Favourite new beer - Harnas

Hello everyone.

 I know it's been quite a while since I last posted in my blog but I'm back after my long hiatus and I'm back with a bang (and hopefully to post more often this time round :P ).

I didn't return empty handed , obviously, duh :P and I'm back to introduce one of my new favourite beers.

Over the course of my 1.5 years here in Poland and my numerous infatuations with some local brews (if you've been following me, you'd know my craze over non-pasteurised beers), I've horned my taste in beers and have developed a lot of respect across all styles of brews. But today I introduce you to a somewhat disrespected yet highly consumed beer in all of Poland , "Harnas" .

  I'm quite susceptible to good lagers and Harnas didn't take that long to steal my heart. Words fall short in explaining how delicious this beer is. It leaves your breathless and lose of words right from the first gulp. There aren't that many beers that take my breath away and leave me speechless, but Harnas made it way to my top 10 of "breath-taking" lagers.

It is a must taste whenever you visit the wonderful country of Poland.

Bottled by the Polish division of Carlsberg owned Browar Okocim, Harnas is a pasteurised clear beer with 6.0 % of alcohol volume (11.8 % extract)

It comes in 4-pack 500 ml can and also 500 ml bottle. You can purchase it in almost all grocery of alcohol shops as well as LIDL and Biedronka. They retail for about 2.87 PLN ( 0.7 EUR/0.83 USD) per can or + 25 cent with bottle.  

PS : My girlfriend told me to add "Harnas" is the most disrespected beer in Poland. Don't know why, but she's Polish so she probably knows better than me. But who cares, when you're enjoying  agood brew. 

Have fun in Poland and remember to always drink safe .

Do zobaczenia!

Beer Festivals - Poland

Beer festivals have been for years the ultimate excitement for beer lovers all around the world ; widely regarded a pilgrimage every beer lover should take. There are many places around the world that turn our love for beers to a full fledged party, with of course the famous Oktoberfest being the holy grail of beer festivals for beer lovers all over the globe. There are also lesser known ones in almost every destination you might find yourself. Take the Dutch Craft Beer Festival in Enschede, the Czech Beer Festival in Prague, the Beer 'n' Booze in Vejle - Denmark, the Tallin Craft Beer Weekend, the Helsinki Beer Festival, the Lyon Biére Festival, the Craft Beer Festival in New York and the Woodstock Autumn Beer Festival in Cape Town. There's always an excuse to meet beer lovers like yourself, sample local craft beers and learn more about local beers whichever part you may be on the globe.

In Poland, there are a handful of annual festivals every Polish beer lovers look forward to each year. I personally prefer craft beer festivals where you get the chance to interact with brewers and learn more about the beer traditions and the varied techniques used in the brewing process. 

Some Polish beer brands

The 9th Wrocław Good Beer Festival - Wrocław (9-11.06.2017)

Regarded as the largest event of its kind in Poland and one of the largest in Europe, the Wroclaw Good Beer Festival seeks to promote unique beer from small and medium-sized breweries from Poland and abroad. Started back in 2010, the festival has welcomed festival goers and exhibitors alike from countries such as Lithuania, Latvia, Czech Republic, Germany and the Great Britain 

Warsaw Beer Festival - Warsaw

(6-8.04.2017)

The first festival of its kind in the capital, this years version of the Warsaw Beer Festival is on the course to surpass its last two editions. It's a great mix of craft beer brewers, home brewers, beer aficionados and hop heads. A great social and interactive climate with other activities like Table football, Pinball available. 

Poznan Beer Expo - Poznan

(4-6.11.2017)

With a great young exuberant crowd, this festival features almost all Polish craft brewers. It has a great marketing sense to it with a professional site preparation.

Krakow Beer Festival - Krakow

(Late May)

Started 5 years ago, The Krakow Beer Festival is considered one of the biggest of its kind in Poland. It promotes original Polish craft and also educate beer fans about the traditional brewing methods used. Participants can sample up to 40 different types of beer during the festival.

