Warka Strong

Brewed by Warka (Zywiec Group/Heineken)
Style: Strong Pale Lager/Imperial Pils
Warka, Poland

Serve in Dimpled mug, Footed Pilsner, Lager glass, Stein

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Hoppy aroma. White head. Amber coloured hazy in appearance hoppy and sour with a slightly dry oaked finish.

Warka has been a long time favourite of mine. Pours clear deep golden honey colour with white soapy head that fades quickly to ring. Nice carbonation adds to beauty and makes up for poor sticky lacing which is just carbon bubbles. Aroma is sweet malt more honey than toffee. Flavour is sweet malt like aroma chased by slight bitter hops; just enough to balance out flavour and add a tad of earthiness covering up the alcohol. Palate is syrupy but suits this strong beer well. Still one of my favourites.

500ml bottle. Drunk from a pint glass, the frothy white head does a quick disappearing act. Light indiscernible aroma is slightly unpleasant. Colour is caramel-amber (Lovibond 9/10). Where this beer REALLY impresses is the first (okay, every) sip. Strong but balanced notes of malt, slightly sweet corn taste and pepper and nuts in the finish. Well rounded. Truly, an interesting beer. Fizzy, but minimal lace. Excellent sharpness in the mouth. I’ll buy this again!

2nd Jan 2011: Another Polish beer that has turned up in rural Shropshire, mostly for the migrant workers, but also for beerhunters like me. This gold and black 500ml can was best before 23 Mar 2011, poured into a ’Leffe’ stemmed tulip glass (twice). Deep golden body, clear, bright and darker than most lager beers. The pure white head soon turned into a thin wisp and collar. Malty molasses in the aroma, treacle and toffee type smells, but not overly sweet. The taste is all malt, a slight hop feel towards the end of the mouthfeel, the alcohol is fairly well hidden, just appearing once the malt flavours begin to fade in the mouth. Pleasantly suprised, thought this would be an alcoholic street drinker special, this isn’t the case.

Pale clear golden with small white head. Aroma is unpleasant, skunky with organic chemicals. Medium-light body and syrupy. Flavor is sweet without any crispness to balance. Maybe an unfresh bottle but nonetheless more of an alcohol delivery device without redeeming qualities.

Dark honey amber lager. Aroma is a little malt and some grass and metal hop notes. A tad cidery with some surprise bittersweet dark chocolate elements as well. Alcohol content makes itself known in a not-overpowering way. Heavy and crisp. Good balance for a stronger lager.

500ml bottle pours a bright golden color with a small white head that leaves very lilttle lacing on the glass. Aroma is light caramel and mild grassy hops. Taste is light caramel malty sweetness with a moderate hop bitterness. Surprisingly good for the style of beer.

Yeeh! A Polish strog beer from Zywiec. I keep Zywiec in my memory as an excellent beer with a character from 80´ of previous century. Is this current WARKA a Polish or a Dutch beer simply playing a nasty game as a soft "Amsterdam" style? Indeed, alcoholic both in its aroma and taste. Palate does not change anything. Nasty sweet in all these triple feelings. C@Airport

Thin head with a dark yellow strong-lager body like any other. Soft aroma of hops and particle board, but not overpowering, some fruity notes. Flavour is heavy caramel and chocolate, a total surprise for this type of brew and makes it much more palatable. And hides the alcohol. This is a unique flavour for a strong lager, I’d drink it ahead of several others. But it still ain’t great.

Originally rated August 2005. Label says Warka in big red letters (not the word Strong) and the ABV is 7% on this one, bought at the LCBO. Pours a nice rich amber colour with a decent head. The lacing is pretty sticky. Slow carbonation. The nose had roasted malt and some alcohol. Smell of corn comes out after a 10 minute breathing gap, with some grain. Mouthfeel is kind of syrupy, but smooth. The taste is easy going malt with a hoppy overlay. Different in a way, but nothing too exceptional. Drinkability is good for a strong brew.