Hello beer lovers! 🍻 😎 🍻
This is a report on beer experiences in Poland, for 301 #beersaturday.
Namely, last week I was in Bydgoszcz, Poland, on business, from Monday to Thursday. After checking how to get there, my colleague and I realized that the quickest way would be by car.
Yes, these air connections are not the best. Wherever I was coming from, whether from Trieste, Ljubljana, or Zagreb (these are the closest airports to me), I would have to go a day earlier to Frankfurt or Zurich and wait there for a considerable time for Warsaw and then from Warsaw to Bydgoszcz.
And we went by car, 1200 kilometers, a good 13-hour drive, motorway from Postojna, past Vienna, from the Austrian-Czech border to Brno about 15 kilometers of ordinary road, and then again motorway to 15 kilometers from Bydgoszcz. There was no traffic, and it went very smoothly, of course with music, with my annual #newtunes Spotify playlists. :) 😁🎶
Żywiec Sesyjne IPA
Brewed by Zywiec (Grupa Żywiec - Heineken), Żywiec, Silesian, Poland.
Bottle, 0.5 l, alcohol 5.0% ABV. It's a Session IPA style, which means litle bit lower alcohol, hop dominant with modern American hops.
What does the Master Brewers say?
Zywiec Session India Pale Ale cold hopped with hints of exotic fruits from American hops.
Well, I'll survive with that explanation.
My first beer in Poland, after 13 hours of driving, and checking into my hotel. The first pub around the corner. Completely empty.
The beer is yellow, the head is average. The sip went down the throat smoothly, how could it not, after 1200 kilometers?
The bitterness of the hops is there, but not too much, hints of tropical fruits but all in all very mild. In the aftertaste, it all disappeared quickly.
I can't say it didn't suit me, I drank it with pleasure, but it was too shy for an IPA.
It was enough for the first day.
Cieszcyn Double IPA
On the second day, my colleague and I ended up at the ElJazz club in the evening, where they had live music. If anyone is interested in the Open Jazz Session, you can watch a short jazzy video here.
And I tasted a Cieszcyn Double IPA. Brewed by Browar Zamkowy Cieszyn, Cieszyn, Silesian, Poland.
Bottle, 0.5 l, alcohol 8.0% ABV, 60 IBU. It's Double IPA or Imperial IPA style, strong in alcohol and hoppy with fruity notes.
What do the Master Brewers say?
Intensely hopped, top-fermented pale ale, a symbol of the beer revolution of the late 20th century. The New Wave hop varieties used (Chinook, Simcoe, Citra, Amarillo, Centennial) bring aromas of citrus fruits - pineapple, lychee and passion fruit. Its rich maltiness balances the high bitterness creating the right balance of flavor and making the beer - despite its strength - pleasantly drinkable. Taste it and stay with it for a long time.
I had trouble finding it because it's a local brewery, owned by the aforementioned Zywiec, which, again, is owned by Heineken... this world really isn't that big...
The beer is dark golden in color, the head is average and creamy. It smells of hops and fruit.
The sip went smoothly down the throat. On the palate, I could still taste quite solid bitterness and tropical aromas, mango, and melon, with some citrus in the background.
In the aftertaste, the tropical aromas disappeared, the bread and malt flavors appeared and the hop bitterness lingered for a while.
Well, this was something for the body and soul. Nice bitterness and fruity flavors, well balanced, although the 8% alcohol was not felt.
I would have taken some home but when I went shopping I couldn't find them.
Let's move on!
Łomża Pils
Well, this is what they had at the hotel. Standard pilsner, brewed by Van Pur, Warszawa, Masovian, Poland.
Bottle, 0.33 l, alcohol 6.0%, 18 IBU.
What does the Master Brewers say?
Pasteurized lager, alcohol 6% abv, contains barley malt. The hops used are Lubelski, Sybilla and Zatecki.
They are said to be the largest independent (I would add for now) brewery in Eastern Europe.
As I said before, a standard industrial pilsner, it's still quite OK when chilled, sweeter and discreetly bitter. Nothing special, but they have it everywhere. I won't remember it.
So on Thursday, we went home, back to the south, we arrived in the evening, and on Friday morning I had to go back to Ljubljana for a short session and then lunch at the Saraj restaurant, Bosnian food, of course, and Bosnian beer with that.
Sarajevsko Premium
Brewed by Sarajevska Pivara, Sarajevo, Bosnia, and Hercegovina.
Bottle, 0.5 l, alcohol 4.9 % ABV. Lager.
What does the Master Brewers say?
A beer special in everything. Sarajevsko Premium has a special taste derived from fine select aromatic types of hops, that strengthen the taste of this beer. Because of that, we attribute our superb product to special characteristics.
The beer is clear golden in color, the head is average. It has no smell. It goes down the throat smoothly, a classic lager, more sweet than bitter, nothing special about it apart from the interesting bottle, I don't know where they get the claim that it's a 'superb' product.
But the food was excellent, I must admit. Veal patty with kajmak and rucola. Yum, yum.
Well, that's how last beer week went for me. 😎
And what am I listening to as I write this?
A new band to me, mentioned in my last #newtunes post.
The Comet Is Coming - Live at The Moroccan
#beertasting2023
Forst Sixtus and Slalom Strong, The Crafty Irish Lager and Veltins Grevensteiner, Loo-Blah-Nah Little IPA and Bohemian Pils, Carlsberg Rush and Grolsch Premium Pilsner, Martens Gold and Ceres Mosaic IPA, Time 5 o'clock and Vocation Divide & Conquer, Bevog Buzz and Lobik Cryowser, Zichovec Krahulík 12° and BrewDog PunkIPA, Dead Pony Club and Doppio Malto Rossa, Bergkönig Ironik IPA & Ayinger Winter Bock, Tektonik Ikonik and Lobik Svarun, Axiom Queen Vaccine & Time 8 o'clock, Kult 316 and La Trappe Dubbel
if you want to read more Beer adventures.
post your story to the Hive BeerSaturday challenge for fun.
btw: There are two BEER Games in town:
BEER PONG, and BEERFRIENDS
5% of the earnings of this post will go to beneficiaries of the community (@beerlover).
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