"If it's not Polish, it's shite" - What is great about Polish Beer in UK?

I'm curious, i know a few Poles and they insist on their precious Polish beer.

Normally Brits in the UK buy all sorts of beer from the supermarket.. we have Czech, Danish, British, Ameican, Mexican etc etc.. I tend to get whatever is on offer at the time.

However it seems the "if it's not polish, it's shite" phenomena in the UK isn't just limited to bread & sausages.

Exactly. Only Polish beer doesn`t suck.

Poland has some really good beers but, for me, the tastiest Ukrainian, Slovak and Czech ones are higher quality. I'd much rather drink Obolon, Zlaty Bażant and Budweiser Budvar than any Polish beer. The general quality of beer here is good but I've tried many international beers (sth of a hobby) and Polish ones wouldn't feature in my top 10.

Simply put, many Poles have a tendency to overrate their products but if they like it......

I drank them. They are good. But not as perfect as you suggest.


Yes, Teraz Polska!

Well, considering anyone who is actually attempting to "rank" mass-market beers in terms of quality is already..well let's put it this way.. an f'ing idiot, I wouldnt worry about it. I'm sure those Mexican or Danish beers really stand out among the competition, of course as long as theyre on sale. Tyskie, Lech, Zywiec, it's all the owned by the same brewery, produced in the exact same way, and has the same shiiit piiiis mix of chemicals, ethanol and "beer flavor".

Seriously, go try some real beers or something.


****** beers.

After your stupid suggestion that there are only 3 kinds of beer in Poland, no, thank you! :):):)

Im a enthusiast for "proper" ales, i always buy craft beers and single bottles to try. However cost doesn't always mean i can afford such quantities so i do go for the mass-produced "shit". Can't argue with a nice cold pint of stella for a drink in the sun :-D

Pawian, I didn't mention the word perfection but, for me, they taste much better than many beers here. I like Okocim's wheat beer but I prefer Paulaner.

I dont know if you're serious or what, I'd recommend being a bit more obvious here. Obviously there are quite bit of decent beers in PL, such as a few offerings from the Chiechan brewery, Raciborz (Zamkowy) etc. but the pickings are slim. There are about a million better American or Belgium beers available for the same or similar price of what a "decent" beer goes for in Poland.

Paulaner with banana juice - mmm - tasty - half beer half juice IIRC

and Becks 'Alcohol Free' (it's not completely alcohol free) - the best balance of bitterness that I tasted so far (I don't know if the regular Becks is equally good) - anyway the German beers are made following their Reinheitsgebot and I very much doubt they stuff it stiff with chemicals (as they do with the likes of Stella and Carlsberg or they say Heineken too) - and they have a range of tastes in their beers

if you want a liver wrenching experience (i believe it is good for your bile) - go for Holba (a local Czech beer from the are of Jeseniki) - German Leikeim is from the same league but somehow I have better reminiscenses with the Holba

I drank Holba for a bit but there are better Czech beers. Radegast and Staropramen, for example.

Here are some of the Polish beers I buy from corner shop and I do enjoy drinking them.

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Wow, that's an impressive list ;)

I didn't say Holba is the best beer - it's not your regular beer simply - and I was told what I drank (10-er not the 12-er - I mean extract) was one of the most bitter beers in the Czech Republic - I don't drink beer for alcohol content but for the taste - that's why I drink it once in half a year mostly - and Holba is like a punch into your liver (not because of the alcohol content 10-er is quite weak actually only 4 per cent alcohol) - you actually feel like your bile canals relax and open (well I guess you won't feel that that intensive if your liver is not significantly burdened and your bile tracts aren't a bit 'cramped') - the beer made me cringe - it's almost painful to drink it - that's why I treat it more as a medicine than a recreational stuff

this is very different to Becks for example which has strong but bearable hops content and drinks quite smooth

and now compare these to Carling hehe ;) - there was a time I could drunk draught Carling to my desire (whatever amount I wished for and for free) - I think I ended up with just a couple of pints - always thought Strongbow cider was much better (also could drink it as much as I pleased) (but I was told it gives you a bad hang-over once overdosed)

as far as I can recall Staropramen is quite mild, well-rounded beer, can't really remember the Radegast

You should check out Hellgate's website. It is only a small student pub here but he has many types of Polish beer. Some are ghastly but many are worth trying. Over 120 types of beer on display, many are foreign and many are Polish.

Sean, when did you become a Pole? :):):):

oh, and oddly enough I had my 'time of ales' too - it was the more strange I had to go back to work after half a pint each time (half a pint of beer already makes me dizzy) - some English builders have peculiar habits (having a pint instead of having a lunch ;) - I wasn't buying the stuff and I couldn't really refused it too

When he first barged his way to the front of a Mcdonalds queue by elbowing an old lady out the way then counting out his coins for the exact change for his cheeseburger ;)

Nope. You got it all wrong. It was Seanus who was wronged by an old lady!

youtube.com/watch?v=toNEQ3Dmp-4

i'm sure this guy drinks beer with fruit juice ;/

bought some Tyskie beer today.. it's quite nice.. very similar to heineken i think..

i don't think i'd pay the premium for it though

yuck, read your labels. Like already posted the top brands are all owned by the same companies. Polish small breweries are good. non pasteurized. Ciechan, Lomza (has been bought out but still tastes good), Browar Konstancin- there are loads of them.

Sir you are a baboon

I feel that your opinion is based on blind patriotism and nothing else

@Hudson - I too enjoy Stella, unfortunately it is very difficult to find in Poland

For non UK residents you will be amused to learn that Stella is known as 'wife beater' in the UK

The microbrews are often the unsung heroes of the beer scene. Some of the ones I've tried, I'd never heard of.

Nope, it is based on decades of experiments with beer.

Don`t be silly. My opinion, my patriotism, my castle, so feck off. :):):):):)

Pawian, I've tried beers from many many countries indeed but your post was designed to provoke, wasn't it? Go on, admit it ;) ;) There are many beers ahead of Polish ones in the taste order.

The beer in CK Browar is quiet nice, but at the moment I some bottles of Tyskie cooling in the fridge. While on holiday in Gdansk, I had some beer from zywiec which translated in to life beer, it was unpasteurised beer and it was great.

the man is a baboon, nothing more

Yes, I am. So what? :):):):) Don`t baboons drink beer? :):):)


No, it wasn`t provocative.

I still remember the taste of beer produced in communist Poland and everything brewed today is just great! :):):):)

Ah, comparing communistic Poland with modern Poland. That's a different story ;)