During an exceptionally sunny September I finally managed to keep my promise and do a day trip to one of the main industrial hubs in Poland. Suffering from a bad reputation for a long time, Katowice has made many efforts to shake off the grey, depressing, graffiti besmirched concrete image it has amongst many people, that is, if they have ever heard of the city at all. As you can already sense, I was horribly biased when I jumped off the bus in the capital of Silesia, the Polish province known for its German-influenced dialect. But I was there, ready to be converted, and obviously, to have a look which beers the city had to offer.
I was very pleasantly surprised of what I encountered, when taking a stroll in the city centre. Many pleasant shops, lively squares, and streets bustling with people of all ages and sizes, who were in the city to go shopping. The hipster movement had made it to Silesia as well, which was wonderfully well reflected in a barber shop/whisky bar fusion store I encountered in the main shopping street. Obviously I had done my research in the beer department, but hadn’t been too clever, booking my return bus at 5 pm already. The two addresses I wanted to frequent only opened at 2 pm and 3 pm respectively. Enough time to have a tasting board in both places and to make it back to the bus station, but not as comfortably and freely as I had liked to visit those spots. No one but me to blame obviously.
So I dived in, head first, at 2 pm at Biała Małpa (White monkey) a craft beer bar with a Mexican restaurant connected to it, on a courtyard off the main street. The cosy roofed terrace separated the beer bar and the restaurant. Since it was rather chilly that day, I went inside and ordered a tasting board with 5 from the 20 Polish brews on tap. The interior was a nice combo of brick walls and wooden furniture. Polish rock and blues tunes came out of the stereo set. The bartender was very friendly and took his talking speed down a notch as soon as he noticed I wasn’t native Polish. He gave me a tasting board with 5 beers from the 20 ones they had on tap. On top of that, their fridge was stacked with bottled craft delights.
The beers then! Everything I tasted was home-grown stuff and clearly created by people who know what they were doing. The two IPAs New Beginning from the Browar Kraftwerk and Żytnie niefiltrowane IPA (unfiltered rye IPA) from Browar Jana were two very pleasant examples of solid brewing. The former with strong exotic fruit aromas and a creamy texture, ending in a lingering bitterness in the aftertaste, the latter silky soft, slightly syrupy in texture, with notes of honey on a solid malty backbone with a pleasant bitter end. The absolute star of that board was the middle one: Klątwa Masztelarza (meaning ‘the Curse of the Mastermind’), a wheat wild ale from Browar Harpagan. Fresh nose, strong sour on the palate with hints of peach and almond, bretty, with a clean, dry end. Wonderful beer, one of the best ones I had in Poland so far.
After this pleasant surprise, I took off to my second destination, and arrived just at opening time. Absurdalna (‘Absurd’) is a cosy bar in ruin style on the corner looking out on the rails heading towards the Katowice train station. When coming in, I was greeted by cone-shaped terrace chairs that took me back to Central America. When going through to the next room, I was teleported back to the seventies. Chairs and sleeping couches in primary colour with dark-wooden tables and hanging light globes changing colour constantly. Another room had some sitting booths and was darker and more intimate. The music as well added to the experience, thanks to the new wave and 8-bit infused electronic tunes. The bar is a wooden masterpiece, like in Ye Old English Inn, stacked with party games. An amazing setting, especially at night this place must be pumping. At least so I imagined.
There were fridges with interesting beers, 12 taps and 3 cask pumps. I got 5 beers on a beautifully presented tasting board in the shape of a painter’s palette, ranging from a dry creamy stout to an American Pale Ale with pear and apricot. Most of them were quite pleasant, without being exceptional. One beer does deserve a short mention though. I had a Szolc Art Quest, a really nice Belgian style Triple of AbyssBrewery, a small Polish craft brewery in the Warsaw outskirts. They added muscovado sugar during the brewing process, an unrefined Indian kind of dark sugar. The result is a dark-coloured triple with estery and coffee aromas. The flavour is quite sharp as you’d expect from a good triple. Bittersweetness with slightly burned coffee and a hint of tonka beans. The balance could be better, but nevertheless an interesting beer with a lot of potential. Absurdalna was not exceptional in terms of beer this time, but the venue definitely is something remarkable. I would recommend going during the evening to experience the unique atmosphere in a darker and more lively setting. I can’t wait to go back at some point.
I didn’t spend that much time in Katowice and I should go back at some point. But these two places definitely showed me you are not going to get thirsty. It’s only a drinking daytrip or daydrinking trip away from Kraków (your choice ;-) ). Enjoy!
Biała Małpa
3 Maja, 38
40-097 Katowice, Poland
Absurdalna
Dworcowa 3
40-012 Katowice, Poland
