Brew-pubs in Slovenia
At first glance, Slovenia might not appear the most exciting place for an adventurous beer drinker. Although there is a strong beer-drinking culture and there are lots of places to drink, every last bar seems to advertise Laško or Union, the two national breweries which dominate the country with their uninspiring continental Pilsner-style beers.
However, first appearances can be deceptive. The single brew-pub, in the village of Naklo, north-west of Ljubljana mentioned in the latest edition of the Lonely Planet guide to the country is just one example of the quiet revolution that has been taking place since the country gained independence from Yugoslavia in 1991. A search on the web in 2004 produces a couple of beer-enthusiasts’ sites which between them list around 40 brew-pubs/breweries and more are appearing each year.
In May/June 2004 we were fortunate enough to spend just under 3 weeks cycling around the South and West of this beautiful country and along our way managed to visit 10 of the pubs listed on the above web-sites.
Every one brewed a light Pilsner-style beer (Svetlo) and many also brewed a dark (Temno). Several also advertised ‘mixed’, which we never tried but assume is exactly what it means. The beer was normally unfiltered and unpasteurised and was often served hazy or even cloudy. In all but one of the brewpubs we visited, the beers were served at a reasonable temperature (i.e. not too cold) and were not particularly gassy. We gave up asking how strong the beer was, because with one exception, the waiter/waitress serving us could not give us an answer! The beers were of a high standard, the light beers being a refreshing blend of malt and citrus hops (Styrian Goldings, of course, originate in the east of the country) whilst the dark beers are slightly heavier, usually with plenty of evidence of roast malt. A half-litre of svetlo cost between 280 and 450 Slovene Tolars (SIT) which at the time translated as between 80p and £1.25. The dark usually but not always cost slightly more.
What follows is a list of the bars we visited along with directions and our tasting notes. All are worth-seeking out and all were open daily all day from about 11 or 12 through until about 10.30, although some closed one day during the week. (The list is in the order we visited and is not a reflection of our opinion of the beers.) Addresses for these pubs (and other brew-pubs and breweries in Slovenia) can be found on http://www.newbreweries.fsnet.co.uk/slovenia.html.
Hotel
Pigal, Ajdovšcina.
Ajdovšcina is a small town in the Vipava valley in Western
Slovenia with an infrequent train service from Nova Gorica. If
travelling by road it is just off the main Ljubljana to
Nova Gorica
motorway. The Hotel Pigal is
a smart, 4-storey, 2-star hotel on a small square to the South of the
main road through the town. Look out for ‘Planika
Hotel’ which is written across the roof. The Kavarna Pigal,
to the right of the entrance, is the bar, although there is also a
pleasant seating area in front of the hotel. Both a svetlo and a temno
are brewed and both were 300 SIT for 0,5 litres. We visited
mid-afternoon and the beer may have been sat in the line a bit too
long. The first svetlo tasted slightly of cooking apples, almost like
cider and was a bit warm and flat, but the second was better: cooler
with better carbonation and a pleasant juicy malty taste. The temno was
lacking in body but had plenty of flavour, tasting of cherries and dark
chocolate.
Pivovarna Gold, Sezana. Sezana is the main crossing point for both road and rail between Trieste in Italy and Western Slovenia. The Pivovarna Gold is a plush bar-pizzeria underneath an unattractive Kompas-Motel just inside Slovenia about 2 km from the centre of the town. It took a lot of finding but it was worth persevering. The svetlo had a flowery and malty aroma, with mandarin orange and malt in the taste and a bitter finish and reminded me slightly of Harviestoun Bitter and Twisted. It was dangerously drinkable and probably the best svetlo we tried. The dark had a chocolaty aroma, roast coffee in the taste and liquorice throughout. The pizzas were also excellent. (The beer was so good, I forgot to write down what it cost.) To find the Gold, from Sezana centre head along the main road towards the Italian border. Immediately before the road and motorway merge look to your left and you should see a sign advertising the motel on the top of a building on the other side of another major road (which seems to take trucks from the freight customs area to the border proper). There is a road off left, which goes through an underpass to the motel and bar with a sign for the bar at the turning.
Pivovarna
Emonec Kafe, Koper. Koper
is an historic town on Slovenia’s short coast-line and is at
the end of a rail link from Sezana and Ljublana. The Pivovarna Emonec
Kafe is a smart, purpose-built brew-pub and restaurant on an industrial
estate on the very SE edge of town. Their temno, which the
waiter told us is 4.8%
ABV,
is a rich dark brown lager, bursting with flavour – dark
chocolate, sour cherries and coffee. This was the best dark of the
trip. The svetlo, “slightly weaker than the dark”,
was gold-coloured with a pleasant balance of malt, lemony hops and
bitterness. Both beers were slightly hazy and with good carbonation.
