MMM STORIES: Myths and Truths of Kamnik Brewing

With four boutique breweries, its own beer festival, a beer trail and even a myth about the beer of freedom, Kamnik is a true fairytale land for craft beer lovers: a beer-worthy destination for anyone fond of that magical elixir which skilled masters of brewing alchemy can conjure from just four simple ingredients: water, hops, malt and yeast.

So join us on a journey and lift the veil on the secrets of Kamnik’s brewing tradition, as well as the contemporary trends of this much-loved craft, which has left such a distinctive mark on the small town embraced by the mighty Kamnik-Savinja Alps.

A Tangle of History and Myth

Kamnik is a small town with a rich history, and its first brewery was already operating there at the end of the 19th century. Svetlin Brewery, later bought by the brewery from Mengeš (at the time the second strongest brewery after Ljubljana’s Union) is also, in a way, the starting point of a fantastic Kamnik urban legend: the myth of the beer of freedom.

The story tells of young Svobodan, who began his brewing career at the tender age of sixteen at Svetlin Brewery. When the brewery later moved, his path took him to Mengeš, and from there to Žalec, where he met his future wife Ana. As her dowry, she brought into their life together a hop field and brewing equipment.

In the heart of the Savinja Valley, Svobodan brewed a beer from the local celeia hop variety - a beer that, alongside Svobodan himself, plays the leading role in our story. The very first local tasters said that drinking Svobodan’s brew filled them with an incredible feeling of freedom. After a card-playing evening in Maribor, where Svobodan unwisely fell into debt with the extraordinary inventor Nikola Tesla, the story took a remarkable global turn.

Svobodan’s beer is said to have helped Tesla break through a creative block and contributed to the idea on which he later based his motors and generators. After moving to Paris, Tesla introduced the beer of freedom to the French engineer Eiffel, who, with the help of this miraculous elixir, supposedly expanded his mental powers so greatly that he finally solved the structural problems he had been facing while designing the famous Statue of Liberty in America.

Whether or not we believe the story, which reached the media with the unveiling of the scandalous Statue of Liberty in Sela near Kamnik thanks to Tomaž Schlegl, the creator of both the statue and the story; one thing is true: it is written in the form of Svobodan’s memoirs. At the end of the tale, one can supposedly even find the recipe for the beer of freedom, which years later became part of a new, undoubtedly true story of Kamnik brewing.

The Present, Inspired by the Past (and by Clear Water)

Who knows, perhaps it really is Kamnik’s exceptional water that acts as the magical elixir, freeing the rich creativity of the town’s brewing scene. What is certain is that, during the boom of Slovenia’s craft beer movement, when home brewers were meeting through their association to compete, compare and, in a friendly spirit, develop ever new and ever better recipes, many decided to open proper breweries of their own. Slowly but surely, Kamnik became Slovenia’s brewing Mecca.

Today, four breweries operate in the Municipality of Kamnik: three in the town itself and the fourth beneath the Menina Plateau. All four unique brewing stories proudly carry names connected to Kamnik, and all brew their beers with clear water from the surrounding mountains.

Mali grad, the rocky rise above Kamnik’s old medieval centre, home to castle ruins and a Romanesque chapel, lent its name to the first modern brewery to open in Kamnik twelve years ago: Mali Grad Brewery. It was born from the passion for beer shared by its founders, Anja and Urban Florjančič, who a few years later also opened a taproom of the same name in Šmarca. Today, their story is continued by a team led by Gregor Torkar, who has brought fresh energy and creativity to the brewery.

Their beers, which cover all the key craft styles, are available both on tap and in bottles. From the labels, another Kamnik legend greets us: the miserly Countess Veronika of Kamnik, who, under the force of her own curse, was transformed into a half-woman, half-snake and sank beneath the earth.

General Rudolf Maister, whom many associate with Maribor before any other Slovenian town because of his fight for Slovenia’s northern border, was in fact born in Kamnik. Not far from his birth house, a brewery named in his honour has been operating since 2017. Maister Brewery, founded as a nomadic brewery by Janez Skok already in 2015, brings together the owner’s love of history, professional knowledge of chemistry and passion for brewing — a hobby that grew into a serious brewing business.

Even a short chat with Johnny, as he is known to those who know him, is enough to catch some of his enthusiasm for the world of craft beer. Despite many challenges, this world remains a close-knit community of people from all walks of life, united by the desire to enrich their creativity with knowledge and experience, and to bring only the finest hoppy brews to the tables of Slovenian craft pubs. Their beers, which cover a wide range of styles, are named after important figures from Slovenian history and are among the most recognisable among Slovenian beer lovers.

On the site of Kamnik’s former gunpowder works, a spark was lit in 2017 that launched Barut Brewing & Blending into the world. Its name, a tribute to the location, comes from an old Slovenian word for gunpowder. The brewery was founded by three young scientists: Aleš Ogrinec, Luka Kranjec and Miha Tome.

It was their enthusiasm for biotechnology that led them to specialise in so-called sour beers, mixed-fermentation beers, in which standard brewing yeasts are joined by other microorganisms that create more complex flavours. Today, they also brew more classic beers alongside their wild ales, yet among Slovenian beer lovers they remain synonymous with the exciting spectrum of flavours that only sour beers can offer.

Kamnik’s fourth and smallest brewery is located a little outside the town, in unspoilt nature beneath the Menina Plateau, which also inspired its name. Domača pivovarna pod Menino is a boutique craft brewery that brews beer with its own hops, grown in the highest-lying hop field in Slovenia, with spring water from the Menina Plateau and partly also with its own barley.

Their path into brewing was inspired by memories of barley that their mother would roast and cook on the home stove to make homemade beer. Their love of beer then spread from their hearts to the fields of the family farm, which they transformed into a hop field.

A Trail That Leads to Beer (and Freedom)

If the lines above have tempted you to dive deeper into the wonderful world of Kamnik brewing, head to this picturesque historic town beneath the Kamnik-Savinja Alps. Of course, you can wander according to your own inspiration, but the experience will surely be even more delightful and informative if you place yourself in the hands of Ksenija Mravlja and Bogdan Resnik, the creators of the sporty and culinary experience The Beer and Freedom Trail.

Depending on how much time you have and how sporty you feel, you can choose from various beer-themed walks and hikes of different levels of ambition. You can also taste the Beer of Freedom, created specially for this experience in collaboration with Mali Grad Brewery.

Kamnik’s brewing creativity is also celebrated every year at the KAMnaPIR? festival, which has been successfully organised by the Kamnik Tourism and Sport Institute for five years. All local brewers present themselves at the festival, joined each year by a guest from the wider Slovenian brewing scene.

The people of Kamnik have little reason to fear that beer will lose its popularity in their town. Although the craft beer trend may seem to have passed its peak from the end of the previous decade, Kamnik proves that with a generous measure of creativity, perseverance and a drop of magical elixir, whether that is the mythical beer of freedom, the mountain water so perfectly suited to brewing, or the harmonious cooperation of local professional and amateur beer lovers, new and inspiring beer-worthy stories can still be written today.