The worlds ninth biggest country is vast but the craft beer is connecting people despite the geography. There is a lively craft beer scene in Almaty, the most populated city in Kazakhstan. Watch a one minute clip from the craft beer scene in Almaty before reading further 😉 .

Almaty is imbedded by beautiful mountains with snow all year around, green open fields and magnificent views. The city is bustling with breweries, bars and clubs that are on the go ! The night life is good ! Where to start the journey into the Kazakh craft beer culture? Let’s take a cab 20 min out of the city and visit Baza Brewery.

Baza Brewery

Baza Brewery has made around 30 different craft beers so far and is situated a bit outside Almaty. One of the labels you can see the blue haired Kyrgiz youtuber @eldana_foureyes who had some problems with the authorities but got support from Baza brewery and the craft beer community. The overall impression of the craft beer community is that the classic cliche is worth repeating ; Good people drink good beer. You can visit Baza brewery and see the action through the windows in the bar while sipping on a beer. Baza has also the Baza Brewery bar in central Almaty with plenty of taps and beers on bottle. Baza is also one of few breweries that has a bottling system while the others mainly sell on keg.

The brewery is run by a big crew but all labels and beers are made by the brewer Kirril Lavrov. The first beers, an IPA and a lager came out already in 2018 and today it’s full business. The fermentors are in constant use and it’s so much to do that they are hiring another main brewer to have time with everything else in the brewery. They have made around 30 beers so far and sell a lot of classic beers like IPA, ale and lager.

Hopers

Hopers has two tap rooms mainly with imported craft beers but do also have their own produced beers. They are a contract brewery so do not have their own brewery yet but they have so far around 20 different beers with ale and lagers as the most popular. Mainly Russian craft beers are served on tap but they do have a good selection on bottle and cans. The focus is on imported beers. Sergey Kimlach and Petr Lomonosov, the two guys behind Hopers have been in the craft beer scene since 2014-2015 starting as home brewers. Hopers have two bars in Almaty and has already five years history since they went from home brew shop to craft beer bar. Of the imported beers it’s wort mentioning a lot of Irish, German and Brittish craft beer.

Napitki – the craft beer bar with a good crowd

I was surely surprised when entering Napitki which isn’t just one bar but it’s many different styled bars put together in the building. The crowd is young, diverse and trendy, it’s a very mixed group of people and a tolerant and open minded ambiance so it felt like the alternative bars i visit home in Sweden. But all craft beer bars in Almaty are tolerant and LGBT-friendly and it’s the same in Bishkek in neighbouring Kyrgyzstan. Even if the overall society might be a bit conservative, craft beer culture is open minded, brave and creative. The craft beer menu at Napitki is excellent and there are also some beers on bottle, for example from Ulydala brewery. Napitki has live music concerts regularly and it’s much punk and rock music.

One of the owners are Nariman Kulmagambetov and he points out that Napitki is aiming at having the local connection and prefers local craft beer as much as possible. It is surprising how many bars focus on foreign beers when the locals are making excellent crafts.

Raccoon brewing Co

I had the pleasure to visit Raccoon brewing in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan where they have their main base but they do also sell their beer in Astana at Hop Bar . Raccoon has two brewers and one of them, Shyngys Kunanbayev is living and active in Almaty while the other brewer Sergey Kishenin is guarding the brewery in Bishkek. Both are two very active and creative guys and chooses the palate before the wallate, beer should be creative and fun in first hand. Many breweries choose to brew beer that they can sell fast and easy and make as many batches per year as possible. Focus for Raccoon is to make craft beer in first hand and if you would relate the beer philosophy with european crafts it would be more towards Mad Scientist and Omnipollo. More towards the experimental and wild side. Shyngys is not only preparing recipies and brewing , he is also active in the beer community in Almaty. He is connecting beer with people through his craft beer tours which is an eye opener for many as well as a good way for breweries to display their beer.

In Almaty Raccoon have their own house bar; Barbolsyn which is a cosy small bar with a good rotation at the taps and excellent local craft beers in first hand.

More about them in the next article about brewing pioneers in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. When talking about new wave craft beer, bold and beautiful as they say, Raccoon is the definition of it. Milkshake IPA, Braggot, different sours and Hazy New England IPA is just a few styles they brewed recently and more is coming! On untappd they have registered 76 beers and thats also an important notice – they name all their beers in English so it’s easy to find them on untappd.

Grizzly Boutique Bar

Grizzly boutique shop is a new craft beer bar with focus on matching food and beer and in particular having beer as an ingredient in everything from bread to burgers. The owner Nicolas is enthusiastic and creative, things are changing in the shop and he is also talking about importing craft beer from Uzbekistan and other neighbours, not only the Russian crafts you find everywhere. Just the fact that they have a week dedicated just for sour beers shows that the courage and passion has the force of a grizzly. The beer tours that Shyngys is running does also make a stop at grizzly beer bar for a few samples. Grizzly is the new frontrunner for craft beer shops in Almaty.

The first shop to introduce craft beer in Almaty was Pivzavod that served the first imported craft beers already in 2016. They are an important part of the craft beer history in Kazakhstan and is still in the show despite pandemic and tough times. Pivazvod is situated in a small cute house but has a steady flow of beer and knowledgeable staff. Beers are changed frequently and it’s a must to visit when in Almaty.

Privychki Bar

Small bar but taps are rotating fast and they have always a few local crafts. Privychki is simply but tastefully decorated and is a cosy and trendy place for craft beer lovers. Most breweries and bars are very active on instagram but Privychy bar has probably one of the styliest instagrams in Almaty, connecting sub cultures with craft beer with stylish pictures.

New breweries in 2023 – Ulydala brewery

Ulydala brewery has probably one of the most exciting beer labels. The two guys who has been running Kazakhstan from 1991 are on the bottles and more exciting labels are coming soon. Ulydala is focusing on sours and the recent two are called smoothie/pastry sour. They are for sure more like a smoothie, thick and rich in body and flavour. The brewer Sergey Romanenko is currently prepareing the release of some easier weiss beer as well as more sour beers and an tomato goose. The brewery is in the capital Astana, “only” 1200 kilometer north of Almaty.

If you continue another 300 kilometer, you will reach the small town Kokshetau where another craft brewery is active and is paving the way for craft beer in Northern Kazakhstan.

Kazakstan has a very diverse craft beer scene but still it’s still a culture on the rise. Old habits and patterns are changing and new beers are reflecting the new creative and open minded generations. My days in Almaty was just lovely and if you have the possibilty to travel there, grab that chance and you wont regrett it!

If you want learn more about Central Asia you can also find music videos from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan on my Instagram and youtube videos for Uzebkistan and Kyrgyzstan here. More articles are coming in June/July about Kyrgyzstan and more about Kazakh beer culture.

Jonathan / Abu Dhabi Beer Man