Earlier this year, I spent a week in the city of Košice in Slovakia. I was there participating in a week-long Summer Institute at the Technical University of Košice. The participants in the Summer Institute were faculty from nine countries and doctoral students from five countries. The event was described as a week-long bootcamp in which participants would explore, discuss, and debate “the X-factor of a city” – the X-factor being those characteristics and features of a city that contribute to it being high performing and making it a wonderful place to live and work.

Among other responsibilities, my participation in the event included giving an hour-long presentation on a topic of relevance to the bootcamp’s theme. My particular presentation focused on the role and importance of Third Places in the modern city. For those of you unfamiliar with the concept of Third Places, they are, to quote the urban sociologist Ray Oldenburg, “nothing more than informal public gathering places”. Much of my own research on the craft brewing industry has examined how craft breweries function as neighborhood Third Places in towns and cities across America. You can read some of my thoughts on craft breweries as Third Places here, here, and here. While my presentation included some discussion of the role of American craft breweries and British community pubs as Third Places, much of it focused on the concept of Third Places more broadly.

If you are unfamiliar with the city of Košice, it is the second largest city in the country and the largest city (population ~240,000) in eastern Slovakia. Dating back to the 13th century, the city has a long and fascinating history. At various times during its history, it was part of the Kingdom of Hungary, the Principality of Transylvania, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and Czechoslovakia. Since the break-up of Czechoslovakia in 1993, it has been part of the Slovak Republic.

On the second to last evening of the bootcamp we had a farewell gathering. And guess what – this was held in a brewery. Pivovar Hostinec (Hostinec Brewery) was established in 2015 by Peter Škripko. It is housed in a building that dates to the second half of the 15th century. Originally a private residence, it was purchased by the city of Košice in 1569 and run as an inn. In 1617, a section of the building was leased and converted into a printing house; the first printing house in Kosice. Records indicate that part of the building was used as a brewery (the first in Košice) in 1604. The building was also the venue for the wedding festivities of Gabriel Bethlen, the Prince of Transylvania, and Catherine of Brandenburg in 1626. The marriage established an alliance between the Protestant Prince of Transylvania and the Protestant powers of Denmark and Sweden. This is certainly a building with a long and rich history. But that’s enough history. Let’s talk about beer.

Knowing my interest in craft brewing, the conference organizers asked me if I would be willing to collaborate with the brewery owner, Peter Škripko, and host a short but educational and fun presentation to kick-off the evening’s proceedings. Peter and I had a Zoom call and devised a plan of action. I would give a short presentation on the history of the craft brewing movement, after which he would provide an overview of the history of the brewery. Following that, Peter would lead the attendees through a tasting of four of the brewery’s beers.

Like many European craft breweries, Pivovar Hostinec, has a relatively small number of different beers on tap at any given time. Unlike many American craft breweries, which might have over a dozen different beers on tap, Pivovar Hostinec usually has six. The formal beer tasting was followed by a tour (and more tasting) of one of the brewery’s cellars where the fermentation tanks are housed. Not surprisingly, the evening was a roaring success, much of which was due to Peter’s vibrant and generous personality (and copious amounts of beer).

As I noted at the beginning of this blog entry, the aim of the week was to identify those characteristics and features of a city that contribute to it being high performing and making it a wonderful place to live and work. As the evening wound down, there were few of us who did not appreciate the role that Peter Škripko and Pivovar Hostinec play in enhancing the quality of life in the city of Košice.