If you find yourself traveling to Poland, walking around in any big city during the summer, chances are you’ll see one of the two most popular beer brands on all the bar umbrellas: Tyskie or Żywiec. And what a shame it would be if you didn’t go in and try one yourself. The main beer that both these brands make is a lager, but in the past few decades, they have expanded their selection and have a pretty impressive variety of options.
Tyskie
Poles would surely agree that you don’t drink a Tyskie just for its taste, you drink it for its tradition. And judging by the international popularity of this beer, it seems that it’s not just the Poles who enjoy the traditional recipe. Brewed in the Tyskie Browary Książęce brewery in the town of Tychy, this beer has been produced for more than 350 years. The brewery was opened in 1629 and it has survived many generations of owners and workers. The history of the brewery is so expansive that it even has a museum open to the public and, of course, a Tyskie tasting menu. The beer that has been brewed since the beginning is the Tyskie Classic (4,8%), but today, there are more Tyskie types available.
Tyskie Gronie (5,2%) is their most popular beer and the one known internationally. It’s a great summer beer, a pale lager described to have a crisp and fresh flavor. It has been brewed since 1956 and it has won some impressive beer awards over the years such as the gold medal at World Beer Cup 2014. Other beers that Tyskie produce are: Tyskie Radler, a beer-lemonade mixture; Tyskie Pilsner (4,9%)and Tyskie Gronie unprocessed and served from a tank (5,2%). They also have an alcohol-free option.
Żywiec
Another big Polish brand of beer is Żywiec, a younger beer produced since 1864 in the town of Żywiec. While Tyskie stays traditional and keeps its first brewery as its only one, Żywiec does the opposite and expands, creating the Żywiec group. They are responsible for the production of ten different brands in Poland, with Heineken and Desperados amongst them and other Polish brands alongside Żywiec. This makes Żywiec group one of the biggest beer producers in the country. The group has four breweries across Poland, one of which is the Żywiec one, and this one has a museum too. This brand has expanded a lot when it comes to the beer variety they offer and they have modernized their options quite a lot, to keep up with the trends.
Żywiec offers a variety of options for those who love a beer, but don’t love the headache after. It brews six 0% options and one lower alcohol one. Between the 0.0% options there are fruity beers with Raspberry, Lemon, Grapefruit and even Mint. Their other 0.0% beers are non-alcoholic versions of their classic lager and their Żywiec White. They offer a “low-alcohol” beer that is a 4.5% fresh lager. Their large variety of non-alcoholic beers could be tied with them being owned by Heineken and therefore being represented by the Formula1 driver Max Verstappen, promoter of 0.0% beers.
Moving on to their alcoholic options, their most popular beer is Żywiec Premium (5.5%). This one is a light and fresh pasteurized lager, also well known internationally. Their recent additions include an IPA (5%) and an APA (5.4%), which show their modern side. They also have a white wheat beer with a hint of coriander that has grown a lot in popularity in the past few years: Żywiec White (4.9%).
Poland as a beer producer
According to the latest Eurostat report, Poland has been the third largest beer producer in the EU, after Spain and Germany. Poland has been very consistent keeping this rank for the past 6 years. Although Poland produces a lot of beer, they don’t export as much as the Netherlands or Germany. What this suggests is that the Poles want to keep their brewed goods for themselves, and they probably enjoy a pint or two.
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