Beer in Bulgaria

The Czech Jiří Prošek, who first came to Bulgaria in 1873 to work on the same railway line, noted that the local Shopi had the custom to brew primitive beer at harvest time.

They soaked barley, leaving it to germinate, drying it, adding hot water and wild hops, with natural fermentation and cooling.

The professional Czech brewer Franz-František Milde established the Shumensko beer factory in Shumen in 1882, and helped found the Bulgarian Brewing Association the same year.

In 1899, Milde's Bulgarian partners tried to deceive him, so he bought the Austrian Johann Habermann's brewery in Rousse (established in 1876) and started producing beer there.

Fearing his competition, his partners quickly paid their debts and Milde returned to Shumen, leaving his brother Sebastian as the Rousse factory's manager.

Numerous beer festivals (birfest) are organized yearly in the major cities all around the country, for example in Sofia, Plovdiv, Pleven, Gabrovo, Sevlievo, Bansko, Vidin, etc.

[4] In addition, international beer brands have a large market share and are, in many cases (e.g. Stella Artois, Beck's, Heineken, Staropramen, Tuborg, Amstel), brewed locally.