Sabaja are leading a punk-inspired brewing revolution in Kosovo
- Text by Freddie Reynolds
- Photography by Jetmir Idrizi

Alex Butler started brewing beer in his cupboard, twenty litres at a time. He was working at a mastering studio in Manhattan with The London Souls, Dave Matthews and a host of other bands.
He was also studying for an MBA and it was here that he met Etida Zeka, a Kosovan who came to visit him in his Brooklyn flat and tried one of his beers. “It was like a light bulb went off above her head,” he says excitedly. “She said that she’d never tasted anything like it, that they had nothing like it in Kosovo.”
Alex was soon on a plane to Pristina. Two years later and Sabaja, the company he and Etida set up together, remains Kosovo’s first and only craft brewery. It now has six beers to its name – ranging from a year-round pale ale to a seasonal winter stout – all brewed, in 1,200 litre batches, on the ground floor of Alex’s house.

To his mind, Alex’s relationship with music – as a musician and a fan – and the brewery he co-founded are intrinsically linked. Jazz legend Charles Mingus, a personal hero, stares out from the sticker on the side of Sabaja’s Session Ale. And his passion for independent record labels – particularly the Washington DC Dischord scene that supported a melee of punk/post-punk bands like Fugazi and the Dismemberment Plan – remain a big influence on the way he wanted to run the business. “You can build your own guitar and write your own songs and book your own shows and, if you do it well, people will love you for it. I was all about following local bands that weren’t signed, rooting for the small guys trying to make it. When I started getting into the craft beer movement, it was for the same reason. You’re doing it without Budweiser, you’re doing it without millions of dollars in ad spending. You’re creating your brand based on a quality product.”
His ambition is to create a homebrewing community in Pristina. “One of the greatest things about punk music was that they shared the stage. Craft breweries don’t work against each other. We band together to work against the major players downgrading the market.”
To that end, in October 2014, Alex opened a Sabaja shop selling beers, T-shirts and homebrew kits. “I tell people I make beer and they say, ‘Okay, so how much money do you have?’ There’s this belief that beer can only be made in a massive factory. When I tell people that they can make beer in their closet, they give me a weird look. It doesn’t have to be, ‘I make the beer, you buy it.’”

Alex’s worldview is a neat fit for the fiercely independent community that surrounds him in Pristina. “There’s a unity to the scene here,” says Alex. “It’s exciting and unfettered by corporations. In London, in New York, everywhere you go for cool music, chances are it’ll be bought out. Here, it’s not about that. There’s a purity to it because it is about
building identity.”
“We have a vision and you’re going to listen to it,” he adds, as if dictating the city’s creative creed. “You’re going to feel it. And we’re not going to water it down for you.”
Hops around the city
Sabaja founder Alex Butler knows where to get Pristina’s best cold brews.
Taverna Tirona: “This is a real old-town rocky joint. The guy that owns it is a crazy history buff and he gave us the idea for our name – sabaja means ‘beer’ in Illyrian. He’s got some of the best rakia in town, too.”
MIQT Pub: “A small bar that spills out onto the street on busy nights. A pretty happening spot. Plenty of beer going on and good people, too.”
Babaganoosh: “Often referred to as The Vegetarian as it’s the only vegetarian restaurant in Pristina and a very cool place.” The Beer House Located near the football stadium and co-owned by Sabaja. Pale ales and hamburgers are the order of the day.
The Beer House: Located near the football stadium and co-owned by Sabaja. Pale ales and hamburgers are the order of the day.
This is part two of our five-part Insider’s Guide to Pristina, Kosovo, which originally appeared in Huck 48 – The Origins Issue.
Grab a copy in the Huck Shop or subscribe today to make sure you don’t miss another issue.
You might like

Coming of age in New York’s ’70s punk heyday
I Feel Famous — Through photographs, club flyers and handwritten diary entries, Angela Jaeger’s new monograph revisits the birth of the city’s underground scene, while capturing its DIY, anti-establishment spirit.
Written by: Miss Rosen

In The Road to Patagonia, Matty Hannon holds “a mirror to the human condition”
From tip to tip — More than a surf and travel documentary, the Australian filmmaker meditates on capitalism’s pitfalls and the importance of existing within nature while embarking on a marathon journey from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego.
Written by: Sam Haddad

Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong tells ICE to “fuck off” in LA protest video
Saviors — The singer shared the post on Sunday, featuring the band’s recently released song ‘Fuck Off’ as its soundtrack.
Written by: Isaac Muk

Turnstile benefit gig raises $35k for Baltimore homelessness charity
Never Enough — The hardcore band also performed two new songs at Wyman Park Dell in their first live concert in nearly two years, which was organised in support of Health Care For The Homeless.
Written by: Isaac Muk

Riot grrrl is back. Do we need it more than ever?
Femme punk forever — With social media driving renewed interest in the early ’90s movement, which blended feminist politics with brash punk music, we spoke to vanguards of the genre’s new wave, who are reviving its ethos as women’s rights come increasingly under attack.
Written by: Kurt Suchman
Meet the hair-raised radicals of Berlin’s noise punk scene
Powertool — In his new zine, George Nebieridze captures moments of loud rage and quiet intimacy of the German capital’s bands, while exploring the intersections between music, community and anti-establishment politics.
Written by: Miss Rosen