While searching for craft beer in Mostar, this was one of the best reviewed venues in the city and so it seemed only polite to pop into Pub Beer ti&ja. It is next to a shopping centre and probably receives a fair amount of passing trade, but the centre was closed when we visited on Sunday, which perhaps explained why the pub was so quiet.
The bar area had the four keg options from Cooltura (the APA, the Amber, the Blonde Ale and the IPA) and there was signage about the craft beer available in cans. The welcome was immediately friendly and it felt an inviting location.
As I mentioned, it wasn’t the busiest but I still liked the atmosphere and general vibe.
I ordered two beers from Cooltura Pivovara, whose beers appear to be brewed at the venue. On the left was Prirodna Plavuša, a malty and bready beer with light notes of honey and toffee. On the right was the APA, which I cannot describe in any detail because it transpired that I had forgotten to record it on Untappd. Sub-optimal in terms of my recording efforts, although I remember it being a decent beer.
There was also a pleasant outside area, while the staff appeared to be coping admirably with the considerable pressure of serving Jonathan and me.
I rather liked Beer ti&ja. It offered interesting local beers, friendly service and, importantly, accepted cards at a moment when neither of us had any Bosnian marks. That prevented me from visiting Craft Beer Garden Ima i Može, which accepted cash only and might otherwise have been one of my favourite bars of the trip judging by its Untappd selection. Beer ti&ja was therefore technically the alternative, although it was a thoroughly enjoyable one.
I admit that forgetting the flavour of one of only two beers does rather undermine my claim to be conducting serious international beer research. Fortunately, nobody has ever mistaken this blog for a peer reviewed academic journal, which is probably just as well.