Do you ever get annoyed by the same faces on trending page? I get annoyed by the trending beers in my city. Tomislav is seldom drank.
It is one of those beer with a long tradition but somehow escapes advertising. The biggest brewery in Croatia pushes lagers and those blasted juice-beers called radlers but never this interesting Baltic Porter.
To be honest, it is not craft quality. But it is one thing that stands out in the oh-so-very boring macro market. I remember my first encounters with it in teenage years. It tasted terrible - roasted taste just didn’t suit me after I numbed myself on watery pale lagers. It is an acquired taste.
It is good if you really want to show how manly you are. It is black. It has a horse on the label. It boasts impressive 7.3% alcohol.
The horseman on the label is the first Croatian king, also called Tomislav, same as this beer. Interesting fact is that he was crowned in 925 AD and Tomislav beer was first brewed in 1925. Exactly 1000 years later. Coincidence or lies?
Lies I tell you, all lies.
You can find the horseman as soon as you exit the Main Rail Station, 5 minutes from Zagreb City Centre.
It is irksome how people fix beer into 2 categories: dark and light. Some like to brag on how they like ‘dark’ beers. That is considered a bit extravagant I guess. When talking with those, I try to push the difference between stouts, porters, dark wheats, bocks or whatever but then I get befuddled looks and a firm reiteration that they like dark beers.
It is the moment when I give up and order the first craft available.
My camera is having some issues right now so I’m using web pictures. This is an exception.
Tomislav by Zagrebačka Pivovara (MolsonCoors)
| Style | Baltic Porter |
| Country | Zagreb, Croatia |
| Alcohol | 7.3% |
| ----- | --------- |
| Appearance | Black as sin. Head holds well and you can freely stick your nose in. Kinda sticky! The ubiquitous horseman on the label. If you want to feel like you were born and bred in Zagreb this is the beer for you! |
| Aroma | Caramel and heavy roasty malts. |
| Taste | Roasted malt, dried fruits. Noticeable alcohol. Very noticeable! :D Heavy roasted bitterness. Low alcoholic sweet. |
| Palate | Quite prickly feel. Heavy mouthful. Sometimes hard to swallow a lot at once. Overpowering. Sip it.More a winter brew for my taste. A bit ash aftertaste. |
| ----- | --------- |
| Overall | Macro gods gave us this runt of the litter. Praise them! An experience like no other. If there is no craft around this is my excuse to get heavily drunk. After 5 of these expect devilish hangover. Nails and splinters. You were warned. |
| Score (subjective, personal) | 12/20 |
Price: 12 kuna (1.85$) for 0.25l. Bottle at a Pub (Wrong Way - cheapest bar I know). Budget since I had it there .
This review was improved by RateBeer!
Please drink with style and responsibility!
Beer devotees:        - you encourage me to write every day! | You can find a lot more beer posts in my blog as well as other posts on various topics. Thank you for all your sharing, caring and upvoting! |
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"Quitting alcohol" versus "Greatly reducing my alcohol load" is sometimes I ask myself too! Check out 
's take on this!
Lies. I never ask myself that :D