“Please don’t sit down if you order beer.”
“Something wrong?”
“Your tasting glass is sticking out your ass pocket.”
“Oh, let’s fix that.”
Carefully, or so I thought, I removed the little tasting glass from my ‘ass pocket’ and crammed it into my jean’s front pocket. The one that didn’t have my mobile, keys and beer list. This is a craft beer festival in Europe, not the USA. You won’t be caught dead wearing cargo shorts.
The afterparty for the Balkan Beer Bash was at Vitamin B Bar. After 6 hours of heavy craft beer drinking, I had forgotten I was still carrying my tasting glass. The bartender made sure there wouldn’t be any injuries…this time.
I’m just happy I still have that glass.
Bulgaria’s Balkan Beer Bash
The Balkan Beer Bash is Sofia, Bulgaria’s, biggest craft beer event. Over 140 beers from 36 European breweries are there, with 72 different beers offered each on Friday and Saturday. I took an 8 hours overnight bus from Belgrade, Serbia to get to Sofia.
In Sofia, several buses, Metro M2, Tram 4 or the Sparks electric car share all go to Despred, a multiuse warehouse where the festival takes place. Yet, the place I stayed at, BlaBlah Hostel, was in the city center. I decided to walk the 15 minutes to Despred, despite threatening storm clouds. When I entered the gates of the industrial lot where the warehouses were, it began to rain. Oh shit.
Fortunately, the eves of the warehouses’ roofs extend far over the docks, so I was able to walk underneath them and remain dry while I searched the large lot for the festival. Somehow, I entered the wrong way. First, I saw a row of portable toilets, then heard the noise of the crowds. Boldly, I walked through a space in the row of toilets to the festival. But I heard shouting. On the dock, I saw two bald men pointing at me.
I didn’t understand what they were yelling, so I ignored them and walked past the toilets. On the other side, I saw several picnic tables with umbrellas and a few festival-goers who were braving the rain. When I looked across the row of picnic tables, I realized my mistake
At the other end was the official entrance. A long line stretched to another parking lot. Three people were checking guests’ tickets and giving them bracelets and tasting glasses. One of them was a bartender from 100 Beers, which I had visited yesterday. He recognized me. Oops. This is embarrassing.
“Sorry, think I came in through the back. Some guys – maybe security – yelled at me, but I didn’t understand.”
“Ok. You need a ticket to be here.”
“Yes, yes. Of course,” I sheepishly grinned as I showed him my ticket on my mobile phone.
He put a bracelet on my wrist and handed me a 0.3L tasting glass.
Ojo Con El Ajo
Outside, because of the rain, the Balkan Beer Bash didn’t look busy. But when I walked up some rickety wooden stairs, and stepped across the dock into the loading zone entrance, I met a crowd pushing to get through. Inside, there was a wide corridor and two large rooms. In the corridor were some food venders and merchandise for sale. The rooms had the breweries. Each brewery had their taps on blue metal barrels. Behind them, on the walls, were their names. Above, large skylights flooded the rooms with light.
At the last check I had on the Balkan Beer Bash page, it said they had sold out of all their tickets. Right now, at first look, there had to be at least 100 people here.
Where to start?
Ojo Con El Ajo. Thanks for the warning. I started with – of all things – a Garlic Gose from a Bulgarian brewery, Sudaka. Yes, the beer had garlic. And it was good. If you like garlic, I guess.
The ginger bartender who I met last night in Vitamin B Bar served it to me. “Wow, you made it. And after last night drinking.”
“Well, there will be a lot more drinking today.”
From the Balkan region there were breweries from Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary and Romania. The rest of Europe brought breweries from Czechia, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden and the UK.
Every brewery had two beers. Virtually all of them had one APA or IPA. Besides that, though, the breweries second offerings were wildly experimental. Throughout the 6 hours I was there, I had beer with: celery, pecan, bisongrass, peanut butter, apricot rakija and chokeberry (whatever that is.) The Romanian brewery, Hop Hooligans, made a special pastry stout, Salchichoco, for the festival with chocolate salami.
For the record, chocolate salami does not have meat…
Weird Beers For That App…
“Yeah, we make these beers for the Untappd app. People like checking in the new ‘weird beers.’ In the end, we’ll all be drinking pilsner.”
This was the general consensus of the brewers when I talked to them. “Weird beers” are good for marketing…and challenging for brewers. But after hours of sours, stouts and Hazy-As-Fuck NEIPAs, you need a pilsner or a lager. Yet, even those pilsners can be different. Sofia Electric Brewing, where I’d taken a tour, took their pilsner and fermented it in national Bulgarian oak, the kind of barrels used for their national spirit, rakija.
Even in a small tasting glass, little sips of beers over 10% ABV add up quickly. Within two hours, I was already raging like an idiot, comparing that Romanian Salchichoco Chocolate Salami Stout (15.5% ABV,) to my Spanish salchicon. I needed to eat.
Although there were many food trucks outside, I rushed to the vendors at the entrance. I wolfed down some pulled pork creation that, oddly, was on a purple, almost-black, bun. While eating, I ran into a beer geek I’d met when accidently crashing a beer tasting in Bucharest, Romania. He had made friends with some of the Israelis I’d met previously at Pivoteka Shop. We got to try some Israeli craft beer they had brought to the event.
Making Balkan Craft Moves
Such is the fun of the small, burgeoning Balkan craft beer moment. You keep running into, and drinking with, the same people again and again. As well as the Romanians, many of Serbia’s beer guys were there. We go back for quite a few years since I’ve lived in Serbia.
Around 9pm, the Balkan Beer Bash was over. As predicted, the festival-goers were flocking around Poland’s Pinta Brewery, which cracked open a surprise tap – a light, refreshing German Pilsner. But that wasn’t the end of the celebration. The afterparty continued at Vitamin B Craft Beer Bar. As usual, I was ready to walk. But we had enough people to call a few rideshares to the bar.
The previous night, I was in Vitamin B alone. But tonight, for the afterparty, it was packed. We shared more big bottles and tapped the kegs. The bash went on until early. I met many people who I hope to see again (those I remember.) On the bartender’s advice, I put my tasting glass in my front pocket so I wouldn’t sit down and break it.
When you come to the Balkan Beer Bash next year, don’t forget to do the same.
For a guide of the best craft beer bars in Sofia click: here
