Beer in Romania

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Beer in Romania comes from the long tradition of Romanian brewing, being introduced in Transylvania by the German colonists (Transylvanian Saxons) and in Moldavia by cultural connections with Poland.

Overview

Timisoreana brewery
Bere Ursus (Ursus Beer) truck delivering in Romania
File:RO IF Pantelimon Tuborg factory.jpg
Tuborg factory in Pantelimon

A national association of beer with mititei came into existence during the 1877 Independence War of Romania and after that it saw a spread of beer pubs throughout the Romanian Kingdom. The beer pubs (berării) became a place of social and business meetings for the Romanian urban middle-class. Currently, Romanians are amongst the heaviest beer drinkers in the world, with an annual consumption of over 100 litres per capita in 2007.[1]

Romanian law considers beer and wine to be foodstuffs and therefore they are not subject to the usual tariffs and restrictions imposed upon alcoholic beverages.

The word "beer" in Romanian (bere) is derived from German Bier (itself an early loan from Latin biber), but there is also an obsolete regional word "olovină", of Nordic origin (ole) and related to ale.

Brands

Some of the most appreciated Romanian beers are: Ursus (Latin for "bear"), Timișoreana (named after the city of Timişoara), Stejar (Romanian for "oak") - all owned by SABMiller, Bergenbier - owned by Molson Coors, Ciuc (named after Miercurea Ciuc) and Silva (Latin for "forest") - owned by Heineken. Silva and Ursus have also a dark lager variety.

Some international brands are brewed locally, being very popular but sometimes more expensive than the traditional ones: Heineken, Carlsberg, Stella Artois, Beck's, Tuborg, Holsten, Peroni and Skol.

Also, there are a large number of beers usually sold in 2-liter PET bottles and targeting the low-end market. Examples are: Ciucaş, Golden Brau, Bürger, Neumarkt, Bucegi, Gambrinus, Azuga, Noroc.

Breweries

The largest brewing companies in Romania are Ursus Breweries, owned by SABMiller, which has four breweries, in Braşov, Buzău, Cluj-Napoca and Timişoara,[2] and Heineken Romania (previously called Brau Union Romania), which also has four breweries, in Constanţa, Craiova, Miercurea Ciuc and Târgu Mureş.[3]

Other major companies are Bergenbier, owned by Molson Coors, which has facilities in Blaj and Ploieşti,[4] and Tuborg Romania (officially called United Romanian Breweries), part of the Carlsberg Group, which has a brewery in Pantelimon.[5]

Other national companies are European Drinks, which owns a brewery in Sudrigiu,[6] Romaqua Group, which owns a brewery near Sebeş.,[7] Albrau, located in Oneşti, which produces its own beer brands, as well as dedicated brands for supermarket or hypermarket chains.[8] and Martens (the former Robbere brewery) Galaţi, owned by Bierbrouwerij Martens from Belgium since 1998, which also produces both dedicated beer brands and its own brands.[9] Two other smaller companies which are operating mainly regional are Bermas, based in Suceava,[10] and Imex, located in Satu Mare.[11]

In 2013 Alexandru Geamănu and Laurențiu Bănescu started the micro-brewery Fabricii de Bere Bună (Factory of good beer) with their main brand Zăganu in Măneciu-Ungureni.[12] and in Timişoara there is the micro-brewery Clinica de Bere with their main brand Terapia since 2012.

See also

References

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External links