Woop! Friday evening. It was slowly getting dark outside. I was staring at the interior of the pub. Many happy people who were slowly sipping their beers and talking about recent events. I arranged a meeting with friends for 6 p.m, just enough time to get there from the office.

And they arrived finally. So the question is: What are we drinking? A moment of silence and laughter.

Beer of course! What is available: Tyskie, Tyskie, Żywiec, Lech …

Beer industry overview

Three major companies now control 80% of the Polish beer market (according to data at the end of 2014) – Kompania Piwowarska (33%) owned by SABMiller, Grupa Żywiec SA (27%) owned by Heineken, Carlsberg Polska (20,5%). Then there is  Browary Regionalne Jakubiak (BRJ), Van Pur and Royal Unibrew.

At the end of 2013, there were 97 breweries in Poland, including microbreweries and contracted breweries. The most popular Polish beer is  Żywiec, Okocim, Tyskie and Warka.

Ok, enough statistics for now.

How to pronounce and order them at the bar?

Okocim is pronounced o-ko-cheem,  Żywiec is pronounced zhiv-ee-ets, Tyskie is pronounced tis-kee. Hope that helps when you order them at the bar.

 

Jedno piwo Tyskie proszę – One Tyskie beer, please.

Poproszę jednego Żywca – One Żywiec please.

Dwa Okocimy dla mnie – Two Okocim  for me.

 

I ‘ve got for you a very personal list of beers that are worth trying.

8 Best Polish Beers You Could Not Resist


ciechan pszeniczneCiechan Pszeniczne

Brewed by Browary Regionalne Jakubiak in Ciechanów.

Aroma is very nice, mainly banana, slightly with fruits and clove. In taste is more sweet than sour. You can feel also notes of hazelnuts in the aftertaste. Highly recommended to try out.

Alk: 4,8 %

 

ciechan miodoweCiechan Miodowe

Brewed by Browary Regionalne Jakubiak in Ciechanów.

Slightly cloudy beer with blonde colour. Sweet, tastes like honey. Lager beer with a nice aroma of honey, not too intensive. Soft beer, without bitterness. Quite strong. Good.

Alk: 5,7 %

 

 

amber kozlakAmber Koźlak

Brewed by Browar Amber from Bielkówek.

In taste is sweet, you can feel definitely caramel like in coca-cola. Toffee, bitter aftertaste. In aroma is nice, caramelised brown sugar. It has dark cooper colour. Just give it a try.

Alk: 6,5 %

 

 

porter zywiecŻywiec Porter

Brewed by Bracki Browar Zamkowy in Cieszyn (it belongs to Grupa Żywiec S.A.).

In aroma you can definitely feel dark malt. Taste of roasted dark malts, some notes of chocolate and coffe. Also some herbal bitterness. Colour: dark brown. I recommend it if you like classical porters with rich taste.

Alk: 6 %

 

komes porter baltyckiFortuna Komes Porter Bałtycki

Brewed by Browar Fortuna in Miłosław.

In colour, clear black, not transparent. Aroma: coffe, dark chocolate, malt. Tastes smoothly, coffe balanced with chocolate, dark fruit. This is a good example of an European baltic porter with roast and cocoa. Highly recommended for porter enthusiasts.

Alk: 9 %

 

 

lomza export miodoweŁomża Export Miodowe

Brewed by Browar Łomża in Łomża (it belongs to Van Pur).

This beer  may be too sweet for some people but still good. In taste you can feel honey with herbs. It has clear, amber colour. Alcohol l is very well hidden with zero warming present after the finish. Overall this is a decent honey pale lager.

Alk: 5,7 %

 

 

ksiazece czerwony lagerKsiążęce Czerwone Lager

Brewed by Browar Książęcy in Tychy (it belongs to Kompania Piwowarska).

In aroma you can feel bread and malt. In colour it goes from amber to gold. It has a balanced taste, with toffee and bread notes. Slightly sweet. Really not bad.

Alk: 4,9 %

 

 

krolewskieKrólewskie Jasne Pełne

Brewed by Browar Warka in Warka (it belongs to Grupa Żywiec S.A.).

Aroma: Malty and herbal. Very clear gold colour. Decent touch of bitterness in taste, some floral, grassy notes. You can also notice alcohol burn aftertaste. You should give it a try if you want a decent lager beer.

Alk: 5,8 %

 

As I already mentioned, this list is my personal choice so it may not be for everyone. But maybe while in Poland, you will give them a  try?

Let me know which you liked the most.

And of course I recommend to drink them chilled.

A tak przy okazji (Btw) -How do we make a toast in Polish? Na zdrowie!

Remi Author

Comments

comments