For some reason, I’ve been seeing a lot of Polish beers hitting American beer store shelves of late. The phenomenon isn’t restricted to my current locale of Atlanta, either; just before I left Rhode Island the Polish Invasion had begun to appear there, too. I’m sure this is a delayed result of the fall of the Iron Curtain and the return of capitalism to Poland. Bravo, I say (or should that be Pivo?).

Good Polish beer should be no stranger to most beer enthusiasts, however. Excellent Polish porters like Okocim have been available here in America for many years, and credible pilsners like Zywiec can be spied at the neighborhood packy from time to time too, especially in areas where there are large Polish immigrant communities.

Such was the case back in Rhode Island, and in areas of bordering Massachusetts. Growing up, I can still remember peddling my bike to a small meat and grocery shop called Frank’s in the Crompton subsection of West Warwick. The owner, of Polish descent, made fresh kielbasa sausage on premises. It was pure heaven, especially if your name was anything like Staradumsky.

You’ll find sons of Polish immigrants in Winona, Minnesota, too. That’s a place where they really seem to take their heritage (and their beer) seriously. Back in 1999, a local there named Mike Gostomski, along with several other investors, bought their own Polish brewery. Now why didn’t I think of that? The name of the brewery is Namyslow, of Namylsow Poland. But you knew that.

Most of the 600+ year old brewery’s production stays in Poland, but some of it is now being exported to America. One of the beers we’re seeing from Namyslow is a pilsner called Golden Denar. The beer is attractively packaged in half liter bottles with gold and green labels that feature a sheet of parchment in the middle upon which is superimposed a gold coin (the denar).

Golden Denar pours to a bright golden color with a thick fizzy (if short-lived) head formation and a crisp biscuity nose. The palate delivers more of the crisp, clean biscuity maltiness that the nose promised, along with a firm mouthfeel. The finish is balanced to slightly bitter. I think a bit more bittering hops are in order here, but this is still a very drinkable and refreshing brew.

Overall, this is a pretty good beer, and not one I would decline if it was put in front of me. At $2.99 for a half liter bottle, though, I think it’s a tad over priced: $1.99 would be much more in line, considering the Dollar/Zloty exchange rate. Still, I can see this one washing down a plate of kielbasa and pierogi quite nicely.

Home