Craft Beer Muranow




Open at last!

 After months of riding past what was once Warsaw’s premier (mostly by virtue of being only) Nigerian restaurant and wondering when, or even if, Craft Beer Muranow was finally going to open, a couple of weeks ago they finally poured their first pint. But has it been worth the wait? So far the signs are very promising indeed.

Two floors of drinking space
It’s hard to know how the place compares to what used to be here, largely because I’m only very slightly more likely to be seen eating goat curry than I am to be spotted swigging a can of Zywiec while Satan skates to work. Walking in you get a sense of space from the double-height space at the front with a mezzanine floor off to your right. The fake exposed brickwork isn’t exactly to my taste but it’s not like I have much of that anyway. The bar is somewhat hidden in the corner, which makes getting near it something of a challenge on busy nights, especially with the stairs and various other structural bits getting in your way. And there’s not a vast amount of bar to prop up either. To be honest a bigger bar area would really help, as would removing the seats we spent the evening enjoying on the rare occasions we could get back to them.
A dozen visits and I still haven't fallen down these!
On the plus side, there are several tables of a height suitable for standing or sitting at as the mood takes you. When you’re feeling lazier, there are a couple of tables upstairs with couches to sink into, once you’ve finally made it up the stairs. All things considered it’s a pretty decent layout, apart from the limited bar access, and most of the tables don’t even wobble in the slightest. If we’re really lucky the glue holding the fake bricks on will fail over time, although they are endearing themselves to me by regularly taking the skin off the knees of one well-known figure in the Warsaw beer world: anything that encourages him to wear long trousers can’t be all bad. My only gripe - did you really think that there wouldn’t be at least one? - is that the relatively low ceilings under and on the mezzanine level do reflect and amplify the sound that accompanies people enjoying beer in large amounts.


Beerwise you’ve got 16 taps to choose from, although one of them usually has cider and another is permanently given over to sparkling wine. I did consider ordering a pint of Prosecco, but then remembered that I am, techincally anyway, male. It’s all fairly well priced too: a large Siren APA (from the ever excellent Palatum brewery) will set  you back 14 to 15zl in town but it’s 12 here. An even better deal is the Hefeweizen Primator from Nachod brewery, a firm favourite of the Daily Mail’s man in Poznan, and at this sort of price he might even get a round in once a decade.
Nice guys from the brewery but the beer could be better

 The unofficial opening featured the premier of a new style to me: session saison IPA, from Browar Szpicbródka. It was very confusing, with far too much classic Belgian yeast for a saison. And it was 5.0%. As the regular reader of this blog (hello mum!) knows, there are few things more likely to get my goat, and turn it into curry, than a session beer that isn’t a sessionable strength. OK, you can technically have a session on a five point something percent beer, but it’s not going to be a proper opening to closing un-interrupted drinking session that session beers are supposed to take their name from.

Hazaj from Szalpiw, decent but that's all

 Next up was a New England IPA, Hazaj from Szalpiw. Decent but nothing special. The Siren was well worth drinking but didn’t exactly cry out for another one. What really did tickle the tastebuds was the Spanish hotdog. Move over Kuba Rot, there’s a bar snack in Warsaw that bests even your famous (or should that be infamous?) cheese toastie! Bursting with flavour, I was somewhat stumped as to what made it Spanish, but not immediately ordering a second one took almost superhuman effort. Idaho APA from Deer Beer was a stormingly good effort from a brewery that’s rapidly becoming one of my favourites thanks to their knack for making beers that are bursting with flavour but limited booze content.

Superb!
Since opening night I’ve been back to Craft Beer Muranow several times and enjoyed each and every visit. The Thai hotdog is a thing of beauty, just typing about it now makes me want one. The fridge has a decent range of interesting choices and the staff are very friendly. All things considered CBM is certainly the best bar to open in 2017 and already a firm favourite of mine. See you there.
Craft Beer Muranów
gen. Władysława Andersa 23
Warsaw
15.00 - 01.00

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Down by the river

Image
Not so long ago, the Wisła banks were best avoided on summer evenings, unless your idea of fun is cans of warm Zywiec and a punch-up. However, over the last couple of years a range of seasonal bars have opened and deck-chairs have had their usual civilising effect. But, if you’ve got a taste for good beer, are there any good choices? Walking down from the pl Zamkowy and turning left onto the promenade, the first place you come to is ZygZak . It’s a steel structure with less than comfortable stools lining both sides of the long bar and a second floor over the bar area with stairs you can walk up to discover the staff haven’t bothered putting any seats up there. ZygZak: OK, I could have seen the lack of seating up there   There are four taps, all of which should serve beer from the Maryensztadt brewery, including some which are found only here and the bar next door. But at five o’clock on a Saturday afternoon only two of the four taps were hooked up, so the choice was betw...
Read more

Wola and Bemowo (part one)

Image
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 peo...
Read more