Planning a business trip to Podgorica, in addition to choosing the dates of flights, also meant choosing a hotel.
And in order to have one of the pubs near the hotel (a distance that I can easily walk), which I planned to visit after work, I was looking for a hotel 1 to 2 km away from it.
When my colleague who makes reservations told me that that hotel was unavailable and that she had booked another one, I thought there was no beer for me.
And so it was on the first day.
The next day we had a lot of driving, we drank beer in the restaurant where we had lunch, and when we returned to Podgorica the next day, after a little longer walk along the canyon of the Cijevna river, we were thirsty, we went to the beer bank Beer Bank, at least for a tasting, because we weren't allowed to do more than that (I had to drive the car to the handover place, I wasn't allowed to get drunk).
The empty garden of the pub surprised me, because the bar is located in the new part of Podgorica, hidden among a large number of buildings.
Maybe the tenants aren't beer drinkers, and maybe it's just too early for them to drink beer?
We had to use the time we had, we couldn't come earlier, because the flight home was waiting for us.
It turns out that it's not just the garden that's empty. Besides the bartender, there was only one other guest.
Never mind, we don't need a crowd for what we planned to do.
A colleague commented that this pub lacked a bit of noise, more people and louder music, and all I missed was a cold beer in my hand.
The ambience is nice, comfortable chairs, a nice, tidy bar, nicely painted walls, various board games within easy reach, details reminiscent of beer, fridges full of bottles and, of course, boards with offers under which there are taps.
A colleague who doesn't like to experiment chose Schweiger Hell 0.3l, while I asked to be poured Jocker IPA 0.3.
Maybe the Joker who was laughing at me from the poster on the wall of the beer hall persuaded me to do that.
We clinked glasses, toasted and I quickly took the first sips.
While enjoying the smell and taste of the beer, I searched for details on the Internet.
At first I thought it was a beer from the UK brewery Williams Bros, however the alcohol percentage of 6.5% clearly said that it is not the UK Joker IPA which has 5%.
It turned out to be the Joker IPA from the Docker pub, which I also have in Belgrade, but which I haven't visited yet.
Docker Joker IPA with 6.5% aclochol has a slightly higher bitterness (IBU 60), a beautiful golden color, and the foam is a special story.
Thick, dense and permanent foam gives a lot of tropical, floral and citrus aromas, which together with 4 types of hops make this beer very drinkable.
I liked it and when I saw the offer of Docker Brewery, I decided to definitely visit it.
After I drank Joker, I looked for someone who was not local, and my choice fell on:
Blanche IPA.
According to the bartender, it should be a Belgian beer.
I accepted his suggestion, because I wanted to try some international beer, so I took this a little weaker with 5.6% alcohol.
It had everything an IPA should have. Thick thick foam, tropical smell and citrus taste, moderate bitterness.
But when I looked up this beer myself, the color of the Belgian Blanche IPA at 5.6% was different from the color of the beer I had in the glass.
Never mind, maybe the bartender was wrong, I certainly liked the draft beer.
After drinking the second glass, it was time to leave, which was not difficult for us, because the ambience, despite the good offer of beer, was not
too interesting.
Neat and clean, with interesting details in the toilet, but very quiet and without the noise of other beer drinkers, it was not a place we were sorry to leave.
By all means, if you find yourself in Podgorica (as I will when I'm in that city again), visit this pub, it might be more crowded when you come, so along with a good selection of beer, you'll also get a good atmosphere, which we missed.