8th February 2020. Afternoon was slowly coming. Plans for that evening were already set up – tasting meeting with owner of Piwowarownia brewery organized in Po Byku restuarant. I was twenty minutes before the event
8th February 2020. Afternoon was slowly coming. Plans for that evening were already set up – tasting meeting with owner of Piwowarownia brewery organized in Po Byku restuarant.
I was twenty minutes before the event was about to start. Fortunately there was no problem to get the seat earlier. I took place by the table in the far corner of the restaurant. I have ordered a beer called Córka Młynarza – American Wheat from Piwowarownia brewery. At this moment I would skip the topic of this beer, but I promise, we’ll get back to it. Having a few minutes time, I let myself to take a moment to contemplate the place I was about to stay in for a few hours. This restaurant is pretty small, but comfortable, free. The decoration was pretty raw, would call it industrial. However I felt nice and well in this place; it is designed with taste and neatness.
About the taste… During the tasting I have ordered one of burgers from menu specially prepared for that evening. My choice was smoked burger with a company of Oczy Bazyliszka – another beer from Piwowarownia – Black Currant Milkshake. As soon as this order came to me, I must admit, it hit me with a strong, intense and exclusively pleasent aroma. Presentation on the plate was also very nice. It was almost asking me to eat it… You were able to feel, that all the ingredience are fresh and in a good harmony. The burger was delicious, however I would prefer it to be with some more spices. But generally it was very, very good. Besides that, it was a masterpiece when combined with recommended beer! Sweetness of cranberry combined with acidity of that Black Currant Milkshake was insane. This is a perfect example of how beer can emphasize the adventages of food or in other words, how good selection of food can emphasize the character of a beer. The only thing I would expect to be a little bit different was the way, how the beer was served – in mug. I would rather expect it to be served in dedicated glasses or something like that. Maybe it was also the result of linking to the industrial character of that place.
Getting back to the meeting with Piwowarownia – the event was conducted by Łukasz Gustkiewicz, the owner of the brewery. At the very beginning he introduced the employees of his brewery and then presented the history of company in few words. It was created in 2015 as a contract brewery. Its beers are brewed in Szczyrzyc Cysters Brewery (not sure if this translation is valid; if no, please contact). During the tasting, Mr Gustkiewicz mentioned about the idea of starting this brewery. It all started, when he was working as an IT specialist in one corporation, brewing already at home. At some moment he decided to leave his work and start commercial production. When he started, his first beer, Russian Imperial Stout Whisky Barrel Aged, was called Pożegnanie Korporacji (translate to: Farawell with Corporation).
During the tasting there were also beers and the selection was very well prepared considering the topics mentioned later. First beer was called Książę Pan – Pils with 10 – 12% of extract. My rating was 6/10, it had very interesting smell of dried hey. It was the intro of discussion about Pils vs Lager. Mr Gustkiewicz presented the story of Pilsner style as a beer developed by Czech in Pilzno. Giving the answer about the difference between Pils and Lager, he emphasized the fact of water purity used for creation of Pils beers. We can say, that each Pils is a Lager, but not each Lager is a Pils. Considering Lagers, the topic of bottom fermentation yeasts and the process of beer creation were also mentioned. I am not about to present them in details – there are a lot of materials in internet. However if you would like me to prepare such post – let me know in comments section.
The second beer of that evening was American What – Córka Młynarza. This beer will have its own note in separate post, because the evaluation turned out to be very surprising after talk about it during the tasting. In short note, it got a rating of 6,5/10 in my opinion, however this result was not so obvious. About the details – see in one of coming posts. This beer was the start of a discussion about malts and enzymes taking part in process of beer creation.
Next part of the event was dedicated to top fermentation beers represented by Złota Rybka – Golden Ale. Its worth to mention, that that day was the premiere of this beer. For me it deserved 7,5/10. Considering this alcohol, we started the discussion about English culture of brewing. Mr Gustkiewicz was talking about the tradition of creating light english Ales and similar in restaurant breweries. In general they don’t fancy strongly hopped beers, they consider Ales as everyday drink.
