Bošnjak was never a gypsy/contract brewer, he has his own equipment and has just contracted out a single beer for wider distribution, as he doesn’t pasteurize. Same as Vukovarsko.
Hold’em (All In is just a beer of theirs) is apparently actively looking for a brewery to rent fully, Nova Runda-style. Other options are available too, but not sure if I should talk about them publicly.
Air Craft (Red Baron is just a beer of theirs) was apparently just acquired by Daruvarska and will be their product.
We’ll see about Varionica (and Pulfer now) - what they had agreed with the owners. :)
But yeah, the new law did finally help smaller breweries, as the old one actively crippled them in favor of the macros, but at the same time screwed gypsy brewers over - both the "brew themselves" and "have someone else brew" kinds. As this is Croatia and it’s apparently required by law that one step forward is followed by one step backwards. |
Varionica Neon Stout is back. Didn’t had the chance to try it yet. Is it good? |
Me neither, it’s a lot better now allegedly. :)
Anyway, the Croatian homebrew competition, always superb quality-wise reached its goal of 350 beers to judge... 15 hours after the registration started, featuring homebrews from all over Europe (Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia, Serbia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Hungary, UK...). Can’t wait for the judging to start. :D |
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It’s going to be a hell’s luck to get the tickets for the party :) |
Tickets went out in 12 minutes on the forum... |
Yup. Luckily, being a judge, I don’t need to bother with that. :D
Went to the special presentation of the Medvedgrad Baltazar Hoppy Lager yesterday - the first locally brewed hoppy lager / IPL. Good stuff indeed, likely took over the "best pale lager of any kind in Croatia" title from the unfiltered Križevacko Svijetlo. 5.6% alcohol, 45 IBU, Simcoe, Citra and Mandarina Bavaria (as the key hop), double decoction (because that’s the brewer’s thing). Full, with herbal and citric hoppy overtones, but more fruit hiding somewhat underneath, drinkable, and, for me, easily their best hop-driven beer, ahead of the Fakin IPA and the Crni Jack Black IPA. Really glad that things like that are going on.
And now that they’ve upped the ante, others who do mainly lagers might have a go at the style (would be awesome to see an attempt from the Križevacko guys). :D
Oh, and the new ribs they are putting on the menu are excellent.
In other news, Bura’s beers seem to be slowly getting on the market. Can’t wait to try the "final" versions of their beers! |
Yes, I heard only good words about Baltazar . I’m waiting from the time I have tried Brooklyn Lager for someone to kick the Croatian lager scene :) |
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We, Croatian hopheads decided to launch new beer website called PIVARIUM.com
Croatian and worldwide beer scene, travel reports, reviews and much more.
For now just few posts on English, but we are in translate phase so English page will be really active very soon.
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