Beer / Wine / Spirits in Romania

romaniac wrote:

Domestic varieties of alcohol are a part of virtually every countries fabric, culture and economy.  Romania has a very old tradition of wine making, I've heard the 2nd oldest in the world behind Greece.  Many Romanians also make their own wine and spirits, and equipment for this is readily found in DIY building stores and specialty shops.

Some domestic products and labels include

Beer
Ursus, Timisoareana, Silva, Ciuc, Neneau Iancu, Stejar, Albacher

Wines
Murfatlar, Cotnari, Jidvei, Beciu Domnesc

Spirits
Rachiu, Palinca, Tuica, Horinca

What are some of the best drinks in Romania you would recommend to a visitor or newcomer?  Are there any notable microbreweries or small producers in your region that are worth mentioning.

Personally, I think Ursus is the best domestic beer, especially for the price compared to imports.



Romaniac
Expat-Blog Experts Team

Bergenbier?

Maykal wrote:

Although a lot of the brand names are domestic, many of the beers are made under licence from foreign brewers. Ursus, Timisoareanca and Ciuc, for example, and made under licence from the UK's SABMiller group. Lots of these are fast brewed using various additive and enzymes, even though these aren't listed on the can. There are also quite a few which are made cheaper by adding maize as a fermentable to partially replace the barley. Look out for 'malai' or 'porumb' on the can. Of the commercial ones, I also like Ursus (which is mamaliga-free ) Romania has no legislation in place as yet to regulate the use of additive, stabilizers and enzymes in beer manufacture. The main reason for their use is to 'repair' damaged batches of beer and cut down on raw materials, thus keeping the price of the beer down.

Micro-breweries are few on the ground in Romania compared to other countries, but look out for Clinica de Bere, Zaganu, Ground Zero, Csiki Sor and Sikaru.

Very good and true points, definitely no mainstream "reinheitsgebot" here   I don't care much for corn beers.  Also, some of the "local" beers use rice, again for lowering costs.

Romaniac

Bogdan_P wrote:

You should also try Silva Dark. Ursus has kind of a generic taste, if not for the color I wouldn't even call it Dark Beer.

I'll recommend two wines if i'm here anyway:
white- Casa Isărescu Crâmpoșie de Drăgășani (can be found in big stores likes Auchan)
red- Recaș SELENE Fetească Neagră (exceptional wine, exclusively sold in Recaș wineries)

oh... and another great wine from Moldova this time, but bit more expensive- Negru de Purcari, which is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Saperavi and Rara Neagra (in Romania called Băbească Neagră, a rare grape variety).

While I can't agree with your Silva recommendations (I liked it somewhat more before they changed it to a strong beer, a few years back), it's your recommendation/opinion and you're entitled to it

Thanks also for the wine "shout-outs"

A question for you, as a Romanian native   Why aren't ciders and mead really a part of the market here? Ok, in the last few months, Strongbow has began distributing heavily in Romania, and a few other import ciders are popping up in stores   But domestically, it seems unheard of and it's something that foreigners and Romanians that have been abroad, have brought back. Over here in this region at least (Suceava, Iasi, etc) there's lots of apple farms and honey bee farms, and when I've met some of them at fairs and asked them about cider or mead, they never even heard of it or considered it as a product

I happen to brew cider (a little) and mead (more so) as a hobby, and so far many "natives" I've given it to, have really liked it.  Maybe I'm on to something here  I've tried brewing beer and failed miserably at that, so I leave that for the pro's

Romaniac
Expat-Blog Experts Team