The Sarajevo Brewery was founded in 1864 and it is believed to be the first industrial production in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The first beer in Sarajevo was best described in an article in the Yugoslav Journal in 1930 titled „How the First Production of Beer Began in Sarajevo in 1864.“
“… The first pouring of beer was very festive. In a shady plume orchard in the valley overlooking the Brewery, on carpets spread around a round sofra (traditionally a low table or tray used as a dining table) covered with assorted refection, pillows and mats were placed for high guests, and, beside a creek, at the edge of the plum orchard, fattened lambs were being turned on a spit. In a long line of carriages, guests were arriving: Governor Sherif Osman Pasha, with military and civilian entourage, foreign consuls with their secretaries and the most honoured citizens of all faiths.
They sat around the sofra, ate, drank, rejoiced and toasted, entertained by music played by the military and selected Gorica Gypsies. (…) The rest of the people rejoiced and drank beer on a meadow close to the Brewery, and much later dispersed back to their homes, with a series of incidents. First, one cheerful group was stopped by officials on a bridge, which was located about thirty steps down the current bridge, connecting Kovačići with the right bank of the Miljacka river. A toll was to be paid for the beer which the Sarajevans were taking home in ewers and jugs. But the Sarajevans would not be hindered by this, and resolved the issue of the municipal finances on the very spot by quickly gulping all the beer, and then heading to their native grounds with empty ewers and jugs, followed by the officials’ protests.“