Water & Soil

The Sanntal sits like a basin between mountains. The Alps rise to the north, and through the middle runs the Savinja, a river that flows down from the mountains and swells with meltwater each spring. The hop gardens stand on the flat valley floor around Žalec, while in Laško the brewery sits in a narrow river landscape.

Hops like deep soil that holds moisture yet never turns waterlogged. The Savinja's alluvial soil delivers exactly that. The climate is mild enough for long, green summers, but it also brings thunderstorms with hail. Several harvests in recent years have been damaged by hailstorms and flooding, and as recently as August 2023 the valley was among the affected areas.

What comes out of the brewery's taps has little to do with the river. As at Laško and Union, almost everywhere breweries treat their water, softening it or adding salts. For a pale lager, soft, low-mineral water is an advantage, since it keeps the hops from tasting sharper than intended.

To really understand the landscape, you need to view it from the hillside. From above you can make out the long rows of trellises, the lines of the Savinja, and the rooftops of Žalec. A beer cellar dug into the mountain, the kind familiar from Franconia, has no place in this picture. Ageing takes place in climate-controlled tanks, standard practice for a mass-market beer.