From light Ale, we moved to Wheat IPA – Złote Licho, with my rate of 7/10. Having this one in our glasses, related IPA styles were discribed (IIPA, DIPA, AIPA, etc.) as a group of strongly hopped beers. It was mentioned, that hops are only spices for a beer, they are not the main ingredience of the product. So saying, that beer is a hoppy soup is like saying, that broth is a pepper soup :P. Additionaly the types of hopping processes were presented – hopping in cold, in hot, etc.
After hops in beer, we started the issue, that especially took my attention and was a little bit suprising for me – gas in beer and were it comes from. At the beginning it was obviously mentioned, that gas comes from yeasts work, when they transform sugars to alcohol and CO2. But when I heard, that it is common in breweries to artificialy gas beer under high pressure, I was very suprised… Instantly raised in my mind the similarity to sparkling wines – how for example differes Charmat method from traditional method or (horror) artificial gasing under pressure. I asked about that and it turned out, that in beers it does not affect the final result as it is in case of wines. Of course in home brewing something like traditional method is used most frequently, but it is the result of technical capabilities. Either way I personally think, that at some level in beer, as it is with wines, the traditional method will result in more creamy and delicate gas than in case of artificial gasing.
Leaving the topic of gas behind, we moved to the next style – Gooseberry Sour Ale represented by Łzy Zołzy – pretty nice sour beer, in my opinion 6,5/10. It was also good point to start the topic of sours in general and usage of lactic acid bacteries and lactic acid itself in terms of brewing. Also a few words were mentioned about Gose style as a specific group of sours.
If we are talking about something unusual … Next beer that was served was Blada Marija – Tomato Sour. Yup, there is no mistake – it is beer brewed with tomatos. This one will also have separate post on this blog, so I will only stay with a note of 8/10 for its uniqueness and for suprising me very much. As Mr Gustkiewicz suggested, at the end I have added some pepper to this beer and honestly I must say, that it really changed its character to something like bloody mary drink. It was just amazing. He also mentioned other experiments performed in his brewery, e.g. beer created with pickled cucumbers (WHAAAT!!!???) as a Gose style. Another one was created with tobacco and coffee. No idea, what people can come up with… Whatever it would be… I WANT TO TRY IT!!! :D. I am curious, if they will brew these beers again and how hard would it be to get one of each. I love such experiments. It reminds me the fun I had, when trying The Blogger 2017 – Ultra Islay B.A. Salty KIwi & Cocoa West Coast White Bitter. The taste of kinescope and burned cables… I would never try it again, but that was such an experience…
Going back to the tasting – next one was Kawko i Mlekosz, in my opinion 7,5/10 Coffee Milk Stout With Vanilla. It was pretty nice beer, perfectly presenting the style. But… it didn’t suprise me. It was just like good but average Coffe Milk Stout. It was the reason for the topic of using lactose in brewing. Apart from this, the problem, with which almost every home brewer had to face – granades was raised. For those, who do not know, what we are talking about – grenades are bottles with beer in which the process of fermentation was not stopped and as a result of high pressure inside – they explode.
The last beer of the evening was also the first one that was created by Piwowarownia – Pożegnanie Korporacji. For me it was 6/10 because of unsettled balance. The last topic corresponding with that beer was the presentation of dark beer styles – how they are produced, what are the differences, e.g. between Stouts, Porters and Russian Imperial Stouts.
Summarizing the whole event – I had a very nice time in a good atmosphere. The restaurant turned to be a pretty place, especially for that kind of occassion. The meeting was conducted professionally but in a friendly way. This tasting was dedicated to people, who were starting their journey with craft beers. For me it was so well prepared that I would consider organisation of a set of such tastings, for example each could focus on different style. Let me know, what do you think about this idea in comments section.
See you in next posts!