Ratebeer’s Best Beers of The Balkans 2018
Making a list of Ratebeer’s Best Beers of The Balkans 2017 is, like The Balkans, complicated, but never boring. You can find craft beer hidden everywhere, from Romania’s high Carpathian mountains down to Croatia’s rocky island beaches.
First, no one quite agrees where The Balkans is. Just looking at awards for Seven Island Brewery, you would think that Greece is the top country from the region. However, despite being half of the Balkan peninsula, Greece often is not called “Balkan.” Just ask Lonely Planet. And is Hungary too far north? If so, why do they often appear on the Balkan tour circuit?
Second, these countries are new to craft beer (many are only gypsy brewers), so information is scattered, incomplete and when found, often not in English language. Unlike the West, big promotional campaigns and social media presence are not typical, and breweries open with little fanfare. For example, Serbia has about 40 craft breweries, but the only ones that get significant press are Kabinet, Dogma, and now – thanks to the award – Crow Brewery.
Finally, this list only includes Ratebeer’s official awards. Some countries, like Montenegro and Albania, do not even appear. The new brewer contest only includes brewers who gained their first review after June 1, 2016. Many winners have only a handful of reviews, and the award is more by default, since there’s no competitors.
Links are provided to breweries. Hospitality is big in The Balkans, and arranging a visit to the breweries and a chat with the brewers is quite easy. There is great craft beer in The Balkans: finding that beer is half the fun. The other half is drinking it.
Best New Brewers
Impressively, two brewers took first and second in the overall category.
Greece – 7 Seven Island Brewery #1
Romania – Wicked Barrel #2
Best Places For Beer
This category includes bars, bottle shops and brewpubs.
Greece – The Hoppy Pub, The Local Pub, The Lazy Bulldog Pub, Biebere House of Beer
Hungary – Csak A Jo Sor, Hopaholic
Slovenia – Hoppiness Bottle Shop
Best Beers in The World
Seven Island Brewery from Corfu, Greece took gold in three styles.
India Pale Ale – Citra Blast IPA
Stout – Seven Deadly Drops Oatmeal Stout
Imperial Stout – Sknipa Bare Handed Whiskey Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout
Best Beers by Country
First is each country’s best beer. Second is each country’s best brewery for overall beer.
Bulgaria – White Stork Tropicalia IPA, Rhombus Craft Brewery
Croatia – Zmajska Pivovara RIS Barrel Aged, Prvo Visko Pivo
Hungary – Armando Otchoa’s Granbac Imperial Fantom, Hoptop Brewery
Kosovo – Sabaja Craft Brewery
Macedonia – Temov Craft Brewery
Moldova – Litra/Armando Otchoa’s Beetroot Borsch IPA, Lumencraft/Sunstone Alehouse
Romania – Wicked Barrel/Bereta Brewing The Black Pot Imperial Stout, Hop Hooligans/Wicked Barrel
Serbia – Kabinet Olga Baltic Porter, Crow Brewery
Slovenia – Reservoir Dog Batch #50 Imperial Stout, Lobik Craft Brewery
For a tour of the best craft beer bars in Serbia click: here