The brewery seems to be a sideline of Emonec Kafe who distribute coffee
and catering equipment to bars and restaurants. To get to the pub,
which is closed on Mondays, you need to get onto the main road to the
village of Vanganel. If on foot, from the railway station go through
the subway under the motorway and turn right up to the traffic lights
where the main road out of town crosses a bridge over the motorway.
Turn left and then fork almost immediately left on a side road. This is
Vanganelska Cesta. (This route is also suitable for cycles.) If in a
car, you need to go further out of town on the Dragonja road and then
take a left turn at a second set of lights. From what I remember, the
Pivovarna is the last building before leaving Koper.
Pivovarna
Kapitol, Seca. Seca is a ribbon development along the
main road south of Portoroz on the
Adriatic coast. Coming from Portoroz, the Pivovarna Kapitol is a large
restaurant and bar (it actually calls itself a ‘beer hall’) on
the left on the brow
of the hill before you descend towards the Secovlje saltpans. Only a
svetlo was available and it was served both too cold and too fizzy for
our liking. Straw-coloured, it was malty in flavour and a touch
metallic and the only hint of hops was in the aroma. At 450 SIT for 0,5
l, this was by far the most expensive beer we found and the least
interesting. (One of our web sources suggested that there was a second
brew-pub in Seca, the Pivovarna Gustincic. By sheer incompetence we
failed to check this out.) There are no trains to Seca and the line
from Koper to Portoroz closed long ago. (Fortunately for us as
cyclists, large sections of the old track-bed have been converted to a
long-distance cycle-track.) However, there are plenty of buses to
Portoroz from the rail terminus at Koper and Seca is not that far to
walk if no local buses are available. Portoroz can also be reached by
passenger ferry from Venice during the summer.
Pivovarna
& Gostilna Mahnic, Kozina.
Kozina is little more than a service station on the main holiday route
to the Adriatic, where the motorway South crosses the main road from
Trieste to Rijeka. The Mahnic
reflects this, being a very popular road-house reliant mainly on
passing trade. We visited twice during the same weekend and on both
occasions the two dining rooms (one no-smoking), the main bar area and
the large outdoor seating area were crammed with diners en route to or
from the coast whilst the smaller drinking-only area next to the bar
was full of locals. Beer was flowing fast, an incredible amount of food
was being served and everything was running like clockwork. It was
quite fascinating to watch! Both a dark and a light are brewed and,
both were enjoyable and refreshing and (like the food) ridiculous value
at SIT 280 for 0,5 litres. The light was quite cloudy, golden-yellow in
colour, predominantly malty with perhaps a hint of peaches. The dark
was brown and tasted of burnt coffee and dark chocolate with hints of
caramel and liquorice. Mahnic is hard to find: find the railway
station, then head south on the minor road that runs parallel to the
railway for about 300 metres, then follow the signpost left to the pub.
(Unfortunately, the Taverna MM at the traffic-lights in the village,
which is also supposed to brew, looked permanently closed.).
Pizzerija-Pivnica
Orient Express, Divaca. Divaca
is a major junction on the railway system, where the line from
Ljubljana splits, with one branch running to Sežana and into Italy,
while the other goes on
to Kozina and Koper. It is also near a major motorway intersection and
more interestingly is very handy for the world heritage site of
Škocjan caves. Again both cvetlo and temno were available,
at 300 SIT and 310 SIT per half-litre respectively. The temno was a
deep red colour and had a complex flavour of prunes, burnt toast,
chocolate, coffee but with a slight meatiness. The svetlo was
gold-coloured with plenty of hoppy citrus notes – orange in
the aroma and orange and lemon in the taste with hints of white wine.
It had quite a bitter finish compared to the other Slovene beers we had
tried so far. As you come into Divaca from the south, cross over the
railway bridge (the station is to the left) then follow the road round
a right-hand bend past the post office. Look for signs pointing down a
side road on the right to the pub, which is tucked in behind some other
buildings on the left. The food here looked good and the bar advertised
late opening at weekends with live entertainment.
Motel
and Pivovarna Finida, Obrov.
Obrov is a small village on the Trieste to Rijeka road, about 10 km
from the Croat border and perhaps 20km from Kozina. The Finida
brewery is
attached to a very smart, newly built motel on the main road about 2km
SE of the village. Only a svetlo was available at 300 SIT for 0,5l, but
it was an enjoyable lunch-time drink: yellow in colour, and with a
malty, lemony flavour and a citric finish, quite bitter compared to
other Slovene beers. I have no idea whether Finida can be reached by
public transport, but the nearest railway station is at Kozina.
