Unique styles of beers that consistently win international quality and taste awards (S.Pub.114-13)

I know what you're thinking if you read my blog post about my TDY in Belgrade: How surprising that I didn't drink much beer there! But au contraire, the fact is, I drank so much beer in those three weeks that I have enough material to write a whole separate post. I found out that a beer festival would be taking place my first weekend in town. So I toasted my first completed work week with a Boca Do Inferno spiced beer from Deck Beer in Portugal at the Brtewshka International Beer Festival (top left). There were lots of taps on offer, so I built a base with some American-style BBQ brisket (top right). Then I did a world tour of tastes (bottom):

• Poland: Apache white IPA from Raduga 
• Spain: 9 Hores saison from Art Cerversers
• Russia: Dostoevskyy imperial Baltic porter from Brewlok 
• Italy: Latte Piu' witbier from Retorto  
• Switzerland: Stirling California common from La Nebuleuse 
• Norway: Svartediket black IPA from 7 Fjell Brygerri
• Sweden: 2016 is so 2015 barley wine from Beerbliotek 

Despite the fact that the festival was in Serbia, the only local beer on hand was from a small brewery located at the venue, Dorcol Platz. But of course, I wouldn't let my visit go by without sampling the native brew. I had a Zajecarsko Crno at Question Mark (left) and a Jelen at Dva Jelena (right). Both were perfectly quaffable, especially when paired with some heavy Serbian cuisine.

But if I wanted a post-dinner (or pre-dinner, to be honest) drink, I would head to one of Belgrade's many quality craft beer bars. Gunners Pub appeared to be a favorite with university students, for its selection of domestic and international beers at a variety of prices. I hit Krafter, right down the street, a couple of times (left). Two selections from the chalkboard that I remember enjoying are Salto pale ale by the brewery of same name and Korsar IPA by Kors Brewery. The beer list at Samo Pivo was so long, I can't even recall what I chose in the end (right). I must have had some high ABV options, though, because I vaguely remember the walk back to my hotel seeming longer than the two blocks it was.

 

By far, the closest outlet to my hotel was Brkati Pub, which every night set up an outdoor bar in the alley I walked through to the bus station every morning. It was there that I had my first taste, an encouraging one at that, of Belgrade's craft beer: a Matador red IPA by Tron Brewery (top left). At Prohibijica, which was right around the corner from the bike-rental shop I patronized, the bartender was pushing Kabinet brews. And rightfully so, as both the Rufaro spiced beer (with hemp) and the SuperNova IPA were solid sips, suitable for the laid-back ambiance (top right). But the big brewery dog in town, if you will, is Dogma Brewery. As the first craft microbrewery in the city, its beers can be found in many restaurants; I drank one of its core offerings, Hoptopod IPA, during a meal at Burger House (bottom).

The second weekend I was in town, the embassy was offering a brewery tour; I was too late to sign up, but that didn't deter me, and I managed to hit most of the stops during my own solo outings. To be honest, I didn't mind not having to fight the crowd and being able to select my own samples. At Dogma, where I stopped near the end of my second day of biking, I was almost by myself in the tasting room (left), where I ordered a white IPA, a S.M.A.S.H. Mosaic IPA, and a Miss Quince pale ale before calling it a day (right). 

The day before, I dropped by Kas Brewery during my ride (top left). I had beat the tour to the brewery, so I enjoyed a peaceful Ryezen rye IPA by the river (top right). The owner -- who felt a bit sorry for me, I think -- gave me a personal tour during which I tried some Maltese pale ale and Lagerila Indian pale lager straight from the vats. I got a little lost running to Kompas Beer after work one night, so I was happy that there was some outdoor space where I could sweatily sip my pint of California Common after getting some friendly tasters of English pale ale and IPA (bottom left). My least hard-won beverage by far was the black IPA at The Black Turtle, which came with a side of river vistas (bottom right).

Some nights, I preferred to stay in and watch bad reality TV, which I don't really have access to at home. So during my first few days in town, I swung by Drunk Chiwawa to stock up my apartment fridge. (Later on, I found that Pivski Zabavnik also had a good bottle selection, but I was no longer in need of take-away refreshment.) The cashier heralded my choice of NikolaCar Brewery's American Idiot pale ale (left) by pointing out that the brewer himself was drinking the same beer right behind me in the store. And I know this was true because he matched the face on the label. Otherwise, the sunny weather apparently put me in a seasonal mood because I picked up Dilemma Brewery's Spring Ale (middle) and Crow Brewery's Sunshine American wheat (right).