Gdansk, Poland

I have never been this city in Poland before, although I have to admit that the name of the city sounds quite familiar to me as it appeared so frequently in the TV news (格但斯克船廠) when I was small (should be the 80s).  That's exactly the same period that Kieslowski (my favourite film director, Polish, also a philosopher) created its best films: Blind Chance, Camera Buff, Decalogue, etc.  I believe that difficult times activate people's hearts and minds, as people need to express themselves in the times of adversity.  Anyway, I was here, 17 years after the death of Kieslowski.

It was mostly daytime when I traveled around and visited various places in the city, so I did not visit any bar at all.  But it didn't stop my search.  On a side street within the Main Town, I came across this bar and beer shop, which sells hundreds of local and imported beer.  I was more than delighted when I found this shop.

I tried three bottled beers from some local independent breweries.  I liked the citric one while the IPA style tasted too hoppy for me (they always are).

The point is not about their taste being good or not, it's about you seeing people in Gdansk is serious about their beer drinking.

We planed to depart for Warsaw by noon, but the earliest available train would only leave after 2pm when we arrived at the station.  We had to pick an eatery, so we came across a microbrewery (again!) just opposite the train station.

 

I have talked about the popularity of microbreweries in Europe (at least in Poland and Norway) now.  But when it becomes popular, the question of quality pops up immediately.  And this Lubrow Minibrowar served a good example of how ordinary beers could be.

Regardless of its menu, I ordered a set of tasting samples.  Basically, they were all undrinkable if you appreciate quality beer.  Anyway it was a good experience when you could visit a microbrewery somewhere (while you could find none in this Asian Metropolitan).

The Main Town of Gdansk is very beautiful, and I found the city very lively (compared to the business-look of Warsaw). I am sure I will remember this city for long long time...

Bergen & Flam, Norway

I had a short stay in Bergen actually, as our aim was a trip to fjord.  So it was rather a stop-over, and we did not even visit a bar there (and reluctant to mention that we were rejected by a supermarket cashier when we intended to buy a bottle of beer after 8pm).

Departing for the fjord at 8am, and we arrived at Flam before noon.  Flam is a beautiful, small port by the tip of a fjord, also at the bottom tip of a steep railway line.  There was a museum depicting the struggle in opening up the railway.  I always cannot imagine the hardship of railway workers a century ago, when we could comfortably sit in a train and enjoy the scenery along the rail.  How could we pay tribute to them?  In a respectable and proper way ...

I have not read much tourist information about this small port town, therefore it was quite a surprise to us when we found a microbrewery there - AEgir Bryggeri.  More correctly when I noticed that this one is only second-best after the Oslo one (much better than the ones in Warsaw and Gdansk).

They sell a set of five tasting samples and we tried that.  There should be enough time for us as the ferry would only leave in one and a half hours.

They are usually presented in a order from light through hoppy/bitter flavour to port or stout, as you could see them from left to right (not necessary fitted with your imagination on the colours).  They are all good, but in general showing a rather pale finish (as you could always describe as crispy).  This is a general observation I could conclude in visiting several microbreweries (except the Oslo one), the beer brewed are mainly light or pale, except any single one of IPA which showed the strong character of hoppyness.  Among the five, the like the first one the most, i.e. Boyla Blonde Ale (4.7% ABV).  The taste is very well-balanced and refreshing - perfect for a Norwegian summer afternoon!

The ferry took us through Aurlandsfjord and Naeroyfjord, and eventually back to Bergen in the late evening.

We have nothing to complain but gratitude to everything we've seen: the fjords, seabirds, a big waterfall, steep railway, a microbrewery and all the beautiful scenery.

Oslo, Norway

The only two things I know about Norwegian beer comes from Jan Hillesland's book "All about beer that a man needs to know", they are "Lorry" (a restaurant with a beer garden) and "Ringnes" (the most popular local beer in Norway).  I tried both within four hours since my touching down on this part of Scandinavia (including three hours of searching for the correct way from the airport to the B&B).  I never imagined that I would be surprised by many more during the short stay in the capital city of Oslo.

