Earlier this autumn I visited the Carlsberg Uzbekistan Brewery. Carlsberg is one of the largest beer companies in the world. They were founded in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1847 and have become a multinational corporation. They own some beers I am familiar with including Lav of Serbia and the Russian Baltika and the international Tuborg. They came to Uzbekistan over 10 years ago and produce Sarbast here in Uzbekistan. The Uzbek government uses this strategy to develop industries. They make a deal with an international company that brings the expertise and equipment and uses the relationship to develop local capacity. You can see this with General Motors Chevrolet and other companies.
We walked above the factory floor as you can see in the photos above. I am always impressed with the distinct pieces of machinery that are necessary for assembly line production. There were a few workers monitoring the process, making sure the bottles kept moving. It was loud and we wore headphones. After viewing the factory floor, we had a reception in a conference room followed by dinner in their outdoor beer garden. The food and beer were delicious and we enjoyed a karaoke competition. I highly recommend during the warmer months in Tashkent to make dinner reservations for a fun-filled evening. I was impressed by the professionalism and attention to detail by management.
I particularly like the Sarbast Unfiltered. It is a pilsner-style, lighter beer and the unfiltered aspect gives it a richer taste. I also sampled some others and liked the Baltika Zero shandy. This is a non-alcoholic fruity beer that is also light and has a subtle sweetness. Sarbast translates from Uzbek to “free” in English.
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