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Sunday, 13 September 2020

My local craft brewery!

Yesterday evening, I treated myself to a bottle of Licho nie śpi ('The evil one does not sleep'), an oatmeal stout, 5.2% ABV. From Browar Perun (browar = brewery), home to such other favourites of mine as Topór Peruna ('The Thunder-God's Axe'), a Polish IPA, 8.2% ABV (strong!) and Braggot, a barleywine, 12.4% ABV (really strong, but smaller bottle).

This morning, about to put the bottle into the recycling bin, I noticed the brewery's address - the postcode started with a 05-. Same as Jakubowizna... So glasses on to read the label - WOW! it turns out that the Perun brewery is located in Budziszyn, a mere 6.7km (4.2 miles) from where I'm eating breakfast. I dig deeper into the recycling bin and find three bottles of Topór Peruna - this summer's most-drunk craft beer on my działka. And one Braggot. And a Behemot Bafomet by Browar Perun, a Russian Imperial Stout (11.6% ABV). Must have blown my mind that one, as I have no recollection of having drunk it!

I decided to see the brewery (if only from the road, as it's closed on Sundays). After a morning visit from Student SGH, whose Politics, Economy, Society blog is the only English-language blog about life in Poland still going strong on my sidebar (after 11 and half years), I set off.

I reach my destination in just ten minutes! Passing Chynów and Edwardów, there it is (below), just past the sign marking the end of Budziszyn village, on the left heading south towards Warka. It might be a Sunday, but there are signs of life within - busy people evidently. Opened in 2017, same year that I bought Jakubowizna.


Great! Having located it, I shall visit during the working week and acquire a few bottles. But it's a Sunday... Which means that Piwnica Konesera ('the Connoisseur's Cellar') in Chynów is open (if nothing else, other than the petrol station). And here I can find a wide range of Browar Perun beers on offer. And so, on my motorbike with only a small rucksack, I buy a small selection. Noc Kupały (Slavonic feast of Midsummer's Night), a Polish Extra Foreign Stout (6.4% ABV). [Is it extra-foreign, or Polish-extra? Don't know - hyphens don't say.] Another Licho nie śpi and another Topór Peruna (both reliable), and a Behemoth Sol Invictus, a dunkel bock (koźlak).

I have the Noc Kupały with my supper. Excellent. Richer, stronger and more... rounded... than a Guinness.

In my worldview, beer should be brewed near where it is to be consumed. The idea of carting beer around the planet, burning fossil fuels to get it to distant consumers is wrong. And brewing as a global corporate activity does not breed genuine diversity of taste. Beers should be brewed by people whose passion is brewing - not by accountants, whose business is selling brands to please the shareholder, by offering beers that appeal to the broadest number of consumers. Lowest common denominator determined by focus group.

Small breweries, such as Perun (logo: Slavonic god's face, hop for beard, wheat for hair) are the future. 

Please do try Perun's varied and fascinating beers - I shall be delving deeper into their board of fare.

This time 10 years ago:
Time to change gear.

This time 11 years ago:

This time 12 years ago:
Early, cold start to autumn
at

6 comments:

  1. Ian14 September 2020 at 15:14

    Do you know anywhere around us that sells these beers?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jacek Koba14 September 2020 at 20:46

    Glad to see you celebrating the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness! If you were living in the 1970s Polish countryside, the two words ‘buy’ and ‘fruit’ were never heard together. You could just walk down the streets of any town and village and help yourself to the abundance of apples, pears and plums dripping onto streets from fruit-laden trees in every garden. Fruit was truly communal! The idea that you have to pay for fruit (except tropical, of course) came in in the 90s. And except in big cities, of course. My aunt in Kraków would say, “I went to Rynek Kleparski to buy some fruit for the preserves.” My family and I in Kraśnik listened wide-eyed.

    Then the hacking started (your previous email), first the bushes, then the grass and finally the trees, for the reasons you mention. Denuded, the environment lost its ability to fight infection. There is one neighbour who has let his backyard go to pot – knee-high grass, unpruned trees, century-old farm machinery rusting away, etc. Do you know what? Moles are not a problem (well, you can’t see the molehills), and his trees bear semi-decent fruit. My guess is: if you want to improve your fruit crop by clearing the garden, you will, at first. Then, especially if everyone around, does the same, it will go to pot (unless you spray).

    There is a wonderful book, more whimsical than practical, called The Complete Book of Self-sufficiency, by John Seymour – any edition prior to but including 1997 (Dorling Kindersley), which will set you back between $100 and $1000. Very much like the Complete Angler. Read it aloud and you will fall in love with the sound of your voice. Can Jakubowizna do without it?

    As for beer, I swear by Perła. Lublin's own.

    I have, by the way, restarted my blogging. Not sure how long my resolve will last!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Michael Dembinski15 September 2020 at 08:46

    @ Ian:

    Here's the full list...

    https://browarperun.pl/gdzie-kupic/

    Seems there are two outlets in Piaseczno...

    WIATA PIWA on ul. Strusia 3a and KARAFKA on ul. 17 stycznia 21.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Michael Dembinski15 September 2020 at 08:49

    @ Jacek Koba

    Good to see you've returned to blogging after six years! Will add you to my sidebar. Very pertinent point about unkempt gardens and infection.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Michael Dembinski15 September 2020 at 12:59

    @Jacek Koba - thanks for the John Seymour tip - just read his story. Must order the book. The one that launched Dorling Kindersley as a publisher!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Andrzej K15 September 2020 at 14:45

    Whenever I am offered a Żywiec in a bar or restaurant I always reply that I asked for a beer and not fizzy gnats piss.

    ReplyDelete