It is quite difficult to settle on just one definition of craft beer. To fully understand the meaning of the phrase craft beer we have to understand what makes a craft brewery or sometimes called a microbrewery. According to the American Brewers Association, a craft brewery is a brewery that is:
- independent (up to 24% of that brewery can be owned by another company that is not in the craft brewing industry)
- uses traditional ingredients in the process of making beer
- does not produce more than 6 million barrels
This definition is also a legal framework in the USA, unfortunately, this is not the case in Croatia as reported by Nova Runda. Nevertheless, while exploring the craft beer scene in Croatia, this article will follow the mentioned guidelines, given that they are informally accepted around the world.
Craft beer and craft breweries can be viewed as a sort of a beer revolution that influenced the whole industry. The main characteristics of the movement include emphasizing beer quality, innovation, creativity, and genuine love and passion for making high-quality beer. Craft breweries use natural and traditional ingredients, different brewing techniques, and often experiment with different flavours.
In Croatia, craft breweries started to appear in the last decade or so. The following list of breweries is going to be ordered by their total income. My goal here is not here to judge their quality or to favourise any of the mentioned firms, but merely to present this niche industry to a wider audience.
1. Garden Brewery
Garden Brewery was established in 2016 and has since grown to become one of the leading craft breweries in Croatia. The Garden Brewery d.d. is a holding company that made its Initial public offering (IPO) in 2020. The Garden Brewery is comprised of three firms: The Bird d.o.o. – craft brewery division, Lula d.o.o. –musical festivals management and Yellow Submarine d.o.o. – craft burgers chain. Garden Brewery was voted EU Championship Brewery in both 2019 and 2020. They developed numerous different beers throughout the years and it is really difficult to single out any of them. I would recommend that you visit their webshop to learn more.
In 2019 their craft beer division (The Bird d.o.o.) total income amounted to 22.3 mil HRK, which makes them the 6th biggest brewery in Croatia by total income. It should be emphasized that 21.9% of their craft beer sales come from exports.
2. Pivovara Medvedgrad
Pivnica Medvedgrad is the oldest brewery on this list. It was founded in 1994 by the firm IPIM which then designed and produced microbreweries. They are considered the oldest independent microbrewery in Croatia. Today they have 121 employees, 4 different pubs, and a new brewery that was opened for the 25th anniversary of its founding. They produced 44 different beers, designed and manufactured 21 microbreweries/craft breweries and it is worth mentioning that 8 breweries in Croatia operate with their production line. Their significance and contribution to the Croatian Craft beer scene cannot be disputed.
They produce year-round beers and seasonal beers. Some of their most famous beers are “Zlatni Medvjed” (pilsner), “Grička Vještica” (strong dark lager), “Dva Klasa” (wheat beer), “Crna Kraljica” (dark lager), and “Fakin Ipa” (Indian pale ale). For more information visit their website.
In 2019 their total income amounted to 17.9 mil HRK, which makes them the 7th biggest brewery in Croatia by total income.
3. Zmajska pivovara
Zmajska Pivovara was founded in 2013 and is considered one of the pioneers of the craft beer movement. Their founder Andrej Čapka was a passionate homebrewer and initiator of the forum site pivarstvo.info. As they mention on their website, their main goal was to introduce different beer styles and to “gradually educate palates for tasting and enjoying beer”. ¸In 2014 Zmajsko introduced their first two beers: Pale Ale (American Pale Ale) and Porter (American Porter). From there they continued to explore different beer styles and flavours and until today they have introduced 45 different beers.
In 2019 their total income amounted to 8 mil HRK, which makes them the 12th biggest brewery in Croatia by total income.
4. Bujska Pivovara
Bujska Pivovara was founded in 2013 and was branded as the first Istrian craft brewery. The brewery was founded to provide local restaurants with a variety of beer, “beer as it used to be, unfiltered and unpasteurized”. The brewery started in a garage with a yearly production of 50 000 L, and in 2016 their yearly production amounted to 800 000 L as reported by gastro.24sata.hr.
Their beer assortment is made out of 6 year-round beers all under their brand name San Servolo: Lager, Red Lager, Dark Lager, IPA, APA, and Gold. They also have two seasonal beers San Servolo Gold Teranino and Truffler. For more information visit their website.
In 2019 their total income amounted to 7.1 mil HRK, which makes them the 13th biggest brewery in Croatia by total income.