Lorry and Ringnes

The neighbourhood around my B&B (Holegata) is neat and tidy, basically everywhere in Oslo is neat and tidy (you might feel too tidy if you started to get used to the Polish way).  A short walk downhill took us from the B&B to Lorry.  The interior of the restaurant looked like an haunted house, filled with all kinds of exquisite objects ranging from 兵馬俑, chairs for a king and a queen, a deer's head, and anything you name it.  We just looked for our simple lunch, so we ordered a salad and a sandwich.  Of course, unavoidably, some local beer (only afterwards that I know that's Ringnes).

I could not describe much about Scandinavian lager, except you may say the taste is clean, crispy, or refreshing.  From Hillesland's book, we know that Scandinavian lagers are brewed according to the original law of Purity, which means only malt, hop, water and yeast are used in the process (no rice, no fruit, or whatever).

The famous thing about the place Lorry is that it features an extensive beer menu with over 100 different brands.  But anyway, I insisted to try the local one, instead of UK or German stuff.

There are still those weird regulations imposed on sales of alcohol in Norway nowadays.  For example, you cannot purchase from any supermarket alcoholic drinks on Sundays, or after 8pm weekdays.  That's obviously inconvenient to me, when cashiers rejected my beers twice.

Actually the receptionist of the B&B could not show us the way to Lorry when we asked her, instead she introduced a "very good" microbrewery "just at the next block of this street".  Eventually we visited there in the next day, after several museums, and found out (afterwards) it was the best microbrewery we visited in the whole trip.

Oslo Mikrobryggeri

After visiting four cities in Europe during this trip and Shanghai in my previous trip, microbreweries are definitely a fashionable item in big cities (maybe except Hong Kong).  But the problem quality.  I can surely say that Oslo Mikrobryggeri is the best microbrewery we've ever visited, up to now.

The bar only sells beers brewed at site, not any other bottled or draft beer.  There were eight kinds of beer mentioned in its catalogue, but only five are available on the day of our visit.  You could easily tell them all from the photo.

In most of the microbreweries visited, the beer seemed to taste milder and paler.  I guess the reasons for this are, one, customers' favour for pilsner; and, two, not easy to make the bitterness a good balance.  Many cases are that you would try the other extreme - those hop juice.  They say that's American style IPA.  I don't like it.  IPA should not be hop juice.

Here in Oslo Mikrobryggeri, Steamer is very well-balanced ale.  I like it a lot.

I also tried the IPA and porter, they are also great!!

After the Mikrobryggeri and a night's sleep, we departed for any Norwegian city - Bergen.

Warsaw, Poland (1)

It is the annual summer holiday, my destinations this year are Poland and Norway.  It may sounds a strange combination, but at least geographically the two countries are not far away.  And the two cities I visited, Gdansk and Bergen, followed the similar trade history in its involvement in the Hanseatic League.  Poland is always my love, and I headed to Norway for its natural scenery.  I don't expect I bumped into so many microbreweries along the way.

Two Glasses of Zywiec and One Glass of "Vodka"

I tried three bottles of Polish beer and bought two more from a huge beer store (which sells almost a thousand, literally, types of beer) during my first day in Warsaw.

You cannot avoid the brand Zywiec when you talked about beer in Poland.  It is the most popular beer brand, and when you order a beer in a bar without mentioned any brand (because you don't speak any Polish) the bartender will probably get you a glass of Zywiec.  Therefore I had my first glass of Zywiec beer just after I checked in a hotel in Warsaw, after I mentioned the word beer to a bartender.  Beer poured in a branded glass, placed onto a branded coaster.

Zywiec is a city in south Poland, somewhere near Krakow.  The brewery was originally founded by Habsburgs in 1852, and started operating in 1856.  You could still find the Habsburg crown and a couple dancing Krakowika (a traditional dance of the area of Krakow) in the logo.  It was nationalised during Communist era.  And later in 1990 acquired by Heineken International, and becomes a very modern brewery nowadays (open for visitors too). 

Zywiec pale lager tasted nice, but I liked the porter much more.  It's almost 8.5% ABV, as I remember. Very refined, but not over-roasted.

I cannot find, from internet research, a commonly-recognised second most popular beer brand in Poland.  It may be Tyskei, or maybe Warka, as I saw quite some advertisements in the streets.  Anyway, I had my third glass of beer, Warka, at dinner, when I actually tried to order a glass of "vodka".  I guess the old man in the restaurant misunderstood my poor English.

(To be continued)