Category: Poland

This is the tempting arrangement from Browar Markoway at this year’s Warsaw Beer Festival. They’re located at Hajnówka, which is near the Ukrainian border and a little to the south of Białystok.

Some of the beer options, cutting nicely across a range of beer styles.

And from top left to bottom right:

(i) New Zealand Grodzisz with Riwaka Hops, little a gentle rauchbier, I like the smokiness and it was quite punchy for the ABV.

(ii) Kornik, this was less twiggy and more full on pine branch, with some ginger added into the equation as well.

(iii) Białowieskie Lato, this is a nice lemon flavoured blonde, quite gentle.

(iv) Wilczy Szlak, hop forward, punchy, like a big fluffy cat.

(v) Owocowy Szlak Kwasna Wisnia, lightly tart, nice cherry flavour and a bit of bite in the finish.

(vi) Puszczyk Białowieski, a sweet and cream milk stout, lingering coffee flavour.

It’s the first time that I’ve had beers from the brewery and I thought that they were all pretty decent. That’s another one that I’ll visit at the next beer festival….

This is the selection from Browar Sarabanda, who I can’t find out a great deal about, but they appear to be from the Warsaw region. I had several of their beers at the 2025 Warsaw Beer Festival, so it seemed only polite to see what they had this year.

I went for the tasting set of six beers, and also a praline stout that looked rather tempting.

Unfortunately, although this is a very handy way to try a number of beers, the vibrant colours aren’t really visible when served like this. Nonetheless, it’s still exciting to receive beers like this. Well, it is for me, the voyage of discovery and all of that. So, excluding the one that looks like hot chocolate on the left, from the top left to the bottom right:

(i) Peach Guava Playground – this was obviously nicely peachy, it was gentle and lightly sour.

(ii) Hoppy Wheat – quite rustic, some bitterness, a slightly quirky wheat beer.

(iii) New Gold Dream – hop forward, bit of fruit, slightly thin but a decent aftertaste.

(iv) Dressed in Black – quite dry with a harsh bitter finish, not perhaps entirely well rounded.

(v) Exciter – full flavoured hops, bitter finish and a bit of a tropical taste.

(vi) Cofeeco – brewed just for this festival, it was a coffee IPA and I liked it, although the coconut element was lost on me.

But, let’s go back to the drink by the side….

That’s Pralines #4, another special just for this festival. And this was quite brilliant. Slight sweetness, intense creaminess, coconut, chocolate, coffee and punchy, one of the best of the beer style that I’ve had. Pure decadence and like an adult Mullermilch.

This is the third time that I’ve been to Warsaw Beer Festival, although it’s the first time that I’ve got a three day pass. The entrance is all well managed, just scan the QR code on the ticket and they hand visitors a wristband to keep on so they can come and go as they wish.

The advertising poster for the beer festival that took place in 2014.

And from the 2015 festival, with others lined up along the entrance gates.

There’s always plenty of seating as visitors can sit in the football stadium seats and watch whatever is taking place on the stage.

Inside there are three floors where breweries occupy their own stand, along with other merchants selling a variety of items. There are also games such as this, and also computer games.

And there were sometimes computer games that were taking place on the stage. It all added to the excitement.

Anyway, I had a lovely time at the beer festival, which costs around £13 for a three day ticket. Beer and food is then sold at prices that I thought were always reasonable, with everything feeling clean, organised and well managed. Although it could get very busy at times, there was also sufficient space to sit or stand, with everything clearly signed.

I’ve written about some breweries who were at the festival (and will likely write about some more), but so far that’s:

Funky Fluid

Nepo Brewing

Green Head

Browar Moczybroda

Browar Sarabanda

Nepo Brewing is another one of my favourite breweries with some quirky and intriguing beers. The brewery is located off towards Wrocław and they have been trading since 2014, now having their own taproom.

It was the mango sticky rice beer that caught my eye, I mean, what more could someone want from a beer? This was a special beer brewed just for the festival, a 6.8% punchy little number.

And this was the decadent treat that I hoped it would be. It was creamy, it had lots of mango, it was thick and slightly sweet. Delightful, and look at the lovely healthy colour.

I haven’t had any beers from Green Head before, but they seemed to be attracting some considerable interest at Warsaw Beer Festival. They were founded in 2018 and their brewery is located roughly half-way between Warsaw and Gdansk.

The beer that seemed to be drawing the most attention from the brewery was “I’m Green” and I note that it was pretty much the same colour as the football pitch. It was a quirky beer, gently sour, a tropical taste and I’m not entirely sure that the colouring was particularly natural, but there we go. I like beers that are a little different and although this isn’t the first green beer that I’ve had, they don’t come along often. I can’t imagine why not….

I visited this stand every day of the Warsaw Beer Festival, not in a stalking sense, but their beer range did change every day and I didn’t want to miss out too much. I consider Funky Fluid to be the best brewery in Europe, so this was always something that was likely to surprise and delight me.

The selection on the first day.

This is a pizza from one of the food trucks and it was very delicious. But, that’s not the highlight here, it’s the already mostly drunk Batch #1000 from the brewery. They gave me this free as it ran out whilst pouring, so that was a bonus. Anyway, this is their 1,000th recipe and this verged on being one of the best beers that I’ve had, up there with Goose Island and their Bourbon County Stouts. It was smooth, even at the 13.5% ABV and it had sherry notes, toffee, dark chocolate, bourbon and it was beautifully decadent. And the pizza complemented it beautiful.

And a quick mention of the Gelato XTREME : Banana, Mango & Yuzu. I mentioned this Craig from Norwich beer festival as I think more beers need yuzu in them. I’m not sure that he was convinced. Anyway, it was thick, creamy with heaps of banana and mango. Decadent, quirky and moreish, as well as being a challenge for the next brewery to try and clean that glass.

Anyway, always a delight to see Funky Fluid and to try several of their beers.