Beer ran through Begej, and everything else is a history

It all began with the first brewery

Beer began its story in the town of Begej back in 1745, which makes brewing industry of Zrenjanin one of the oldest in the region, together with Pancevo and Vrsac.

The brewery was opened by the master brewer Sebastian Krajcezen. By the opening of this brewery, the oldest industrial zone in the then Veliki Beckerek was established. This property stretched from the big bridge to today’s Sock Factory. In the yard, there was a park with a veranda, where various parties were organized with music and draft beer. It is interesting that a large fire started from

Brewery modernization

In 1878, the brewery was bought by the landowner Lazar Dundjerski from the then owner Roža Ferenc, and it was significantly expanded and modernized. Top architects from Prague designed a new complex, which is today under state protection. The dry grinding mill, which is part of the technology that Dundjerski delivered to the brewery, worked until the end of beer production, which speaks of the top quality of the brewing technology with which this landowner equipped the Zrenjanin brewery.

The brewery remained the property of the Dundjerski family until its nationalization, in 1945 when Lazar’s grandson, Dr Dušan Dundjerski donated the brewery to the Communist Party, but he remained in the position of director until 1948.

At the beginning, beer production was measured on coffee, while with the Dundjerski family, the Zrenjanin beer industry became a real giant. The peak in production amounted to 405,000 hectoliters of beer and gut is consumed annually, in the eighties of the last century, and it was in that period that the famous manifestation “Beer Days” was founded.

The quality of beer was guaranteed by centuries of experience, the use of natural raw materials and soft Bege water. Thus, at the first summit of the Non-Aligned Movement, Zrenjanin beer under the label “Peace” was given the opportunity to show itself to the international scene.

Today, the Beer Museum is located on the site of the brewhouse, ie beer kitchen. This room was the most
important part of the production, where hops, kneading and cooking took place. There are cauldrons on

the ground floor, and the entire interior is lined with the famous Brač stone. About 50% of special tinted glass on the facade, imported from Italy, has been preserved. There is also equipment that was brought in 1958 from Germany (from the famous company Ziemann Sudwerk), copper cauldrons with a capacity of up to 40 thousand liters.

Cheers!