You’re not a real hipster until you switch to craft beer. Hipsters or not, Egle Šatkauskaite, Olivia Klochko, Florian Schäfer and Tobias Kaim decided to explore the beer habits in Europe by visiting Zagreb Craft Beer Week.
Craft beer us definitely ”A thing” in Europe nowadays. On the other hand, there is a growing number of festivals around the world, and Croatia is no exception. Taking this into consideration, it was not surprising to hear about the new craft beer festival in Zagreb.
Our reporters went to the venue to meet with the main actors of the event and ask them why is this craft beer movement becoming louder and entering the international stage.
“Well, I would say that last three or four years people discovered there is more than just average lager. People try to switch to ales and other styles within that category”, said Igor, a member of Medvedgrad brewery, one of the oldest beer breweries in Croatia.
Speaking of international, there is a noticeable difference in drinking habits among European beer drinkers.
For example, the Swedes “demand beer from smaller breweries where there is more passion and love in it”, said Ginder Espal from Sweden who ran into the Festival by accident.
When it comes to harder drinks, Lithuanians tend to go for vodka. Yet, Egle from Lithuania states that beer is her country’s national drink.
“But especially craft beer gained popularity in past few years,” adds Egle.
However, the final word still needs to be given to Tobias, who comes from Germany, the so-called “mother of beer”.
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“We have 1408 breweries that were active in 2016. Any microbrewing and craft beer is becoming more and more popular. If I think about my hometown Mainz for example, which is actually a city in a wine region, we have at least 2 or 3 microbreweries.”
It is not certain until when will beer reign the european bars, but what we do know for a fact is how much fun our reporters had while filming this story. Check it out and while doing so – bottoms up!
Authors: Egle Šatkauskaite, Olivia Klochko, Florian Schäfer, Tobias Kaim