Pivovarna
Pek, Dolenje pri Jelšenah.
Dolenje pri Jelšenah is a small village 2 km short of the
Croat border on the main road from Postojna via Illirska Bistrica to
Rijeka. Pivovarna Pek is a pleasant
roadside pub, offering good value and good quality food along with its
house-brewed beers. Here the temno was reddish-brown, with chocolate
and cherries in the taste and a chocolate finish. The slightly hazy
svetlo was malty with a bitter orange fruitiness in the taste and a
grapefruit citric finish and was amber in colour. Again this is quite a
remote pub which may be difficult to reach by public transport. The
nearest railway station is in Illirska Bistrica, about 10 km to the
north.
Pivovarna
Anton, Grosuplje. Grosuplje
is a medium sized town, 20 km SE of Ljubljana which is part industrial
and part commuter town. The Pivovarna Anton is a large, brand new
bar/restaurant on
an industrial estate SE of the town. We approached it from the SE and
stumbled across it by accident. From Grosuplje take a right turn off
the main road east, possibly signed to Veliko Mlacevo, Videm, Luce, or
the Krka valley. Look out for a big hypermarket on the left-hand side
(sorry forgotten its name) and Anton is down a left turn behind it. The
bar is large, airy and comfortable, with half of it designated
no-smoking. There is a small outdoor drinking area to the rear. The
svetlo was mustard coloured, cloudy and tasted quite apple-like, with a
noticeable bitter astringency, but it was nevertheless quite
refreshing. The dark was quite fruity, raisins came to mind, and had a
dry finish. The prices were 330 SIT and 350 SIT per half-litre
respectively.
Pivovarno
in Pivnica Zlaté, Medvode.
Medvode is another small town, part industrial, part commuter belt, in
the opposite direction, 20 km NW of Ljubljana. Another pub-pizzeria,
this one with the pizzas baked in a
wood-burning stove,
the interior was small and quite cosy. We sat outside in a small
drinking area overlooking the courtyard. Both a svetlo and a temno are
brewed and the svetlo was pretty good: straw-coloured with only a very
slight haze, it had a nice fruity nose followed by a soft hoppy, malty
taste with hints of fresh pears and a gentle hoppy finish. The dark was
lacking in aroma but had a pleasant mixture of chocolate and raisins in
the taste. Zlaté is quite tricky to find. It is in fact not
in Medvode, but in Svetja on the north side of the river Sora. The
shortest way by foot from Medvode station is to cross the river on the
main road and then take the slip road off to the left. At the bottom of
the slip road, go straight across, up the old road which runs parallel
to the bypass. Take the second left as you go up the hill, above some
flats. There is a street-name sign on this road ‘Cesta na
Svetja’ as well as a standard Slovene yellow village sign for
‘Svetja’ at the turning. This takes you on a narrow
tiled street past some up-market houses into Svetja. Where this street
reverts to tarmac, turn rightish uphill. You should see a banner for
the brewery across the road. (Obviously if you follow this route in a
car, you need the right-hand slip road, turn left under the bypass and
then right onto the old road.) The best way by car is to stay on the
main road up the bypass and turn left at the roundabout at the top. If
you follow this road, after a substantial loop back round into Svetja,
you come to the brewery from the opposite direction. (If travelling by
bicycle from the south, follow the first route described above, as
cycles are prohibited on the bypass.)
On an earlier visit in 2002, we visited the pub mentioned in the Lonely Planet. This is the Pivovarna Marinšek Marjan in the village of Naklo, north of Kranj on the NW bank of the river Sava. This is a comfortable road-side hotel (not the pub in the village with the remarkably similar name) which at the time was brewing just a light beer. My notes from that visit describe the beer as fairly pleasant with hints of strawberry jam! The bar is on the main road on the edge of the village.
In 2002 we also discovered the Pivovarna Šlakar in the town of Kamnik, 30 km N of Ljubljana. We did not make it to this pub in 2004 but patronised it both nights we stayed in the town in May 2002 and found the beer excellent. Sadly, news has reached us that the pub has changed hands and names and that the brewery has closed. However, in its new guise as the Bar Tina, it apparently sells beer from another Slovene micro, the Pivovarna Lipnik, so it may still be worth a visit if in that area.
No doubt other new breweries will be set up in the future – it is worth checking out any pubs you see advertising ‘kvasno pivo’, which seems to mean ‘natural beer’, ‘domace pivo’ which means ‘house-beer’ or ‘pivovarna’, the Slovene for ‘brewery’.
For a full list of breweries and brew-pubs in Slovenia, visit Paul Harrop’s useful site http://www.newbreweries.fsnet.co.uk/slovenia.html or try http://beerme.com/breweries/si/index.shtml.
