What's your favorite Polish beer?

Kasztelan Jasne Petne because it tastes good, and is brewed in Sierpc near where my family originates.

carlsbergpolska.pl/Firma/historia/Pages/Historia.aspx

Sounds right:




James Stokes - Okiem Angola

It's not a secret that English people like beer. Sometimes big groups of English people come to Poland's ancient and beautiful cities where they wander from bar to bar shouting about how much they like beer. What you probably don't know is that there are two kinds of English beer lover. The first kind only pretend to like beer, what they actually like is any kind of brown or yellowish liquid containing alcohol. They would drink cold tea with a shot of vodka in it if you told them it was the local beer. The second kind of beer lover actually cares what the beer tastes like. I am the second kind, and I have a hard time in Poland.

My personal choice would be English Real Ales if not the fact you need to go to UK to get them right.
If I drink beer in Poland, my choice is ŻUBR for its taste and nice apparent strength.
Żywiec gives me headaches; Tyskie has worsened, and I was never convinced by Okocim. Lech is acceptable.

I'm not sure whether local breweries will find their way to the market.

Jamie Stokes describes Polish beers from the perspective of English taste. It is only not clear whether he is a lover of Real Ale or lager. He should bear in mind Polish beer is Polish beer, not English beer... This is just different style of beer.

There is a bar in Warsaw called " Legends" they offer a couple of real ales on tap.

I think you missed his point. Several Polish readers, who wrote comments under his post, agreed with him and gave their clear reasons. This was not about Polish vs. English taste - he wrote about lack of quality and blandness of mass produced Tyskwiec.

We get all that "Tyskwiec" brands in Toronto as well. And some Canadians prefer it over the local "Labatts Blue", "Canadian", etc. since Tyskwiec beers deliver some taste of hops, which is lacking in local "Labatians". Both types are actually rather non-impressive - and here I agree with Jamie. Specialty beers from the liquor stores (rather than from beer stores) are real eye openers. But shush, don't tell it to any admirer of a beer X. :-)

"Gusta nie podlegają dyskusji"

Ciechan pszeniczne is my favorite!! :-)

Lech Pils is very acceptable. The rest? Bluurrgh.


Good bar, that.

For what it's worth, my favourite beer here is Obolon or L'vivskie 1715. Yes, I know. Failing that, Lech Pils.

(I don't leave the province, for what it's worth)

I heard £omża is pretty good, did anybody try it? Or Ciechan, which is reputedly to be great.

Thank you.
(Do you realize what the word Real before Ale means and how Real Ale is made, distributed and served? I doubt it could be delivered from the English brewery by courier freight flight and that the barrel would be consumed fast enough. Real Ale has to be totally fresh, with yeast still working, and a barrel needs to be consumed in some 48 hours max. On contrary, lager beers can be stored for long time and transported over long distances.)

Yes, many times, it's not bad but the unpasteurised £omża is far far better. I go for Ciechan Wyborne or Ciechan Miodowe (but the Ciechan Miodowe on tap is far far better) most times but quite like Lwówek Książęcy as a lighter beer. If I want a dark beer I go for Gniewosz ciemne. Kormoran do some good stuff too, particularly the Premium. And you can't fail to try Zywe from the Amber brewery.

When it comes to larger scale breweries, Perła are well ahead of the field. Perła Chmielowa is by far the best large scale beer in Poland, Zwierzyniec Pils is the best beer sold in cans in Poland and Lubelskie Pils is your best bet for a 330ml bottle of beer in the country.

Amber -ywe and naturalny. Yes, it's not capitalized.

Is this the beer with the figures in Cracovian costume on the bottle? It is the only Polish beer available where I live. Does Poland have a problem with people consuming light beer? It is very common in the USA and it is probably the worst beverage one can drink. Upon your first sip of light beer your body, after expecting to taste something good, can even go into shock, or you may even become violent and strike the person who gave you this deceptive lie of a drink. Poland, do not allow light beer past your boarders and supress it if it is already there.

Where in Warsaw they sell them on tap?

Yes, that's the one. Well, many people drink it and do not complain. I personally prefer other beers, not only ŻUBR but also Czarna Perła. OTOH, Polish light beer differs a lot from Pilsner or German beers or the Bud. It is strong and it is a little sweet. You may hate it or like it, nobody forces you to buy it. For me, German beers are "empty" in taste, Czech pilsners are far too bitter. I don't like American Bud at all.

No idea. I've heard that there's somewhere in Mokotow but I'm not going that far for a pint, there's much nicer stuff in the city centre. That said, whenever I go to Lublin, a pint of draft Perla in the old town is always high on the list of things to do.

Care to tell where? :)

Chlodna 25 have a reasonably well stocked fridge and you can probably guess the address. Po drugiej stronie lustra also has one but it's in Praga and I fcuking hate pikeys. There's also a place with a dream fridge, far better than the other places, but it's pretty small so I keep the name to myself (although if you PM me I might tell you the name). And of course Bierhalle is always worth a visit.

Goolman Premium is high quality great value beer to drink when in Poland . When nearly every beer on the supermarket shelf in Poland is well over 5% proof and with all that alcohol they just don't taste very moreish to me but I found Goolmmans to be the perfect antidote. It is great stuff!

I like 4% ABV Donner Premium brewed by VanPur (part of Austria's Brau Union). It's the best of the lower-priced brands I've sampled. At different Carrefours a half-litre can ranges from 1,39 to 1,89 złotys. They've also got a 6.2% one for a few groszy more, but below 2 zł.

I've changed my mind-I love that beer.Especially "Raciborskie Twierdzowe" but others are also delicious.Good choice Resident :)

What is your favorite beer?

What is your favorite beer? When I was in Poland a few weeks ago, I had a beer in Poland called Harnas, and it was great! You can't find it in Canada so I'm a bit disappointed. But the only good Polish beer IMO is Zywiec, Tyskie and Harnas. I think the best beer personally is from Germany, Czech, and Belgium. Can't beat their variety. But I hear Poland has some great micro-breweries, do you guys know of any?

The beer is nothing special in taste (like German tasteless lagers) but the commercials are nice:






yuk!


Yes.

You don't like German/Czech/Belgian beer?! =O So what beer do you like?

Me personally speaking, Poland makes THE best vodka, but the beer is generally average.

Hmm this is a cheap type of beer made by the Carlsberg Brewery....Give Lech a go and you will be surprised how good it is.... cheers

Yes, I dislike those bitter lagers.


I don`t know about vodka because I don`t drink it. But some Polish Strongbeers are very good. They are a little sweet which is of importance to me.

meritum-news.com/PORADY/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/13-sierpnia-panienki-z-piwem.jpg

The one in Warsaw isn't bad but the one in Lublin is by far and away the best in the country.

Poland is better for small breweries than for microbreweries. Look for anything by Ciechan brewery, Jagiello brewery, Amber brewery or Kormoran brewery. Also, not small brewery but not big either, try Perla beers.

I agree. Note, that Lublin Brewery (Perla maker) is I probably last Polish big brewery not bought by large multinational concerns. Moreover, they introduced Perla unpasteurised (niepasteryzowana) - my best discovery this year, very refreshing. £omża unpasteurised is similar and also good. And I've finally tried Ciechan - it deserves its reputation, though its taste wouldn't probably fit most of Tyskie lovers.

Pibwl

Agreed!

Lech lacks taste, flavoring. Tyskie Książęce was the best Polish beer I've tasted.

I'll be coming to Poland this September and I'll make sure I try some. The Tyskie Gronie sounds good. I love pilsners.