Croatian beer
Croatian beer is mostly a story of the last ten years: a young craft scene in a country that has traditionally drunk more wine than beer. At Hoptimaal you'll find beers from Pulfer Brewery and The Garden Brewery, with stout, IPA and sour beer as the main styles.
- In stock now8 beers
- Breweries2
Breweries from Croatia 2
All beers in stock 8
A late start in wine country
Croatia has traditionally been a wine country, partly because of its proximity to Italy. Plenty of beer is drunk there, but the craft beer revolution reached the country later than the rest of Europe. In the mid-2010s, good craft beer was still hard to find there. A lot has changed since then.
The first new breweries started small, the homebrewing scene grew and a number of traditional lager breweries began to broaden their range. The foundation is much older. Osječka pivovara is considered the oldest modern brewery in the country, founded in 1697, and still brews the blonde Osječko pivo. The history of the brewery in Karlovac begins in 1854.
Zagreb is the heart of the craft scene
Zagreb is regarded as the beer capital and most microbreweries are in or around the city. Medvedgrad is the largest craft brewery in the country and has been brewing since 1994, mainly lagers. In the centre, Opatovina is even a street full of craft beer bars. Other names from the region are Zmajska, Varionica, Nova Runda, Mlinarica and Primarius.
Nova Runda was founded by two childhood friends who wanted to shake up the monotonous Croatian beer market. The Garden Brewery shows how broadly the new generation brews: imperial pastry stouts, porters, sour beers and IPAs. The market is not easy. Total beer consumption is falling, large breweries dominate the shelves and rising costs put pressure on prices. Even so, the craft breweries are growing in volume and market share.
Croatian beer at Hoptimaal
With us you'll find Croatian beer from Pulfer Brewery and The Garden Brewery, two breweries from the Zagreb scene. The range runs from Stout and IPA to Pale Ale and Sour beer. From Pulfer you'll find The Gauntlet, Harmony, Ruby Wyvern and Melody, among others, plus the thicker, flavoured beers from the Smoothiesh and For Goodness Shake ranges.
Each brewery has its own page with us, with all the beers we can deliver from it. That way you can look further per brewery and compare the styles side by side.
Frequently asked questions
What is typical Croatian beer?
Traditionally that is lager, such as the blonde Osječko pivo and the lagers from Medvedgrad. The new generation of breweries also brews stouts, porters, IPAs and sour beers, such as The Garden Brewery.
Which Croatian breweries are well known?
Medvedgrad, Zmajska, Varionica, The Garden Brewery, Pulfer, Nova Runda, Mlinarica and Primarius are all in or around Zagreb. In addition, Osječka pivovara is the oldest modern brewery in the country.
Where is the Croatian craft beer scene?
Mainly around Zagreb, where most of the microbreweries are. In the city you'll find Opatovina, a street with several craft beer bars.
Beer from other countries
- Dutch beer 178
- American beer 83
- Belgian beer 67
- Canadian beer 106
- German beer 38
- English beer 39
- Spanish beer 21
- Romanian beer 17
- French beer 16
- Swedish beer 15
- Norwegian beer 13
- Estonian beer 17
- Polish beer 10
- Irish beer 8
- Finnish beer 9
- Hungarian beer 7
- Latvian beer 17
- Danish beer 8
- Portuguese beer 4
- Welsh beer 5
- Scottish beer 4
- Brazilian beer 3
- Ukrainian beer 2
- Greek beer 3
- Slovenian beer 3
- Czech beer 3