Birofilia Festival at Zywiec Brewery

(Third weekend of June)

This festival has a great program line up like beer contests between breweries, brewing demonstrations and tours of the great Zywiec Brewery Museum. There's also a great oppurtunity to to take tours with local guides and learn about the interesting history of the home of Poland's famous beer: Zywiec

Other beer festivals in Poland

• Craft Beer Camp (Annopole near Środa Wielkopolska)
• OffBeer - Łódzki Festiwal Piwa (Łódź)
• BrowarFest (Poznań)
• Targi Piw Regionalnych "Piwowary" (Łódź)
• Lubiński Festiwal Piwa (Lubin)
• V Festiwal Piwa (Szreniawa)
• Hevelka Craft Beer Festival (Gdańsk)
• III Festiwal Piw Rzemieślniczych (Annopole
• IV Warmiński Festiwal Dziedzictwa Browarniczego (Olsztyn)
• 45 Chmielaki Krasnostawskie (Krasnystaw)
• Bracka Jesień 2015 (Cieszyn)
• Opolfest 2015 - Festiwal Piwa, Wina & Sera (Opole)

Kasztelan Unpasteurized Wheat Beer {Kasztelan Pszeniczne Niepasteryzowane}

From the coffers of the famous Kasztelan brand of beers comes the Kasztelan Unpasteurized Wheat Beer. Regarded as Poland's first wheat beer, the Kasztelan Pszeniczne is a blend of clear foamy light beer. It boost a clear golden body with a light white head and emits a beautiful yeast aroma. It gets a bit watery right down in the middle but is definitely a fine Kristallweizen. 

It comes in a 0.5l returnable bottles as well as in 500ml cans. 

Personally, I have and I'll always be a sucker for Unpasteurized Wheat Beers regardless of the brand. Even though this beer may be classed average as per the regular Polish ratings, I believe the taste it brings to the table qualifies it to be at par with most of the famous wheat beers. Soothing, delicious and invigorating taste of malt in its raw unscathed form. 

It'd  perfectly go with any meals (note, this is only my personal opinion) and ideal for a picnic in the hot sun in summer ;)

Ingredients  :  Water, barley malt and wheat

Brewing Method:  Upper Fermentation

Pasteurization:  Nope!

Style : Lager

Color: Light cream

Alcohol Content: 5%

Cheers ;)

Brok Brown Ale

The Brok Brown Ale is one of the four 'Brok Speciality' beers brewed by Browar Koszalin, a subsidiary of the Van Pur SA group 
in Koszalin - a quiet yet bustling city in Western Pomerania in

north-western Poland and located located 12 kilometres south of the Baltic Sea coast.

It's a dark beer inspired by the American Brown Ale - malty and sweet with caramel and nuts hints. Its distinctive copper colour and perceptible aroma and hop bitterness gives it a classic style. 


It has a very weak but alluring coffee and caramel smell and has a light beige foam when poured in a glass, which doesn't stay long and quickly disappears after a few seconds. It has a rusty taste of roasted coffee beans, sweet, slightly acidic, a slight bitterness towards the middle and a little watery. 

It's just an average Dark Ale, nothing too special about the taste though lacking some special hints to place it on par with some of the renowned Brown Ales

Ingredients  :  Water, barley malt(pilsen, caramalt, munich, smoked)  and hops(Cascade, Chinook, Marynka, Lubelski) 

Pasteurization:  Yes

Style : Lager

Color: Dark amber

Alcohol Content: 5.2%

Argus Gold Unpasteurized {Argus Gold Niepasteryzowane}

Argus Gold Unpasteurized is a strong pale lager brewed for the supermarket chain LIDL. There's little to no information on the Brewery where it's brewed but most likely, however, the beer was brewed by Brewey Łomża.

It has a clear gold colour with the bubble particles clearly transparent. It has a nice foam layer that immediately disappears, when poured in a glass. 

It has an invigoratingly pleasant aroma of hops and flows smoothly down the throat with no bitter after taste common with some strong lagers. 

In my opinion , it's a beer for all occasions. I had it with some lentil soup my girlfriend made me and it went together perfectly well. It doesn't really do justice though to the alcohol content in it. I had to go for a second bottle to feel that kind of ''zing'' that comes with strong lagers. 

It retails for 1.99zl (0.48$), a price that doesn't reflect it's quality and breathtaking taste 

Ingredients  :  Water, barley malt,   hops                      
Pasteurization:  No

                Style     : Lager

      Colour   :  Light Amber/Light Gold   

Alcohol Content    : 6.0%