Wola and Bemowo (part one)


It’s easy to forget how far Warsaw has come on its beer journey. From having no multi-tap bars four years ago, there are now more than fifty of the things. They’re even popping up in the suburbs. Inspired by the map function on the utterly excellent ontap.pl, we booked an Uber to the wilds of Wola with a route plotted out to deepest darkest Bemowo.

Yes, it is easy to miss
First stop was Beczka Chmielu Pub at Wolska 89. Behind the unassuming single-window shop front that’s all too easy to miss is this smallish place: just seven seats in the front room, along with a small fridge and a short, rather low bar that’s clearly intended for ordering at rather than propping up. But behind that bar are eleven taps, Polish and Lithuanian beers and a cider, all at prices a notch or two lower than city centre bars. The decor is also fairly simple and low key, lots of exposed brick work and retro orange lights, a theme continued into the larger back room which has seats for about 30 people. I gave the back room major plus points for the Toto that was playing but Mrs IPIP preferred the front room, guess where we sat.

Runners, riders, fridge, bar, taps and barman: what else do you need?

Pierwsza Pomoc: perfectly passable

Sadly, the bar’s ontap page hadn’t been updated, so the Hera coffee milk stout I’d been looking forward to on the way over remained just a dream. Instead I started with a Czech style Pils by Pinta, Pierwsza Pomoc: first aid to blow away the leftovers of the previous night’s hangover. Served in a nicely branded glass, it was decent enough, perhaps a tiny hint of butter but in general more than acceptable, especially at ten zeds for a half litre. To follow was what the beer board described as “Stare Wilno jasne, niefiltrowane” (a quick Google suggested it’s actually from the Vilniaus Alus in Vilnius an unfiltered Lithuanian jasne. Like the Pierwsza Pomoc it took a while to pour (dread to think how long the wait for a beer is when this place is busy), but was worth waiting for. The nicely balanced nose was a little sharp but certainly not assertive. Both the mouthfeel and the flavour were refreshing, with the flavour balanced more towards malt than the nose, which leans more towards hops. More malt on the finish. OK, it’s nothing particularly special, not a beer that you’re going to remember for the rest of your life, but in terms of bang for your buck, this might well be the best beer in Warsaw right now I’d have happily paid at least 50% more than the seven zed asking price and wouldn’t consider double that much to be at unreasonable.
Vilniaus Alus unfiltered, a.ka. Stare Wilno (outside Lithuania)

All things considered this place was a bit of a winner really. The idea of spending the rest of the afternoon and most of the evening there drinking Stare Wilno was certainly rather attractive, but we had work to do, so it was time for another Uber. Will I be back? Quite possibly, the place is only five tram stops from IPIP Towers, so even if splashing out the 11zl needed for an Uber home afterwards, just three pints make the trip cost effective. And if you live further out in Wola, you could do a lot worse than not bothering to trek into the city centre and instead just plotting up here for a few hours.

Beczka Chmielu Pub
Wolska 89
15.00-0.00 (closed Fridays)
Facebook page
Ontap page

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