Ratebeer.com, possibly the most relevant worldwide beer portal, judges Medvedgrad the best Croatian brewery.
Zagreb's Medvedgrad Brewery is the granddaddy of Croatian Craft brewing. 22 years old, and going strong. Medvedgrad just picked up the accolade of the best brewery in Croatia from the world beer portal ratebeer.com.
Večernji List writes that this is the second time Medvedgrad earned first place amongst Croatian breweries. The accolade is even more notable as Croatia is experiencing an explosion of new craft breweries and new excellent beers.
Medvedgrad is the first independent brewery in Croatia. The brewery keeps at least six beers permanently in production, and also adds special occasion and seasonal brews, so that this year they had 13 different styles. Last year the brewery added eight new tanks of 15,000 liters which almost doubled its capacity.
According to Ivan Nauković from the brewery, they traditionally invested into the business from their revenue and profits, growing organically. Eventually banks and leasing houses recognised Medvedgrad's potential and started getting interested. As well as new tanks there is a new refrigerated storage facility which allows for longer storage and preservation of the beer. Nauković says the brewery also devised its own mechanism for dry hopping and are considering more investments into similar equipment.
With all the new investment, last year production reached 1,200,000 liters of beer and the plans for this year call for 1,500,000 liters. There is no excuse for anyone to go thirsty!
