My Hoppy Place

We just spent 10 days in Croatia on a “hey we’re 40!” trip. Zagreb, Zadar, Split, Korcula, and Dubrovnik, with excursions to Plitvice Lakes and Mostar somewhere in there. Absolutely gorgeous! All of it! The people, the architecture, the old stuff, the weather, the mountains, the Adriatic. And, most importantly, the beer (which is why you’re here).

We tried 5 beers in Croatia, usually sitting in a caffe bar. I love caffe bars. I love the whole concept. A few tables on the sidewalk, umbrellas and awnings, capuccino, wine, beer, etc. You sit down for a half an hour or so, drink your beer, and watch the world go by. Love it! It would never work here, which is sad.

Back to the beer: Ožjusko, Laško, Karlovačko, Točeno, and Sarajevsko.

Ožjusko pivo in Zagreb

We heard about Karlovačko before we left. It’s the default pivo in just about every bar and restaurant. So we were surprised that the first beer we got to try was Ožjusko! We found a caffe bar right off the market square in Zagreb. We were starving and it was totally beer o’clock. We ordered two BIG (velik) beers and a sausage sandwich.

Ožjusko (and just about all the beers we tried) is a great pilsner. A perfect beer for summer. It’s crisp and light. It has a good balance of bitter and sweet, neither of which hangs around long. It went really, really well with the sausage sandwich, but maybe the jetlag had something to do with it.

Karlovačko beer in Zadar.

We didn’t get to try Karlovačko until we got to Zadar. Another pilsner style beer. Clean, clear, and crisp. Karlovačko seemed maltier than Ožjusko. We had it with some excellent muscles in garlic and a tomato-y pepper stew. It really matched well. This is definitely the national beer. Heck, they put the flag on the label!

The prettiest beer (in terms of scenery) was in Split. We climbed a million stairs to get to Marjan Park, almost at the top of the hill overlooking the harbor. What did we find? Another caffe bar! Perfect, let’s have another pivo. Here we ordered a Laško. We sat on a wide, stone patio under a generous awning and watched the ferries float in and out, on their way up and down the Adriatic. Laško was closest to the Heineken and Becks we get here in the US. Another crisp, clean beer but with a hint of green to it. Very refreshing after walking up aaaaalll those stairs.

Laško with a view in Split

Looking through the 300+ pictures we took, I can’t find one of Toceno. I’m sure it was good, I just didn’t get a picture. So here’s another one of Laško in Korcula town. Not a scenic, but just as tasty. And look at that head!

Laško in a pizzeria in Korcula

On a rainy day, we took an excursion to Mostar in Bosnia. Mostar’s “old town” is a medieval warren of stone streets. It’s split down the center by the Neretva river. A beautiful bridge spans the river, one that had to be completely rebuilt after the Balkan wars. If you have a chance, look up Mostar and take a look at the before, during, and after photos. It’ll kick you in the gut.

Sarajevsko beer in Mostar

After wandering past the trinket shops and checking out the mosque, we found a restaurant and ordered yet another national beer: Sarajevsko. And yet another sausage sandwich, which was delicious. The Sarajevsko was by far the maltiest of the bunch. The sweet caramel of the malt was offset only slightly by a touch of bitter. It was a great compliment to the day. We liked it so much, we wandered off in search of another one (with a view of the river).

We liked Ožjusko the best of all the beers we tried. It satisfied our American taste for a hoppy bite. We ordered over and over, and bought big, plastic bottles at the market to enjoy over dinner in the apartments we stayed in. If I can find it here (maybe at the Brickskeller?), I’ll order it and remember sun-drenched streets and happy hours in the nearest caffe bar.

Filed under: Beer, Drink local, Tasting notes, Travel on December 2nd, 2009