A few in Cześć while not watching the football

It’s not that I don’t like watching sports; cricket, rugby, American football, motor racing, all are regularly enjoyed. But soccer leaves me tepid at best, and anything involving UEFA or FIFA really sticks in my throat; so the worst times are the weeks when the whole country goes football crazy: the world cup and the ‘Euro’ Championship. And gone are the days when you could avoid games by simply going to the pub: now everywhere has to show the games. Well, while they’ve drawn my ire by showing the games, at least Cześć are still serving some excellent beers.
Opening the evening’s account was a brand new beer from a brand new brewery: Chorągiew Rodowa, a rice IPA from Browar Łancut which premiered on 18 June. The name translates as ‘Ancestral banner’, which is an odd name to give to what’s quite a new beer style and one which features a key ingredient that’s never been grown in Poland.
Chorągiew Rodowa rice IPA
Anyway, the pint was a bright gold yellow, with very delicate bubbles, and extremely clear for a Polish IPA. The head was initially good but died off very quickly and left little lacing. On the nose there’s lots of citrus and much fainter hops, but also very noticeable buttery notes, not what you’d hope to find from an IPA. Flavourwise it’s pretty light (presumably from the rice) with a medium-thin mouth that’s surprisingly carbonated. There’s a grapefruit citrus bitterness that gets stronger towards the finish. Also arriving with the finish is noticeable alcohol, along with a somewhat unpleasant bitter yogurty taste. This was quite a surprising pint, as I’d also had this beer at Kufle i Kapsle the previous Saturday night and found it much hoppier, with no diacetyl and no unpleasant aftertaste. A fellow football refusenik in the garden said that this barrel had been the same when first put on tap, in fact he thought it almost too hoppy. In short this is a decent effort, especially for a new brewery, and the second best Polish rice IPA I've had, but it’s a long way behind Oto Mata.
6.5 / 10
Next on the list was Oddaj Moje 100 Melonów! from Piwne Podziemie. That’s a brewery that I’m a big fan of, one that brews some very interesting beers, and this fits that description: an American wheat beer with watermelon.
Looks good, sounds interesting, tastes better
Pale yellow to look at, it’s slightly hazy. As soon as the glass gets anywhere near your nose there are huge amounts of melon aroma, specifically watermelon, with a faint notes of unripe banana and maybe a touch of lemon. In short it smells refreshing, and a quick swig certainly confirms that. Initially it’s very melony from the nose but quickly becomes more citrus, then canary melon notes before fading to a honey melon finish that becomes a greener aftertaste. It went down a treat and left me wanting another in the very near future, a desire that was satisfied as soon as I’d elbowed my way within hailing distance of the bar. Overall the melon effect is perhaps slightly overpowering (did the brewer use melon concentrate?) but it’s an enjoyable overall drink which is going to be great on a hot summer’s day. But if you don’t like melons, it’s certainly best avoided.
7.5/10

At this point I needed to switch to bottles; for one thing it was a school night and the tap offerings were a bit stronger than ideal; for another thing empty bottles can useful for clearing a path to the bar. The obvious choice at just 3.6% was Starter, an “American Easy” Saison from Trzech Kumpli, another brewery that’s becoming a firm favourite in the heart of IPIP.
Starter, not just for starting with
The “American Easy” name is a bit baffling, is it an invention of this brewer? If anything, this Saison is closer to what the style used to be than the modern interpretations of it. Saison was originally brewed for farm labourers. Brewing it gave the regular staff something to do in quiet months and it formed part of the pay of seasonal staff (the “saisonniers”), some of whom were given five litres a day. Genius-level IQ isn’t needed to work out that ten pints of 7% strength beer, muscular men and farming equipment is a combination that goes very bad very quickly, so Saisons used to be 3% and focused on refreshment.
Modern Saisons have taken that history and gone a little bit slightly turbo, there’s more of everything: more spices, more esters, more fruit and lots more booze. So, if you’re used to modern examples of the style, this table version might disappoint slightly. It still has the  classic aroma, with a good helping of ripe pears, the spices you’d want from a saison and some fruity esters, but it’s much less assertive than what’s now standard. The mouth is also thinner than you might expect, but it’s still got a lively carbonation that adds to the refreshing nature of the pint (there really isn’t much point in having a half of this, you’d inhale it in a matter of seconds). A friend of IPIP dismissed this as “watery” but he was missing the point of this beer: it’s a quaffing masterpiece for summer days and I’m certainly looking foward to my next one!
8/10

Last one of the evening was a very satisfying bottle of  Zacny Zalcman by Browar Piwoteka, but I’ll save the comments about this for a planned article about Gose beers.

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