WHEN “SKOPSKO” WAS CALLED “OHRID”

Today, the most popular Macedonian beer is undoubtedly the light SKOPSKO, and behind it there is a wide range of different flavors of beer for everyone’s palate. But did you know that at its very beginnings, Pivara Skopje produced and poured two main types of beer – white (light) and black (dark) beer? From newspaper advertisements in the period between the two world wars, we learn that Parna Pivara – Skopje, as the official name of the company read for many years, recommended its “white” and later “12% export yellow beer” to its customers and ” 14% black beer”. These two categories correspond to today’s “light” or “lager” and “dark” beer, whereby the beer from then until today is made according to the original Czech recipe, but with a special taste that it gets from the Skopje well water. From the labels that have been preserved only thanks to passionate beer lovers, we learn that the same offer of “white” and “black” beer persisted decades later, in the period after the Second World War.

In the 1950s, “Belo Pivo-Ohrid” was put on sale. From the preserved label it can be seen that it was produced from 14% malt extract, in a package of 0.33 l. The conceptual solution of the label is quite interesting. On a yellow-blue background, one of the most famous cultural-historical sights of Ohrid – Samoil’s fortress – is illustrated, and below it, with a gradation in dimensions, is the inscription “White beer – Ohrid”. On the central upper part is placed the then logo of the company, with the old name “Parna Pivara – Skopje”. From the overall impression left by the label, it can be seen that “White Beer – Ohrid” was offered as a suitable addition to the tourist offer of that time, and the label itself is a kind of contribution to the promotion of the cultural-historical heritage as a tourist potential.

The company’s active involvement in tourism intensified in 1967, when the brewery joined the global action of UNESCO “World Tourism Year” with its special label of “SKOPSKO beer”.

Historical sources and memories tell that in the second half of the ’60s, Pivara Skopje produced three types of beer, popularly named according to the percentage of malt extract. These were: “10” – white beer, “12” – special light beer and “14” – black beer “Kabinet”. White beer was the most popular in Macedonia, while “Kabinet” beer was the most popular on the market in Southern Serbia and Kosovo. The first two beers were filled in 0.33 l and 0.5 l bottles, and “Kabinet” beer only in 0.33 l bottles.

A label from the 70s testifies that “Ohrid” beer was still produced. This time it was named simply as “Ohrid-light beer”, and the name of the brewery was changed to the shortened version “Pivara – Skopje”. At that time, it was a common practice to deliver labels as promotional material to travel agencies, along with other products of the brewery. This label was also printed on the promotional materials of the then “Generalturist” travel agency from Skopje.

In the same period, “SKOPSKO beer” will also be marked with the description “light”. “Ohrid” beer is receding into history, and “SKOPSKO light beer” among the people will soon be known simply as – “SKOPSKO”, which will be reflected in the very inscription on the labels.

The text is adapted and reworked from the original research project of HAEMUS entitled “Study on the history of Parnata Pivara Skopje”, commissioned and supported by Pivara Skopje.

Photo: Archive of Pivara Skopje

Archive source: NUB “St. Kliment Ohridski” – Skopje