Polish beer

Why, you say, is a blog about the move to Ireland talking about Polish beer?  Did we sneak away to Poland for a few days?  If so, why?

No, this post is about Polish beer because Lidl, one of the grocery stores where we shop, has a special on Polish beers.  Why, you ask?  Because Poland is one of the co-hosts of the Euro 2012 soccer (i.e. football) tournament.  Ireland qualified for the tournament  (unlike the last World Cup).  As a big fan of Polish beer (from my days living in the Chicago area, which has a reasonable Polish population, and therefore a reasonable selection of Polish and other Eastern European beers).  All in all, 6 Polish beers were featured.  I purchased all 6 (most beers can be purchased individually), and here is a brief statement of each:

Lech: This was the most expensive beer (although hardly expensive).  It was disappointing, as it had very little taste.  It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t particularly good either.

Tyskie: This was the last beer I tried.  At this point, I had a hard time distinguishing it from the other beers.  It had more taste than Lech (or likely Tatra).

Zywiec: this is my favorite Polish beer.  In fact, my Chicago-based friend TK and I consumed a couple of these the last time my family and visited Chicago back in May.  So I was quite happy to find this at a reasonable price.

Warka: I was pleasantly surprised by this offering.  It has a good, golden color and a reasonable flavor.  It has some body (i.e. “umph”) but is still pretty smooth.

Tatra: It had a bit more flavor than the Lech beer, but it was not as good as the Warka beer.  The Lidl ad described it as “an easy drinking, refreshing beer”.  I suppose that’s true, but I also like a bit of flavor in my beer, and this beer fell a little short.

Argus: this is the cheapest beer by about 50% (at a euro a can).  It was perfectly respectable, and it tasted much better than anything you could get in the U.S. at the same price.  This beer and Warka were both good value beers.  But I’ll probably buy Zywiec, as they are essentially the same price.

To sum up the Polish beer, I liked them all.  I was disappointed by Lech and surprised by Argus.

After I’ve started work (and thus started receiving a paycheck), I plan to frequent a wine and beer shop in the neighborhood.  They claim to have a wide selection of Irish craft beers, and I look forward to trying them in the near future.  I’ve tried one so far (thanks to D. for sharing), and it was quite good – O’Hara Irish Pale Ale.