April 15, 2018
You might think the best thing about researching a series of articles on the Slovenian craft beer scene is drinking a new beer every day and filing it in the mental accounting under work, and you’d be right. But a close second is the people I meet, and the new side to business they show me: not of competition as a zero-sum game, but one in which everyone can win as the market grows.
In a country where entrepreneurship is still viewed with suspicion among many, this is a refreshing and promising sign, one that bodes well for the future if it spreads and enables more folk to follow their passions and pursue their dreams while growing the economy, providing a life-enhancing product or service and stepping on no toes in the process.
Andrej Krštinc
It’s this thought that spreads a warmth over me as I sit down with Andrej Krštinc of Maribor’s Pivarna beer store and the Makro Beer Fest held at various locations, but coming soon (April 20 and 21, 2018) to Ljubljana’s exhibition centre, an event that promises to kick the whole scene up a level. It will bring together over 30 brewers from the region and more than 100 different beers, as well as the all-important end users – enthusiastic drinkers on the look-out for something with character and producers with soul in the game, something that remains possible when so much of the craft beer scene is based on personal relationships.
“There’s about 20 people,” Andrej says at one point in our conversation, “and we all know each other.”
How did you start the beer store?
When I was already organising beer festivals I realised that I’m still ordering my personal beer from a shop in Ljubljana, which was strange, right? Plus the brewers were encouraging me to open a store. So again, some thinking, some plans, some balance sheets, and that’s how Pivarna began.
The industry, if we can call it that, was very supportive, and perhaps it’s because we have different idea of capitalism less dog-eat-dog. So places like Human Fish, Mali Grad, and Pelicon, of course, all helped, and I also started to cooperate with Zmajska, from Zagreb, Croatia, and I became an importer and eventually a distributor for them. At the time they were chosen as the ninth best new brewer in the world, but the people in all those breweries are extraordinary.
It seems like the people in the scene help each other a lot.
Yes. One thing is that the breweries here are all quite small, and the other is that we have maybe a different idea about the way business should be. It’s more socially responsible, so we try to cooperate.
A key point here is that it’s almost impossible to copy a beer. I can give you a recipe of, say, Pelicon’s Third Pull – one of the most popular beers in Slovenia – but you, on your equipment, it would be hard to reproduce. But also, why copy, you know? People like to try new, different beers.
People enjoying an earlier Makro Beer Fest
What about the Pivarana store and the scene in Maribor?
Well, one thing I can tell you is that I’m really happy I have more and more Slovenian beers, so now I’d say about half the beers in the store are from Slovenia. I also have a lot of beers from the Balkan region, especially Croatia and Serbia. In Croatia the scene is pretty big, especially in Zagreb, but the rest is like Slovenia outside Ljubljana, there’s no scene. still a lot to work on.
I mean, in Maribor there’s nothing like Sir William’s or Lajbah, like you have in the capital, but there are two things to remember about Maribor. One is that it’s much smaller, and the other is its much poorer. The government, administration, companies, and so on, they’re all in the Ljubljana, and so are a lot of the beer companies. The people there have more time and money to spend on beer.
Don’t get me wrong. In the centre of Maribor there are a lot of bars that have bottles of craft beers, and some even have them on tap, but…well, let’s just say there’s a gap in the market and I’m thinking about that. Although, to be honest, maybe there’s not enough interest in craft beer there now. That said, it’s growing every year, and that’s what the beer festival is for, to introduce people to pale ale, IPA, sour beers, and so on.
How many festivals do you organise?
Last year we had the fourth festival in Maribor, and we also had one in Krško. My idea for these smaller towns is to organise a festival in cooperation with the municipalities, because it’s good for tourism but also good for entrepreneurship. So in these satellite festivals we invite some of the biggest and best Slovenian breweries, but also whatever local breweries there are, to encourage them and to build a community.
People enjoying an earlier Makro Beer Fest
The next big festival is next weekend in Ljubljana, Friday and Saturday, April 20 and 21. What do people get for their ticket?
The first I should say is that it’s not unlimited beer, but they get a tasting glass with a stem and four tokens for tasting. People can buy more beer, on tap or in bottles, if they want, but the important thing is that they get to meet the producers, and the producers get to meet the consumers, and both sides can learn more have debates. People can find out who is standing behind the brand. We’ll have more than 30 brewers there, and not just from Slovenia.
And is there food?
Of course. There will be some food trailers, and not just burgers, barbecue and pulled pork, but also vegan and falafel. There’s also non-alcoholic drinks, so you can bring the whole family, although since it’s open from 14:00-02:00, maybe bring your kids before midnight.
What I want people to know, whether or not they come to the festival, is that there are a lot of good brewers in the region, and there will be a lot of beers that it’s usually impossible to try in Slovenia. Like the Mad Scientist brewery, from Hungary. They released an average of 3.4 new beers a month last year. Extraordinary beers, and insane creativity. Also Antica de Contea and Borderline from Italy, people from Oedipus (NL) and Wild Beer Co. (UK) will also be present at the festival, and you’ll have a rare opportunity to try some rare beers from de Molen (NL) and Amager brewery (DK). Of course, there will be a lot of Slovenian breweries too, so really something for everyone.
You can find the Makro Beer Fest at Ljubljana’s Exhibition and Convention Centre (Gospodarsko razstavišče), at 18 Dunajska cesta. It’s open from 14:00 to 02:00, Friday and Saturday April 20 and 21, and presale tickets are 8 and 14 EUR for one and two days (buy here), or 10 EUR on the day. A ticket gets you one tasting glass and four tokens, each for about 2dcl of beer. And you can see other articles on TSN tagged with 'craft beer' here.
