Beer in Serbia

Jelen

Lav

Beer in Serbia (Serbian language: пиво / pivo) is not well known or famous outside of its national borders.

Packaging

Beer for home consumption is mostly sold in 0.5-litre glass bottles, while 0.34-litre bottles are now obsolete and used only in expensive bars. Most bottles in use are deposit-type (reused bottles). Cans are more common.^{[citation needed]} Recently,^[when?] most breweries began packing their product in plastic Q-pack bottles of 1.5, 2 or even 2.5 litres. In bars and restaurants, beer is either served in 0.33 or 0.5L bottles, or as "draught" (točeno).^{[citation needed]}

Legislation

Serbia does not have legislation that limits liquor sales to specific licensed places. Hence beer (and any other liquor) can be purchased anywhere, including kiosks, supermarkets, grocery shops, gas stations and convenience shops.^{[citation needed]}

Market

Pale lager dominates in Serbia, and dark lager, while being popular, is produced in smaller quantities. Some breweries produce kvas. Some European and American brands are distributed.^{[citation needed]}

Quality

Which brew is the best, and indeed which brews are good or bad is, of course, a disputed subject.

Belgrade Beer Fest organizes opinion polls of its visitors. The results, per year, are:

Year	1	2	3
2005[1]	Jelen	Tuborg	MB
2006[2]	Jelen	Tuborg	Weifert
2007[3]	Jelen

In a February 2004, in an online poll conducted by krstarica.com, the largest Serbian search engine, 5304 visitors voted on what is the "best domestic beer". The winner was Jelen, with 30% of the votes, followed by MB (26%), and Nikšićko (16%), while all other brews received 7% or less votes.^[4]

Breweries and brews

In Serbia

• Apatin: Apatinska pivara (majority owned by InBev)
  • Jelen pivo
  • Pils Light

• Bečej^[5]
  • Old Gold - light and dark
  • Gerber's - light and dark

• Belgrade^[6]
  • Bg
  • Bip (БИП)
  • Premium Pils
  • Ruski kvas - kvass

• Čelarevo: Carlsberg Srbija^[7] (owned by Carlsberg brewery group)
  • Lav pivo

• Jagodina: Jagodinska pivara
  • Jagodinsko pivo
    • Simbol (export brew)

• Niš: Niška pivara
  • Niško
  • Appel pivo (only in 0.33l bottles)

• Novi Sad: Pivara MB (acquired by Heineken International in 2007)
  • MB Premium
  • MB Pils
  • MB Swartz
  • MB Dunkel

• Pančevo (acquired by Efes Beer Group in 2003) - obsolete since 2008^[8]
  • Pančevačko ekstra
  • Standard
  • Weifert
  • Belo - Wiefert
  • Wiefert tamno

• Peć: Pećka pivara (currently operating in Belgrade)^{[citation needed]}

• Peć: Biere e Peja (operating in facilities of Pećka pivara)^{[citation needed]}

• Ritiševo: Pivara Ritiševo
  • Krugher & Brent

• Valjevo^[9]
  • Valjevsko pivo
  • Atlas Pils

• Vršac - obsolete since 2010^[10]
  • Šampion
  • Zoffmann (two varieties: light and dark)
  • Natural Beer

• Zaječar (acquired by Efes Beer Group in 2004) - obsolete since 2008^[11]
  • Zaječarsko pivo
  • Pils plus
  • Nikola Pašić - dark beer

• Zrenjanin: Zrenjaninska industrija piva (ZIP)
  • Rooster Beer

Foreign brands brewed in Serbia

• Apatinska pivara: Beck's, Stella Artois, Staropramen
• Carlsberg Srbija: Carlsberg, Tuborg
• United Serbian Breweries: Amstel, Heineken, Efes

Beer festivals

Belgrade Beer Fest

Main article: Belgrade Beer Fest

Belgrade Beer fest 2008

Started in 2003, Belgrade Beer Fest is held annually over 3–4 days at the foot of Belgrade's Kalemegdan fortress as a showcase event for various beer producers. In addition to domestic and foreign brews at affordable prices, the festival features live music performances each evening. It has quickly grown in size and popularity.^[12] On 31 December 2005 British daily The Independent named it as one of the worldwide events to visit in 2006.^[13]

Dani piva

Dani Piva (Beer Days) is a beer festival in Zrenjanin, started in 1985, organised by the Zrenjanin brewery (Zrenjaninska industrija piva).^[14]

References

1. ^ http://2005.belgradebeerfest.com/sr/vesti.html#anketa
2. ^ http://2006.belgradebeerfest.com/system/sr-latin/home/newsplus/viewsingle/_params/newsplus_news_id/2977.html
3. ^ http://www.blic.rs/Vesti/Beograd/11092/Popilo-se-600000-litara-piva
4. ^ On-line "best domestic beer" poll, krstarica.com
5. ^ Pivara Bečej
6. ^ Beogradska industrija piva (BIP)
7. ^ Carlsberg Srbija
8. ^ http://www.pancevo.co.rs/2008/10/18/zatvara-se-pancevacka-pivara/
9. ^ Valjevska pivara
10. ^ http://www.seebiz.eu/sr/kompanije/industrija/vrsacka-pivara-dovedena-do-bankrota,94727.html
11. ^ http://www.zajecar.info/sr/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=535&Itemid=38
12. ^ Belgrade Beer Fest, www.belgradebeerfest.com
13. ^ Where in the world will you be? The Independent, 31 Dec 2005.
14. ^ http://www.danipiva.rs/

External links

• - Official Serbian beer forum (Serbian)
• Beer Serbia - Pivo Srbija (Serbian)
• Danas: Cirka vops iz dvocevki, 9 June 2008 (Serbian)
• b92.net: Efes Weifert: Manji gubici za 22%, 6 July 2007 (Serbian)