The beer scene in Serbia has changed a lot in 10 years. Serbia’s largest beer festival, the Belgrade Beer Festival 2019, looks nothing like it did on my first visit in 2010.

Then, at Belgrade Beer Festival 2010, there were just a dozen breweries at the festival, and only one of them could count as craft (it no longer exists.) In 2019 however, besides the industrial beer producers, there were 17 different craft breweries, and each brewery offered at least three different styles. An entire section of the festival, Craft Land, was dedicated to only Serbian craft beer.

Although the beer scene has changed a lot in 10 years, the music scene has not. Several of the bands I had seen in 2010 were playing again this year. Some had been playing at every Belgrade Beer Festival since the first one almost 20 years ago. Old habits die hard.

Rainy Start To Belgrade Beer Festival 2019

The festival, spanning over 5 days, literally started out a wash. Wednesday, the first night, was rained out. Consequently, the headliner, Johnny Marr of The Smiths, never performed.  Considering how light the rain was, it’s a surprise it was cancelled. Many people were more than ready to stand in a light drizzle for a chance to see the former member of The Smiths.

It can only get better after that.

I managed to visit on three of the following four nights. Let’s try to piece it together from the final Sunday night.

The industrial beer stands are huge and easy to see at the festival. Craft Land requires a little searching, and it forms a line that divides the festival area. Along the row were the different brewery stands representing the city of Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro. The length of the lines in front of each stand made it obvious which beers people preferred.

There was more variety in the beers compared from last year, but there was one significant difference everywhere. You could pay with a credit card.

Serbia is still very much a cash-based economy. Yet this is rapidly changing. All of the stands offered a 15% discount on purchases in exchange for paying with a Visa credit card instead of cash. Finally, my card will be put to good use.

New Beer Is Not Always Better Beer

With a larger budget for the night, I faced a more important challenge. Find a beer that I had not tried yet. Other than the festival’s own new beer, Trio Fantasticus, an ale collaboration from Dogma, Crow and Tron Breweries, everything else looked familiar from many nights in Belgrade craft bars.

As a result, my first choice of beer at the festival was the questionably “craft” brewery Kruger & Brent and a relatively unknown Montenegrin brewery, Akademija. Well, these are not beers I normally drink in Serbia.

Kruger & Brent’s red lager has a reputation in Serbia for being cheap, strong… and horrible for hangovers. Regardless, people will brave the instant hangover to pay less than 200 Serbian Dinar for an 8% ABV beer.

But they had a new beer for the festival, simply named Chocolate Beer. I drank it. It tasted something like chocolate. Next one, please.

There are two craft breweries from Montenegro which are available in Serbia: Mamut and Akademija. Akademija had a stand at the festival, and they had a good selection of styles. I opted for a malty Oktoberfest lager. Umm. Let’s just say Germany won’t have it at any of their festivals soon.

I started out drinking these beers with my usual partner in crime, Srki. But, as is often the case at these festivals, he disappeared somewhere. Fortunately, I was later joined by a Canadian friend who makes Serbia his home for the summer.

Literally Going Behind The Beer Scene

While walking along the rows of tables in front of the beer stands, we ran into the owner of Crow Brewery. He invited us to sit at a table with his crew. Already knowing my penchant for singing old national Serbian songs, he cajoled me into singing a few tunes in exchange for (his) beers. I gladly obliged.

I started with one of my Serbian go to brews, Crow’s spicy Caiman IPA. We went through three rounds like that. Singing. Drinking. Singing. Drinking.Singing…Drinking and then…

Magically, I was behind the craft beer stands.

Each breweries’ stand had a rear entrance which entered into the bar area. No one stopped me while I wandered around amongst the full kegs and stacks of beer. On the contrary, when I stuck my head into Dogma Brewery’s entrance, they recognized me and invited me inside.

From behind the taps, I ordered some beer.  At one point, some familiar faces came to the stand.  So I became their bartender for a round of beers. What  a surprise. They were not expecting to order in English.

It can only get worse after this.

Good Morning, Beli Grad

And it did.

Somewhere at the farthest end of New Belgrade, a bus driver yelled at an American to wake up and either get off the bus or pay for a night ticket. I had passed out in a bus going the wrong way. But I paid for my ticket back to the city center.

Belgrade Beer Festival 2019 was a more chaotic bender than even I am used to. But it’s over.  On a rough Monday morning, I finally reached Belgrade’s main square, stepped off the bus and stumbled home.