Quality beer in Central Asia: where to find?

[Cardiff Jon]

Hi Steven

Thank you so very much for this information!

I’m a drinker of real ale/craft so always looking out for anything as close to this as I can.
I know from experience that you will not always get this in some countries so get whatever I can.

If I could have a few names and address of those places in Samarkand then great 😀
Ratebeer is my go to site for finding the best in foreign lands but nothing on there.

I’m ok with a little wine so will look at going to the factory plus there is a place in Bukhara.

The places I will go to in Tashkent are Pivovar Dudek, Bavaria Plaza, Brauhaus Yolki Palki and Dutch Pub.

A big thanks again.

J

[steven]

Zlata Praha in Samarkand is owned by the Samarkand-Praha brewery, which produces Pulsar and Asia beers.

at Mirzo Ulugbek 59, Samarkand
https://www.tripadvisor.ru/Restaurant_R ... vince.html
http://www.resto.uz/catalog-zavedeniy/s ... praga-423/

Even better should be their beer bar near the beer factory, Bochka.
https://www.lonelyplanet.com/uzbekistan ... 950/357826

This guy went to the beer factory and has more interesting info on beer in Uzbekistan (toss it in Gtranslate)

http://beerbottle.ru/2011/06/pivo-v-uzb ... amarkande/
http://beerbottle.ru/2011/03/est-li-piv ... kistane-1/

2 more places in Samarkand: Blues Cafe and Alt Stadt
https://www.lonelyplanet.com/uzbekistan ... 233/357826
https://www.lonelyplanet.com/uzbekistan ... 591/357826

In Tashkent, 2 more decent bars are Steam Bar and Jazz Pub, but not sure on their beer selection.

I did not find anything in Bukhara that goes above basic lager, shashlyk and karaoke.

What is the wine place in Bukhara? I don't know that one.

[CallumT]

While you're on the topic of beers, I was wondering if there is any decent craft beer spots throughout all of Central Asia? China is excellent for it so far but I am expecting that to stop once I hit the stans

[Cardiff Jon]

Steven - Thank you so much for this great information!

Callum - I will dig out my beer lists for you in the next day or so with the places I went to in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
They include breweries, bars etc so please keep an eye out.

Jonathan

[Cardiff Jon]

Hi!

So last March I went to Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan and this is the beer places I noted in my ticking book.

Bishkek Kyrgyzstan

1) Zolden Beer - this place is a few mins walk from the main square area. Great choice of beer, I tried 4 of what they had to offer and all ticked the boxes. The manager was on duty who was a great guy with perfect English, I think he was was shocked have 2 guys from Wales coming into his place so early for liquid refreshments. Highly recommend if you go there! As a bonus they have a Tottenham Hotspur shirt framed 😊

2) Blonder Pub - This is a great micro brewery a little out of the way but worth it! The beer selection was very good and tasted great, as a bonus being a Sunday it was 50% off the beer so happy days 😜 The staff spoke English and were so welcoming to us. Make sure you go here If ever in the City.

3)Save The Ales - Small brewery tap of a local brewery. Nice staff working when we visited but all the beer styles we like had sold out. They had two fruit wheat beers on which were ok but not really my style. Still a place worth checking out.


Almaty Kazakhstan

1) Pivaroff - A very good micro brewery where we had a fair few of their dark ales, Worth going to if there.
2) Linebrew- An Ok place for a quick beer.
3) Shtab - The best in the City! So much beer to choose from and very cheap! We went here twice as it was that good. The selection of dark ales really did it for me. This seems to be a proper locals bar which we loved.

Astana

1) The Barley - Best place we went to in Astana. Very good tasting beer and nice staff to talk to.

2) O’Hara - Yes it’s marketed as an I fish Oub but ignore that as the beer they brew on-site is very good!

3) Pivovaroff- Another good brew Pub which brewed mainly German style beer but all good.

For directions and further info check the website ratebeer

Hope this helps your beer needs.

Jonathan

[CallumT]

Oh wow! I wasn't expecting anything like that to be available anywhere. That is great news, plenty of options to keep us busy while we wait for visas to get processed then. Thank you very much the information.

If you ever end up going to China I can definitely recommend Jing A brewing in Beijing, by far the best brews I've come across since leaving home

[steven]

I wanted to add this shop called Volna in Almaty. It's at 113/56 Panfilov street, on the corner with Gogol street.

Their assortment is huge, their website says 600 beers (200 on tap) and 300 vodkas, and they also have tons of fish and nuts to go with your beers.

http://www.volna.kz/

[Cardiff Jon]

Oh wow that really is some selection!

Roll on the next time I’m in Almaty.

[steven]

I asked for tips on Twitter and someone mentioned this one, in Almaty as well:

Kraftwerk: https://www.facebook.com/kraftwerk.almaty/

[CallumT]

Just as I was gearing myself up for a 3 month vodka-only marathon. The beer gut will be bigger than ever