Laško Brewery

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Laško Brewery (Slovenian: Pivovarna Laško) is a brewery in the Slovenian town of Laško and the largest brewery of the country.

The brewery was founded in 1825 by Franz Gezer, a gingerbread baker and mead producer. After World War II ended in 1945, Laško was the fifth-largest in Yugoslavia. It lost much of the Yugoslav market in 1991 after Slovenia declared independence and the resulting Ten-Day War, although sales rebounded during the 1990s. Beers and other alcohoholic beverages brewed by Laško include Export Pils, Gren, Lahko Laško (Laško Light), Netopir, Temno Laško (Laško Dark), Zlatorog, and Zlatorog Club. The brewery also produces the mineral water Oda, soft drinks, and, with the Vital company of Mestinje, a lemonade/beer mix called Roler.^[1]

The brewery participates in the annual summertime Festival of Beer & Flowers (Pivo-Cvetje) in Laško, one of the most popular events for tourists in the country. The festival features numerous events, such as musical performances, an auto rally, tombola, parachutists, lašèaniada (sports and games), and of course endless pints of the finest the Laško Brewery has to offer. An ultimate high point of the festival is the “craziest Saturday night’ ever, which attracts over 50,000 spectators with a firework display that makes the night truly memorable. Fire rockets are launched from dual sides of the village from the local castle and nearby hill. In addition, patrons will find numerous family and children activities and events. The Festival of Beer and Flowers is complete with flowers everywhere.^[2]