5. Varionica Craft Brewery
Varionica Craft Brewery was established in 2014 and is located in Pisarovina, near Zagreb. Varionica was founded by beer enthusiasts Matija Mrazek and Davor Simičić. As they emphasize on their website, they focus on “innovation, creativity, and quality without compromise.” Their beer assortment consists of Pale Ale, Deep Dive IPA, Siesta Session IPA among many others which you can check on their website. They are often involved in collaborations with other firms (not just from the craft beer industry) and they love to experiment with different flavours and ingredients.
In 2019 their total income amounted to 4.9 mil HRK, which makes them the 15th biggest brewery in Croatia by total income.
6. Nova Runda
Nova Runda brewery was established in 2013. Their story started with two friends Marko Filipin and Miroslav Šuvak, who, at the time, experimented with homebrewing. The company first started as a gypsy brewery in cooperation with microbrewery Kahli. After 5 years of producing beer at different leased properties, in 2019, they finally opened their production plant in Zabok, near Zagreb.
Their philosophy is that beer should be consumed fresh, that is why you cannot find their beers in bottles but rather just in kegs and cans. Some of their most famous beers are Nova Runda APA (American Pale Ale), C4 (Indian Pale Ale), and Brale (Brown Ale). You can find a detailed list of their beers and the locations of their distributors on their website.
In 2019 their total income amounted to 4 mil HRK, which makes them the 16th biggest brewery in Croatia by total income.
7. Crafter’s
Crafter’s brewery was established in 2016 and is located in Dugo Selo. They produced the first Croatian beer from nutmeg called Muskateer as reported by Jutarnji.hr. The full list of beers that they currently produce can be found on their website.
In 2019 their total income amounted to 2.6 mil HRK, which makes them the 17th biggest brewery in Croatia by total income.
8. Dubrovnik Beer Company
Dubrovnik Beer Company was established in 2016, it is the first brewery in Dubrovnik. Their beer assortment consists of four beers: Maestral (Lager), Fortunal (Pale Ale), Grego (Milk Stout), and GOA (New England IPA). In 2017 they opened their own taproom in Dubrovnik. For more information visit their website.
In 2019 their total income amounted to 2.1 mil HRK, which makes them the 18th biggest brewery in Croatia by total income.
9. Zeppelin Craft Brewery
Zeppelin Craft Brewery was established in 2017 and is located in the city of Bjelovar. Their beer assortment consists of Merkat (Golden Ale), Flamingo (American Amber Ale), Rakoon (Porter), Marmun (Weizen), Pilsss (Pilsner) and Tapir (IPA). The names of their beers are based on fictional characters who make up the crew of the Zeppelin. They opened their own pub called “Zeppelin Pub” in Bjelovar and as their slogan says the Zeppelin is “Hovering above all”. For more information visit their website.
In 2019 their total income amounted to 2 mil HRK, which makes them the 19th biggest brewery in Croatia by total income.
10. Beckers Craft Brewery
Beckers Craft Brewery was established in 2016 in the city of Osijek. Their beer assortment consists of four beers: American Pale Ale, Irish Dry Stout, Czech Pilsner, and Extra Special Bitter. Their Pale Ale was voted Croatian best pale ale by the app Untapp’d. You can find these beers at their pub in Osijek.
In 2019 their total income amounted to 1.8 mil HRK, which makes them the 20th biggest brewery in Croatia by total income.
There was a total of 84 microbreweries in 2020 according to The Brewers of Europe. It is impossible to name them all on this list. I will use the following paragraph to mention some that did not make the top of the list but are equally important for the development of the craft beer scene in Croatia.
- Bura Brew – founded in 2015, located in Poreč
- L.A.B Split – founded in 2015, located in Split
- Brlog Pivovara – founded in 2016, located in Zadar
- Tap B – founded in 2017, located in Split
- Šibenska Pivovara – founded in 2016, located in Šibenik
- Pivionica – founded in 2015, located in Zagreb
- Primarius Craft Pivovara – founded in 2017, located in Zagreb
- Kampanjola – founded in 2018, located in Svetvinčenat
- Valens – founded in 2016, located in Vinkovci
- Barilo Pivovara – founded in 2018, located in Dugi Rat
In the end, I would like to conclude that the craft beer scene in Croatia is still flourishing and the coming years will bring us many different beer styles, collaborations, and beer festivals. This niche segment of the beer industry is very agile, innovative, and creative. The craft revolution has spread like wildfire reaching every corner of our small country. The likes of Zagrebačka pivovara and Heineken Hrvatska which are the two biggest players in the Croatian Beer industry should carefully observe what is happening in their backyard.
Information presented in this article is based on the data from breweries’ company websites.
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