Artezan – Craft Beer Pub

Artezan
The great and the good of the Warsaw beer scene assembled last night for the “beta-test launch” of an eagerly awaited (and long-awaited) new pub. It was a veritable who’s who of zythophiles, but one of the toilet windows was left unguarded and I was through it like a rat up a drainpipe for a couple of lightning pints before anybody realised they’d been infiltrated by somebody who can often only tell Red Bull apart from Russian Imperial Stout because one has more bubbles. And if opening night (and every night after) is anything like the soft launch, this is going to be a cracking addition to Warsaw’s craft beer line up.

"One of each please barman!"
Design-wise it’s all quite modern and very clean lines, rather Scandinavian, with lots of light-coloured wood and bright colours. It’s a refreshing break from the hipster-inspired shabby chic look that so many places are trying to get away with. Clearly more than a couple of quid has been spent and more than a little time thinking about the design and fit-out, which might go some way to explain why it’s taken so long to get this place open, since December if memory is correct. But if you think that a swanky city centre location and smart design mean that your wallet is in for a proper kicking, think again: at 12zl for a 0.5l of the likes of Pacific and Cymbopogon, these are some of the some of the lowest prices in town.

Those prices are clearly one of the benefits of cutting out the middle-man, although the trade-off is that you’ll only find Artezan’s own beers on tap here. With most breweries that would be a significant draw-back, but with Artezan it’s not a problem at all. According to the back of the beermat I scribbled on with Albert’s pen, the choice was Pacific, Preparat (smoked barley wine), Czarna Wolga (oatmeal stout), Zasaska (Belgian IPA), Cymbopogon (American wheat with lemongrass), Fafik (single hop Grodziskie), Mera IPA (the clue is in the name) and Ciemna Masa. The last of those is a very rare 100% brett barrel-aged oatmeal stout that by itself is going to be worth elbowing your way to the bar shortly after the grand opening at six o’clock this Saturday evening. It’s not funky, more tart and fruity, don’t order it expecting huge farmyard flavours but do order it: it’s unlikely to be there for long. The only pity is that it didn’t come from a nitrogen tap.
Albert and Albert and Artezan, all aces
Personally I was a bit disappointed not to see any Bałwan or Idzie Sesja or No Worries Pale Ale or Białe IPA or Złoty Pisiont but, as well as telling you what a fussy sod I am, that speaks volumes about how far and how fast the beer scene in Warsaw has moved. As Jacek Materski, founder and owner of Artezan, pointed out, four years ago he’d drive round Warsaw in his white van personally dropping off a couple of barrels at a time; I first met him in Czesc three and a half years ago when he was delivering supplies for their three taps. Nowhere in town then had more than three or four taps, but that didn’t matter, because there wasn’t really enough craft beer in kegs to justify many more: just take a look at the line-up Cuda Na Kiju had on opening night with the likes of Raciborski Pils needed to fill space! Fast forward to autumn 2016 and it’s common for neighbourhood bars to have six or eight taps and there are so many good beers that even when a bar has eight taps and only serves beer from one brewery, you’re still not going to see some of your favourites. As the first (stationary) and unquestionably one of the best of all craft breweries, Artezan have been right at the forefront of the Polish beer revolution and I’m certainly looking forward to drinking a lot more of their beers, particularly at their new pub.
Not the likeliest looking location for a cracking bar but a cracking bar it is!

Artezan – Craft Beer Pub
Moniuszki 1A
Hours TBA
Opens 18.00 Saturday 24 September


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