Keeping a city’s hope alive, one barrel at a time

It is not often that you walk into a brewery in a new city, order a couple of pints and some delicious traditional grub at the bar, relish them both, and then casually saunter off, blissfully unaware of its history. Like Sarajevksa Pivara Brewery.

A beer steeped in its city’s tragic history

However, this is no ordinary city. Nor is it just any other brewery.

Sarajevo has moved on, or so I hope, when it was under siege for close to four years, between the 5th of April 1992 and the 29th of February 1996. To put that into perspective, it is a total of 1,425 days. That would be three times longer than the Battle of Stalingrad. Or more than a year longer than the Siege of Leningrad. Heck, it was the longest siege of any capital city in the history of modern warfare.

Cable television had just burst onto the scene here in India, and CNN was a smashing hit for those looking for an alternative source of current affairs and breaking news. I had a fair idea of what was happening around this region, but no real understanding of who was fighting with whom, and for what. I still don’t understand it, quite frankly. Growing up, Yugoslavia was an outlier among the communist bloc countries. Marshal Tito was someone we looked up to. If not for anything but the fact that he could still stand up to the powers that be, and not let his country be just another satellite state.

Over a century of brewing fine beers

So, while I knew of Sarajevo’s past, I didn’t even know of the existence of Sarajevska Pivara. All I thought at that time was it was an interesting place to get away from the blazing sun. Perhaps have a pint, or three. That is all.

Turns out, their beers are not only excellent but Sarajevska Pivara also has a rich past, dating back over a century and a half. The brewery has continuously been brewing its award-winning beers – from the Ottoman times, through the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, two world wars, and the Yugoslav wars. It has also played a pivotal role in ensuring that the people of this besieged city had access to drinking water, while still brewing a few barrels. It was their only source of drinking water.

Sampling beers around the world

Now, I have always been one to try out a new beer when I am traveling. Even more special if it is at the brewery itself. It is among the many touristy things I enjoy doing. And no, it does not bother me if they specialize in craft beer or mass-market beer. That is how I found myself sitting at the pub within the walls of the Pilsner Urquell Brewery in Pilsen, understanding what makes for a fine pilsner, unlike some pretenders who pretend to be your ‘Bud’dy, when they aren’t. Perhaps it is a chilling out in the den with Singapore’s famous Tiger beer at Tiger Brewery. Or enjoying the great outdoors with a German-style lager beer freshly poured from the tap at Live Oak Brewing Co’s Taproom in Austin. It could also be a dense and refreshing brew, aptly named Coffee Porter at Pasteur Street Brewing Taproom, which is, no guesses, on Pasteur Street in Ho Chi Minh City. Or even a good old pint, or three, of Guinness at the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin, the very city where it traces its rich, creamy history.

A pint of beer saves the day

Sarajevska Pivara Brewery is in the old part of Sarajevo, across the Miljacka river. With residential buildings and a school adjacent to it, chances are you would miss the brewery, unless you knew what you were looking for, or had a keen sense of smell. As you walk through the majestic-looking gates, you cannot help but marvel at the building, done in classical European and Oriental architectural styles.

Once inside the gated compound, ask around or find your way to the restaurant that is part of the brewery. Step inside HS Pivnica Restaurant, and seat yourself at one of the tables. Once you have settled in, look around you, and that is when it sinks in that you have stepped back in time, to another bygone era. Two floors high, plenty of dark wood that made the restaurant even darker, and a huge bar. Keeping the look and feel of the restaurant, we were half expecting a band to come on stage and play some music. Turns out they usually do, in the evenings, or so we understood.

Being around lunchtime, it was surprising that there were not too many guests around. Not that it bothered us. We were there to escape the scorching sun outside, and also cool down with a couple of chilled ones, a Sarajevsko Svijetlo Pivo for my travel buddy, and a Sarajesvko Tamno for me. A tad too heavy, I remember, but delicious, as always.

Planning your visit to the Sarajevska Pivara brewery

Would I recommend Sarajevska Pivara? Sure, I would. If history and a bit of nostalgia are your things, then a visit to this brewery is worth it. It has quite a different vibe to it. More old-world feel, with a laid-back atmosphere, I would say. Charming in a quaint sort of way, so long as you are not expecting a world of first-class service. From what I have read online, there have been innumerable cases of waiters being extremely rude and taking their own time serving guests, or even ripping them off on their final bill. I do not remember anything of that sort happening with us. I did not mind at all that they were taking their own sweet time serving us. The hot sun was still bearing down on the city.