Laško Brewery

It is 1825 and Charles Darwin starts his medical studies, Hans Ørsted is the first to produce aluminium, John Quincy Adams becomes the president of the USA, and in Laško begins the story of a beer now known to each and every Slovenian and also appreciated among beer fans all over the world. More than 180 years ago Franz Geyer built the first brewery in Laško where stone beer (Ger. Steinbier) was brewed, which makes him a pioneer of the Slovenian brewing industry. After its bankruptcy in 1889 the brewery was revived by its new owner Simon Kukec who was dubbed the father of Laško beer. Pivovarna Laško becomes a symbol of Slovenian identity. Production resumed after World War II but faced many challenges in the years that followed. In the early 1970s, annual beer sales reached the 500,000 hl mark. Throughout the 1990s, the focus was on social responsibility. In 1994, a million hectolitres of beer were sold for the first time since Yugoslavia's disintegration. The journey from a small craft brewery to the current million of hectolitres of beer decanted a year was full of challenges, rises and falls and a fact which cannot be overlooked is that the brewery's fate would have been considerably different if not for the dedication of the town and people of Laško. Despite the many changes, beer from Pivovarna Laško has kept its original message and every sip of beer that goes down the throat embodies decades of experience, effort and pride. Despite numerous changes, beer from Pivovarna Laško has retained its original message, and decades of experience, effort, and pride are captured in every sip of beer that flows down your throat. Quality has always come first, which is why we carefully select and use only the best ingredients. It all starts with water as the key to beer character and quality. Another key ingredient is malt which is produced from carefully selected barley varieties. Beer gets its characteristic bitterness and aroma from combinations of various hop varieties and the alcoholic fermentation is brought about by brewer's yeast. Pivovarna Laško products are made with love and this is how people have known them since 1825. All Pivovarna Laško products are made with water from the nearby pristine hills, which is renowned for top quality and gives our beer its distinctive character. Special malting barley is first sorted and only the grains that meet high standards are used. Such barley is then processed into malt by using special technology. Hops give beer an aroma and refreshing bitterness, serve as a spice and also have medicinal properties which are passed on to the beer. At Pivovarna Laško we use the hops of domestic internationally recognized producers of this precious plant. Not only is brewer's yeast essential for alcohol fermentation to take place, it also strongly influences beer quality and final sensory profile. To make our beers we use bottom-fermenting yeast, which is why they are grouped with lager. The selected ingredients then embark on a journey of several weeks through our brewery. Brewing in the brewing plant, alcoholic fermentation, beer maturation and filtration in the cellar, and pasteurization and filling in the bottling plant. The result of the lengthy process and hard work are beers with a variety of flavours and qualities which have been relished for generations.