Fabrica de Bere Buna - Romanian Craft Beer



Fabrica de Bere Buna (maker of good beer) is located at Calea Victoriei 91, 93, București 010091.  Though there are tables on the pavement outside, it's not a great seating place due to the imposing buildings all around and the speed of passing traffic.


Inside, however, is an excellent bar serving a wide range of Romanian craft beers, draft and bottled. 
Drafts

There's no brewery on site but it is the main outlet for Zaganu ('Bearded Eagle') beers, brewed in Maneciu Ungureni, Prahova County.  There were 7 of their draft beers on tap when I visited.  The Bearded Eagle is now extinct, legend having it that Nicolae Ceausescu shot the last...

Bottled

I didn't try any of the bottles but noted there were some of the excellent Perfektum beers and more from Zaganu.  Hop Hooligans brewery is also worth testing at some time.  They do a wide variety of seasonal/limited edition beers.  

I went for the 4 x 150 ml flight, the numbers on the flight corresponding to the numbers on the draft listing (I don't know why more bars don't adopt this for their flights - it does help the memory after 2 - 3 of them. 

 The barman was very knowledgeable about these, even to the point of advising order of drinking to as to appreciate the tastes. 

 So, I had:

 #4: Zaganu American IPA, 5.7%, IBU 49
#6: Zaganu Adonis American Pale Ale, 5.6%, IBU 42.
#7: Zaganu Imperial IPA, 10%, IBU 55
#8: Hop Hooligan Shock Therapy IPA, 6.5%, IBU 45



Clear winner for me was the Zaganu Imperial IPA, with the other two Zaganu beers next.  Hop Hooligan was good but lost out in competition with the others.  The Imperial IPA has been brewed to celebrate Zaganu's 5th anniversary and is a strong, very malty, very drinkable IPA.  I opted for some more of it, served sensibly in 300 ml glasses.  

 I'll be returning to Fabrica de Bere Buna again soon to try out a couple more brews. 


Very highly recommended for a visit.

 https://www.bere-zaganu.ro/en/









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