Warka Strong

Brewed by Grupa Zywiec
Style: European Strong Lager
Zywiec, Poland

Bottle. Head is initially small, frothy/fizzy, off-white, mostly diminishing. Body is dark yellow to light amber. Aroma is moderately malty (toasted grain/bread, husks), lightly hoppy (flowers, herbs), with light notes of honey and metal. Flavor is moderately to heavily sweet, lightly bitter. Finish is lightly to moderately sweet, lightly to moderately bitter, slightly husky. Medium body, watery texture, lively/fizzy carbonation, lightly alcoholic. Pretty drinkable for the style...not as dirty and industrial as most.

Bottle marked best before 05.25.2007. White fizzy head that was medium in size, mostly diminishing, virtually no lacing, transparent, fast-rising carbonation, and a golden hue. Malty, corn and hoppy nose. Flavor was malty, corn, some hoppiness, and somewhat watery tasting. Smooth, watery mouthfeel. Light-medium body. A boring tasting beer that does not warrant or intice me to want this one again. The taste just doesn’t come together enough for me. If it had a stronger taste it would have appealed to me more than what it did.

Bottle. Golden colour with a medium white head. Sweetish malt aroma and a little bit grassy. Sweet honeyish flavour with grainy notes.

Is it so wrong to enjoy an occasional bit of Eurotrash? Most European Strong Lagers are barely a step up from malt liquor, but sometimes I like a bit of rough. At the end of a shithouse day, I don’t want nuance, I want something to take the pain away. Cue Warka Strong, a clumsy Polish brute of a beer. It’s that rich marmalade-orange colour that seems to be reserved for Euro-strongs - perhaps as a warning to potential drinkers. The thin scattering of suds dissipated in the time it took to type this sentence. It smells strongly of sweetcorn, plus biscuits and nail-varnish phenols. It’s not as sticky in the mouth as some high-abv lagers, but it’s slick and softly carbonated. There are plenty of residual sugars and only a hint of hop. The finish is sour, quenching and "hot". There’s precious little in the way of flavour here to slow your drinking. I feel better already. (500ml bottle from Randwick Village Cellars. BB 19/10/07)

copper hue with off white head, earthy and malty aroma that precedes the sweet and malty flavor. noticeably drinkable for its strength.

can. Amber colour, creamy head. Malty with hints of grain. The alcohol is detectable.

Dark golden body with a mainly lasting head. Sweet malt notes mainly in the taste, caramel, grains and shortbread with the alcohol just warming. This beer does grow on you a bit.

500ml bottle. Old gold, thin white head. Got some vinous notes, some toffee, no great hop or malt. It’s ok, but just a tad bland. Some whiskyish malt.