Decent Polish Ale or Lager?

Hey Guys,
I am going to Poland and I normally drink pale ales over here (UK). Nothing too sweet, IPA and EPA like marstons or even Worthingtons cream flow are my taste. Can you get Ales in poland? or is it just Largers? I am not being fussy, just interested. I will of course be trying to sample as many local beers and such.

So what would people recommend.
Also is cztery piwa proszę perfectly sensible thing to ask, or is saying 'please' not a done thing? I have heard that holding doors open for people can be seen as offensive. Just want to be as respectful as possible whilst I am there and speak some Polish rather than be an Ignorant Brit.

Thanks for the Help
Frick

Is there anywhere in the world where it's not?
Although it's a bit sweet for me, try Warka Strong on tap. If you're coming to the big cities (for the footer?) you'll be able to find all sorts in the Irish and English pubs. You won't go thirsty. Harry's the Polish Forums beer guide. He'll probably be along in a while.

Frick, I've ONLY tasted indecent ale:-) Never met an ale drinker yet ya could trustLOL

lol, Would not have thought so, but there are different cultures and customs around the world. Why would holding the door open for someone be offensive when it is only being polite? Apparently in parts of Russia it is offensive.

I will just be in Krakow. Are you Polish or living in Poland? Thanks for reply as well.

I'm a Londoner who's been here for a while now. English beer is one of the few things I miss about the old country. Polish lager is fine when it's fresh. There's a good range of interesting dark beers and wheat beers. Well worth checking out the supermarket shelves.


It's not offensive, just not done as much here as in other countries. It might be something to do with keeping doors closed in cold weather.


Just being alive is offensive to Russian shop assistants.

Sadly Polish pubs can often be a bit lacking when it comes to choice of beer, and there's not much in the way of ale out here anyway. Your best bet in terms of availability is going to be Zywiec Porter, not a fan of it myself but I know that quite a few people are and it tends to be in most pubs which have contracts with Zywiec (i.e. most pubs). Keep an eye out for the Ciechan range of beers, they do a dark one which you might like but all of them are well worth drinking, my particular choice is the Wyborne or the Miodowe (honey beer). I don't know Krakow these days at all, so I can't recommend bars there or even their local beers, but Jamie Stokes appears to be your man: have a browse of his articles here krakowpost.com/writer/Jamie-Stokes

Have been curious about the honey beer. Have tried Krupnik and liked it but unsure about how it'd go with beer...

I've always been a Tyskie man myself:-) Warta's not bad either. Like the Podlasie dancers on the Żywiec label though, I must admit.

Knew it was good for somethin'.

Thanks for the Replys!

Some are decent and some are very good. Never had a bad one. If you can't find Ciechan Miodowe, think about Lomza Miodowe (from the Lomza brewery) or Trybunalskie Miodowe (by the Perla people in Lublin), Lozma is slightly less sweet but Trybunalskie is more interesting.


Not outside the Warka area.

You can get ales in Poland. Browar Pinta make ales, try their Atak Chmielu (hop attack), American IPA. Browar Kormoran and Ciechan also have a good variety of beers. Zywiec makes a porter well worth trying. Polish lagers are pretty tasteless, but Dębowe Mocne have a little more taste to it. Some unpasteurised lagers are also available, you can try the Kasztelan Niepasteresowane among others.

Cheers Harry. For a country that drinks as much as we do, the choice of beers in a typical Irish pub is very limited so should be interesting.

They have it round our way and we're a long way from the brewery.


I thought they were highlanders. Podlasie traditional costume is quite different as far as I know.

Thanks, teflcat! Ought to have recognized a Tatra/góral costume when I saw one.

Trying a Kormoran from Browar Kormoran right know, a nice hoppy lager.


Tried this not to many weeks ago. Honeybeers are not my favourite style, but not to bad that one.

The Browar Zamkowy (Raciborz) makes a few decent beers, including an old facorite, Piwo Zielone.

Ummm.. btw, Warko Strong, as ****** as it is, I dont think its even a natural beer in itself and has a bit of alcohol spirit mixed in there. Blaahhhh

Try Piwo Niepastryowane

Hi people,

I am looking for an answers for a 2 questions which is connected with Poland and I need to know to complete the application for a summer course 2012 in Poland. I can't find an information for that to google and that's the reason to find someone from Poland.

The questions are:
1. Which genre of beer Poles generally prefer? (ale or lager)
2. What is krentoszczygorzymka and what it does?

Thank you for the attention!

Greetings from Macedonia.. :))

Poles abroad, where we live close to Maspeth, Queens, tend to drink name brand brews like Żywiec, Tyskie, Warka and the like. I can't really speak for Poles in Poland:-)

Tyskie Ksiarzece the best beer in Poland

But the question is WHICH GENRE OF BEER?
Ale or lager? Which of these?
Which genre is Tyskie Ksiarzece?

The main brands are Tyskie Gronie, a 5.6% pale lager, and Tyskie Książęce, a 5.7% pale lager.

PennBoy, Thank you very much for the answer!

Anyone to know the answer for the second question?

I agree, PennBoy. -ywiec is overrated:-))
Of the two though, I don't even prefer Polish beer, but Polish moonshine, aka bimber!!! Żybrówka's not bad either, that is, if you have the stomach capacity for pure wood alcohol. Man's zzat stong stuff.

you do know Tyskie is owned by South Africans? SABmiller
And Zywiec is Heinekin?

No, I didn't! Shouldn't have been surprised though:-) Flagship firms have been merging right and left now for decades, national brands being outsourced to China.....!

In my opinion the best beer come from smaller breweries. Lomza is still good but it has been taken over by a Danish company- it still maintains the small brewery feel and taste- this may change, however.

a few other regional brews are good --i tend to stay away from the big names- as they have all been refined for mass production.