Kraków, Poland and Beer

Once, a foreign friend asked me whether it’s true that the word piwa – beer exists in the plural in Polish. Of course it’s true. A single beer is something you drink at most before going to sleep. Jokes aside, Poland’s brewing traditions – and Kraków’s – reach back to the early Middle Ages. Since the Neolithic era, when humans became settled and began cultivating, gathering and processing grain, they used it not only for baking bread but also for fermentation. In the Middle Ages, Kraków had over 100 breweries and malt houses! At that time, beer was consumed daily, soups were cooked with it, and because it was boiled, it was safer than untreated water. Today we’ll take a brief look at these Polish brewing traditions and the current situation.

The Beer Revolution of the 2010s in Poland and Kraków

Communism in Poland was a period of fighting entrepreneurship. Almost the entire economy was in state hands, which inevitably led to its decline. Polish breweries suffered the same fate. After the establishment of the Third Republic, breweries were privatized. Large brewing corporations emerged and dominated the market. In the early 2000s, we essentially had two major brewing companies producing mediocre beer.

Things changed from 2011 onward. The avant-garde of the new trend of small, local craft breweries was Pinta, with its flagship Atak Chmielu. Today we have many local breweries, many of which don’t even own their own brewing facilities but rent them and brew according to their own recipes. One of these small but excellent breweries is Browar Piwojad from Kraków.


Polish Beer Style – Grodziskie

This beer style does not originate from Kraków but from Greater Poland, specifically Grodzisk Wielkopolski. I come from western Poland and as a child I often bought Grodziska mineral water in one‑liter glass bottles (we were more eco-friendly than you, dear youth – in the early 90s there were practically no plastic bottles). The basis of good beer is good water and a cool climate – beer does not like heat.

Grodziskie is a top‑fermented beer in which the wheat malt is smoked over beechwood, giving it a distinctive flavor. It is a light wheat beer with about 3 % alcohol – refreshing and perfect for summer.

Polish Beer Style – Baltic Porter

The second originally Polish beer style is the Baltic Porter. Completely different from Grodziskie: heavy, dark, bottom‑fermented. This porter is strong and warming, with noticeable notes of chocolate, coffee and caramel – ideal for winter or to accompany a hearty portion of meat. It contains 8–10 % alcohol and is best served at 12 °C.

This beer style emerged in the early 19th century, when Napoleon’s blockade stopped the import of heavy, “nutritious” stouts from Great Britain. So we began brewing our own version – and this porter became a “winter beer” with Polish roots. To this day, it is much more popular than Grodziskie, which is only slowly returning to favor.


Where to drink good beer in Kraków?

Local craft beers are available even in Żabka convenience stores found on almost every corner in Kraków, so buying something for your home or hotel is no problem. Naturally, we have dozens, if not hundreds, of places serving good beer.

I’m not paid for advertising, so I’ll mention only a few places I personally visit and know serve really good beer:

  • Omerta in Kazimierz, Kupa Street
  • A brewpub on Wawrzyńca Street where beer is brewed on-site
  • CK Browar on Podwale Street, 3 minutes from the Main Square
  • Nowa Wytwórnia on Fabryczna Street

It’s worth coming to Kraków just for the beer. And believe me – you can eat very well here too, all in a lively yet pleasantly calm, beautiful city of kings.

Maybe you’d like to explore Kraków – including its beer scene – with me?https://krakow-tour.pl/en/contact/