My friend Gürcan and I spent the last two nights of our Balkan trip in Pristina, the capital of Kosovo. There are a few historic sites and museums of interest in the quaint city (including the Museum of Kosovo about the 1999 war with Serbia), but some of the most fascinating places are a little outside the city. Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time to visit Gazimestan, the site of a memorial to the 1389 Battle of Kosovo where Slobodan Milosevic gave a speech in 1989 that sparked the breakup of Yugoslavia. However, we did brave the worst weather of our journey to visit the Gračanica Monastery and nearby Sabaja Craft Brewery with a few friends from our hostel.

The Gračanica Monastery is a 700 year old Serbian Orthodox monastery whose interior is covered with beautiful frescoes. We visited the monastery on a Sunday, and serendipitously witnessed a baptism.

Gračanica is about a 10 minute bus ride from Pristina’s center, or an easy €5 taxi ride on a cold, wet day. About a mile down the road beside the American Hospital is Sabaja Craft Brewery, a microbrewery run by American Alex Butler. When my friends and I arrived at Sabaja, we were cold and soaked from the rain. Unfortunately, it was closed.

None of us had cellphones that worked in Kosovo, so we had to go to the nearby hospital to get WiFi, look up Sabaja’s phone number, and call Alex via Skype. He answered quickly, and said he’d let us in. Alex took time out of his Game of Thrones watching Sunday to give us a tour.

At the moment, they produce 3 beers: Harry’s Porter, IPA, and a new Session beer. I tried all three, but I can only give an accurate review of the IPA and Session. Here are my thoughts on the beers:

IPA

Appearance: cloudy amber

Smell: citrusy, floral aroma

Taste: not overly hoppy

Mouthfeel: very easy to drink for an IPA

Overall: I found this to be an excellent IPA. With normal IPAs, I can only drink one or two pints before my pallette and desire to drink is gone. Due to the limited hoppiness, I could drink this beer all day. For an audience entirely unacquainted with IPAs (i.e. Kosovo), this beer makes a lot of sense.

Session

Appearance: rusty amber color

Smell: yeasty

Taste: slightly acidic, yeasty taste

Mouthfeel: light, easy drinking experience

Overall: Like the IPA, this beer makes a lot of sense for the target audience (Kosovars who are only used to light lagers). I was actually one of the first to try this beer, as it hasn’t been released to the public yet. The Session had only just been bottled (the yeasty flavor is due to this), so it will improve after some time. That said, I enjoyed the beer enough to buy a few for the road.

My thoughts on the brewery:

Unlike the other venues I reviewed in the Balkans, Sabaja is an actual brewery. There’s not much of a tasting room, so Alex took us into the backroom and gave us the best explanation of the brewing process I’ve ever heard. He also let us each have bottles of IPA and Session for free! In addition, any beers to go were only €1. Later, we went to the Sabaja Restaurant near the Pristina Stadium and had some awesome bacon burgers and more Sabaja beer.

Alex stated that they strive to be the ‘premium domestic beer for Kosovo,’ something they’ve definitely achieved. If you’re ever in Kosovo, be sure to check out Sabaja Craft Brewery and say hi to Alex.