral, a small place but occasionally some good stuff there as well.
Another brewery that might interest you is Tektonik in Ljubljana. And if you’re visiting Reservoir Dogs, not far away is Kaki Kraft - a smaller and younger brewery, also open to visits i believe.
Enjoy the trip and if you have any other questions just fire away

Hey Marko, thanks!
Your suggestions are much appreciated, and the only reinforce the impression I also had when we went to Zagreb - the Balkan Beer Scene is booming. We’ll see how many brewery stops we’ll be able to fit into our schedule, so Sir Williams will definitely be a good place to catch up with the ones we’ll miss.

If the weather’s good, we’ll probably go straight for Piran and catch up on the rest of the country on our way back. From what I saw, we’ll probably have to stop for a few bottles on the way - or go to Koper (another great suggestion, thanks!).

Great thanks for the useful info! I’m also going to visit Slovenia this summer, I’ve already booked cheap tickets at https://uk.lowcost.club/ to Ljubljana. Want to spend there two weeks and visit all biggest breweries west of Ljubljana.

Hope Hopsbrew Juicy IPA will still be around, man that rocked. Would suggest a day trip to Zagreb if possible, but there’s enough to see in Slovenia. :)

Originally posted by Marko
Hope Hopsbrew Juicy IPA will still be around, man that rocked.

Would suggest a day trip to Zagreb if possible, but there’s enough to see in Slovenia. :)

This might be a long shot, but it’s a small world after all: do you guys know anyone who does the Craft Beer Walk of Ljubljana? Or has anyone here ever done it?

Do you mean this one - http://www.ljubljananjam.si/food-walks
I haven’t taken it, but I heard it’s supposed to be pretty fine. Although, there aren’t any stops that you couldn’t make on your own, especially following RB places guide

Originally posted by MarkoNm
Do you mean this one - http://www.ljubljananjam.si/food-walks
I haven’t taken it, but I heard it’s supposed to be pretty fine. Although, there aren’t any stops that you couldn’t make on your own, especially following RB places guide

You could also visit Bevog when you’re around Maribor. They’re just across the border in Austria.

True, but I live close anyway. So...been there, done that. But thanks!

I’m looking forward to their Who Cares Festival in September.