EB Premium

Brewed by Grupa Zywiec
Style: Premium Lager
Zywiec, Poland

Big whiff of skunk when opened. Rather thin and fizzy. Harsh, grainy and adjuncty. A bit dry and bitter as well. An unexciting euro-lager.

Pale with a thin head. Slightly sweet. Typical. Bought with the thought of ’they can’t all be bad...’ while perusing the selection for the region. I’m not sure if it’s the LCBO bottom line, or the style in general that’s lacking. Granted, this one isn’t all that bad, nothing really offensive about it, but I think I’ll stick with my local micros and UK/Germany imports.

Pours a clear golden color with a short-lived fizzy white head. The aroma is mildly malty, grassy and a tad tinny. Has kind of a fading malt flavor, too quickly replaced with a metallic bitterness. Sweetish finish.

A chance purchase at a local 24 hour supermarket that has suddenly acquired a handful of Polish beers (it was very close to its best before date, so I’m guessing they picked up a job lot cheap). This was sold as "EB Pilsner" and had 5.4% ABV, but I’m assuming it’s the same beer. Mid gold colour. Rather cardboardy aroma. Hints of malt and hops. Clearly aiming at a Czech style, but it comes across as resolutely dull. May have been better if fresher. 330 ml bottle, best before 3 November 2004.

Looks like a typical light pilsner with a light dry aroma and a dry pilsner flavour. Overall something to drink. Kind of similar to other polish pils.

Much better than most of the pale Polish lagers than I’ve tried though hardly great. Nose is grassy, very lightly hoppy. A whiff of skunk dissipates after a few seconds. Pale golden in color, about what you’d expect. Rather smooth drinking with some toasty, malty notes and, like the aroma, just a touch of hops. A fine beer for drinking but beyond that it doesn’t offer much.

Pours gold with a little soapy head. Sweet malty, virtually no hops in the aroma. Mild herbal hop in the flavour. Some caramel and some sweet toasty malt. Sweet finish. Not much of a pilsner.

Pours a white one-fingered head that faded quickly leaving little lace. Clear amber color. Medium carbonation and light bodied. Starts with hints of hops and malt, finishes with some bitterness. Good summer beer. $2.10 for a 500ml bottle from Colonial Spirits, Acton, Ma. The ABV is 5.4%.