Kaltenecker Brewery, Rožňava: Gemer craft beer from the source

The beer of a mining town

Rožňava is an old royal mining town in Gemer at the foot of the Slovak Ore Mountains. For centuries its wealth came from gold and ores from the surrounding mines, and the German master miners invited to work here also brought the craft of brewing — so the history of Rožňava beer goes back to the Middle Ages.

The modern Kaltenecker brewery was founded in 1997, and from the start it took a different path from the big breweries of the day: instead of one-size-fits-all beer, a variety of craft styles. The beer is brewed only from 100% malt, without stabilisers, in small batches, and at least four times a year seasonal specials appear — when elder blossoms in the meadows around Rožňava, for example, an elderflower beer is brewed. Head brewer (sládok) Marián Bednár has worked here since 2009, starting as an assistant and rising to master brewer. Under his lead Kaltenecker beers have won medals at competitions in many countries — from Ireland and the USA to Hungary — and the brewery calls itself the most decorated in Slovakia.

How it is brewed

More than 20 beers are brewed by infusion on stainless-steel equipment from the German firm BrauKon: the brewhouse produces five brews of 20 hectolitres a day, and the cylindro-conical tanks of 20 and 40 hl allow both top and bottom fermentation. A brew takes about eight hours, and it is 2–3 months from kettle to customer. All the beer is unfiltered. In 2025, due to high demand, the brewery added three new 80-hectolitre tanks.

In an interview on the brewery’s website the head brewer describes his day: each morning starts in the brewhouse, "the heart of the brewery". The malt is milled, mixed with water in the mash tun, then lautered to separate the liquid wort from the spent grain and pumped into the kettle, where the wort is boiled with hops. He considers fermentation the most important stage — so that the beer hits exactly the right gravity and strength. Bottled beer keeps for a year or more, kegged beer for up to eight weeks.

What to taste and buy

• Yakima — a semi-dark, very bitter unfiltered India Pale Ale, a favourite of Irish and Hungarian judges.
• Brokát — a dark beer with a harmonious taste of coffee and dark chocolate, the most decorated in the range.
• Weizen — a popular pale wheat beer.
• Fiesta — a golden top-fermented beer with a citrusy, lightly malty aroma.
• Tokaj IPA — a joint project with the Macik winery in Tokaj: an IPA with added botrytised berries (cibébas).

Practical information

Address: Zakarpatská 28, 048 01 Rožňava — on the edge of town; easiest by car. Rožňava lies on the Košice – Banská Bystrica road, about an hour’s drive from Košice. The brewery shop is open on weekdays (per the website 7:00–19:00; as of October 2026). It sells bottled beer and the current seasonal specials. The website does not offer brewery tours. Enquiries: +421 905 799 100 (weekdays 7:30–16:00), [email protected].

Tip: Kaltenecker beer is unfiltered, so keep bottles cool and avoid shaking them in transit.

Nearby

• Andrássy Palace in Betliar — park and manor a few kilometres from Rožňava.
• Ochtiná Aragonite Cave — a rare UNESCO-listed cave.
• Dobšiná Ice Cave — the ice world of Slovak Paradise.
• Macik Winery in Malá Tŕňa, the brewery’s partner for Tokaj IPA — in Slovak Tokaj, next to the Tokaj & CO cellars.

Official website: kaltenecker.sk

Photos: kaltenecker.sk.