Dziki Wschód

This place came very highly recommended, although one of the key features that made it so excellent in my fellow drinker’s eyes (“And it’s right in the centre of all the essential Nazi sites in Lublin!”) might not be high on everybody’s list of must-have features for a bar. The first thing I discovered about the place was that the ontap.pl listing was pretty out of date, with only half of the beers listed on that site being chalked up on the wall. The second thing was that the list on the wall was also out of date, but apparently the staff had no chalk and so couldn’t update it. The third discovery was that the barman may well have been deaf: I ordered, in Polish, a 0.3l strawberry and rhubarb Berliner Weisse to take the edge off a raging thirst, but instead he gave me a pint of what smelt and tasted like a Roggenbier. That’s because it was a Roggenbier. Normally questionable service somewhat irritates me –  (to put it mildly), but the Razem na Zycie from Warsztat Piwowarski was a Roggenbier so good that it could easily have pacified an enraged female Rhinoseros whose calf had just been taken away from her. The wonderful nose was spicy and had just a suggestion of smoke, although that might have had something to do with the Olympic-calibre smokers at the table by the wide-open door. The mouth was as full and thick as you’d expect for a rye beer. The only bad part came when the glass was empty. I did consider asking the barman for another Roggenbier in the hope that he’d serve me a Berliner Weisse, but instead just ordered from the far more efficient barmaid.
Razem na Zycie: good enough to make a charging Rhinoceros stop for a swig, not sure about the apparition behind it though


Strawberry & rhubarb Berliner Weisse: spot on

Given that the strawberry and rhubarb Berliner Weisse was from Piwne Podziemne, it was no surprise that the beer was superb. The nose was at first nothing but Berliner Weisse, but then rhubarb notes began to come through. As the pint went on, and warmed up, those notes became stronger. The tartness of style was nicely offset by strawberry flavours, but not as much of those as the Art +8 Strawberry Berliner Weisse I’d enjoyed so much in Wroclaw a couple of weeks ago. Not that that was a bad thing, on such a hot day a tarter beer is more refreshing and on that day refreshment was very much in order.

Sezon Ogorkowy, and another pesky ghost
On the barmaid’s recommendation, next came a Sezon Ogorkowy, again from Piwne Podziemie, this time a Saison with cucumber and lemon. It’s pretty much just a saison on the nose, but more of a traditional Saison than the modern assertive interpretations, all quite subtle. Also subtle is the orgerki, the same sort of cucumber notes that you might get from a well-made Pimm’s. Maybe a tiny bit grassy if you sniff hard enough, with a little lemon. The cucumber is much more noticeable on the mouth but it’s still very much a Saison with cucumber rather than a cucumber Saison. The quite high carbonation means the mouthfeel soon gets full. I’d imagine that the carbonation also helps the slightly herbal flavours which fade to a longish, fairly dry finish. It was certainly far more interesting and enjoyable than I thought it would be when I wondered whether to order it. Don't be put off by the name, sometimes weird sounding beers do actually work out very well. But a word of warning: don't leave it too long, it oxidized quite badly (although admittedly quite slowly).

Gosebuster, suddenly it's all clear 
Next up was a Gosebuster, a salted caramel dark Gose from Kingpin which also had me umming and erring about whether to try it. The first impressions were not at all favourable: the nose seemed quite mixed-up for a Gose and the flavour was unbalanced, sourness and saltiness clashing badly with the caramel nose. But after a couple of sips it started to make much more sense. It is quite a long way from the Gose style, the initially tart mouth gets much sweeter as the caramel kicks in and stays that way until the finish, but the flavours work well together. With quite high carbonation, it’s also pretty refreshing for a darker beer, and at 4.7% it’s not too strong for summer drinking either. If you see it, try it.

A very good Salt Lord
Seeking a slightly more traditional Gose kick I ordered a Salt Lord. It was pretty much spot on, I'd have been happy to have been served that pint in Jabeerwocky itself.
While listening to the possibly deaf barman describing the Razem na Zycie as a Dunkelweisen I heard him mentioning that Tropicalia was on tap (although not chalked up on the wall), so I asked the barmaid for a pint. It was absolutely excellent. Dark tropical fruits, mango, paw-paw, passion-fruit, and malt notes on the nose. More malt and fruit on the mouth, with a full rich body. It seemed a lot deeper and richer than I remembered Tropicalia being, and a second visit to Dziki Wschód the next day, when the staff had managed to find some chalk and list that day’s beers, revealed why that was: this is now six percent ABV. OK, so there is some debate about exactly where the cut-off point for a session beer is, and some people argue (wrongly in my humble opinion, for a couple of reasons) that the term ‘session IPA’ is an oxymoron, but six percent simply is not a session IPA.
A too strong Tropicalia “Session IPA”

In short this is a crackingly good bar. I liked it so much that I came back the next day for a few beers after visiting a few other spots to see about writing them up. A return visit on my next trip to Lublin is a nailed on certainty and it’s very highly recommended for your next trip to Lublin to.


Dziki Wschód
Jasna 7
Tel: 536-850-077
10.00 – 02.00 (Fri.10.00 – 04.00, Sat. noon – 04.00)

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