BIP Svetlo Pivo
BIP (Beogradska Industrija Piva)

 

Pours a clear yellow straw color with visible carbonation. A large bubbly head dissipates after about a minute.
The aroma is mostly clean with notes of bready malt and a touch of green apple. There is also a fleeting touch of toffee. Nothing special in the nose overall.
The taste opens with moderately sweet grainy malt and a touch of toffee. Served cold it’s ok, however, as the flavors open up, it all goes downhill. I’m perhaps detecting corn adjunct but not sure. The grain becomes somewhat coarse with notes of lightly burnt hay, astringent overall. Notes of green apple throughout. Very little bitterness and virtually no detectable hops flavor. Light bodied with a crisp and somewhat rough mouthfeel. The finish is short and clean.
Vacationing in Macedonia without many options beyond Skopsko. I thought I would give this a try for something different. Verdict: not good.

 

 

 

 

 

This beer came back from the dead. The factory had major issues with water quality preservation, which is a great deal of a secret of a good beer taste. I remember the old BIP, one of the first beers I ever drank, it used to be #1 beer in my country. Then it dramatically declined in quality for more than a decade and I wonder how did it manage to survive with a horrible taste it had. But now it is getting better each time I buy it. It has different, heavier feel than most beers produced in Balkans, but still it has some character of its own. Not bad choice.

This is the oldest brand of Belgrade Beer Industry (Beogradska Industrija Piva). It was popular during 70's and 80's, but afterwards suffered a huge fall in popularity and availability. In the last few months it starts to be available again in stores (bottle and can) and in the bars on tap.

Poured from 0.5 l bottle into a tulip-shaped glass.

A: Pale yellow color, with small, poor head that disappears quickly and leaves a bit of lacing. A few streams of bubbles which don't last too long either.

S:Not much going on here, but I can smell some hops and barley malt, though nothing very significant. Some herbal notes. A bit of skunk is there, or rather kind of smell of wet kitchen cloth. Not sure if I feel some corn. It's still less offensive than most of Serbian beers.

T: Taste is refreshing, and not too bad. Some bitterness, citrus, and skunk is present. Having trouble to determine the style of beer - if it is Euro Pale Lager, some kind of poor German Pilsener or maybe Adjunct Lager.

M: Mouth-feel is watery. It has low to dissent carbonation and somewhat bitter aftertaste.

D: First bottle goes down easily, although bitterness increases with the time. As it lacks stronger character, you don't have many reasons to keep drinking this one.

O: Standard boring, bland brew from the Balkan region. It has a bit of hoppiness, and less offensive smell and aroma than most of the local brews. Niksicko still wins the race here.