JUST FOR THE KRAK Getting to know Polish beer in Krakow

The Polish city of Krakow was always somewhere I had hoped to visit having almost made it there on one of our early nineties Interail trips. And so, last year we flew out from Manchester for a short break with the prospect of a few good quality brews along the way to provide relief from the soaring temperatures. The centrally located Yarden Aparthotel was well placed for visits to the Royal Castle, a relaxing boat trip along the River Wisla and Krakow’s crowning glory, the wonderful Main Square and its ancient Cloth Market Hall.

Another venue within easy walking distance was the first of the pubs on my must-visit list, Viva La Pinta (pictured below) a comfortable bar set in a hidden courtyard just off the prestigious Ul Floriańska, famed for its array of shops, bars and restaurants. The bar, which has seating inside and in the courtyard is linked to the Browar Pinta brewery who were responsible for eight of the fourteen craft offerings. Pilsners, IPAs, fruit beers, stouts and sours were all available and as it seemed appropriate to sample beers from the Browar Pinta stable, I ordered Hazy Morning, a 4.4% New England IPA and Modern Drinking, an American IPA at a more substantial 6.4%. On our second full day, we tried the Multi Qlti Tap Bar, a stripped-down upstairs bar on the lively Szewska street. Despite the bar’s awful name, there were over twenty beers of different styles from an assortment of burgeoning Polish breweries. Alongside these were a few non-Polish beers including Full

Guard from the Marble brewery in Manchester. Here I tried Galaktyka Piwnix, a nice Black IPA from a small craft brewery called Podgórz and Kazimierz Orange from Browar Kazimierz which wasn’t quite to my taste. Towards the end of our minibreak, I made a couple of visits to the excellent House of Beer (pictured above). Located in the Old Town, there’s an extensive range of over two-hundred bottled beers here behind the attractive bar and a dozen more on tap. The main pub is spread over two rooms with further space in the cellar. Seating is comfortable with leather sofas and there’s a good, affordable pub menu which we tried on our second visit. Browar Pinta’s Brett IPA (Brett is apparently short for Brettanomyces, a wild yeast strain) was sampled along with Gambit, a fruity IPA from Ziemia Obiecana (that’s Promised Land in Polish).

My final beer destination in Krakow was the Beer Gallery (pictured opposite), a small corner house that specialises in Belgian beers. Whilst I’d have preferred to have sampled more Polish beer during my time in Krakow, this bar’s proximity to House of Beer made it difficult to avoid. The ten beers here included three from Grimbergen and two each from Petrus and St Darius. From the latter outfit I sampled Sour Pink which I enjoyed.

For anyone fancying a cheapish break to a European city, I can heartily recommend Krakow. As well as eating and drinking well, we enjoyed an evening carriage ride around the city, starting and finishing at the Main Square, visited the Jewish Quarter, Royal Castle and called in on the fire breathing Wawel Dragon Statue. Whilst missing out the city’s Wax Museum, where no less than three wax popes can be seen, we did manage to get to a Polish premier league football match in the shape of KS Crakovia v LKS Lodz. The Polish beer scene certainly seems to be on the up too and there’s a great variety of beer on offer at affordable prices.

Pat Hancock