Poland is one of Europe’s biggest beer markets, and for decades that meant pale lager from a handful of big brands. Around 2011 a few home brewers started releasing American-style IPAs, and the “beer revolution” spread fast. Today the country has hundreds of craft breweries, and Polish brewers win medals at international competitions.
The styles you’ll see on the board
- Pils and lager: crisp and dry, a safe first pint.
- IPA and New England IPA: hop-forward, with citrus, mango and passion fruit. NEIPA is hazy and softer on bitterness.
- Sour and fruit beers: tart and refreshing, often with fruit. Think lemonade for grown-ups.
- Hefeweizen and witbier: wheat beers with banana, clove or orange peel notes.
- Stout and porter: coffee, chocolate, roast. Look out for Baltic porter, a strong, smooth dark lager that’s a Polish speciality.
- Grodziskie: a light, smoky wheat beer from Grodzisk Wielkopolski, a town near Poznań. Rare, historic, and very local.
Moczybroda: our family brewery
Browar Moczybroda started brewing in 2018 and belongs to the same family as Lot Chmiela and Wściekły Chmiel. Since then their beers have collected dozens of medals and awards, led by a gold at the Polish Craft Beer Competition. You’ll always find several of them on tap at Lot Chmiela and at Wściekły Chmiel, where they take up around half of the 18 lines. Ask the bar which Moczybroda beers are on today: the line-up changes every few days.
Other breweries from around Poznań
- Poznańskie Browary Rzemieślnicze from Kostrzyn, east of the city.
- Browar Sady, northwest of Poznań, brewing for several brands.
- Szreniawa and Nieczajna, both regulars on local tap lists.
Lech, the big brand you’ll see on parasols around the square, is brewed in Poznań too, at an industrial brewery on the edge of the city.
How to order in Polish
- Piwo, proszę (PEE-vo, PRO-sheh): a beer, please.
- Duże / małe (DOO-zheh / MAH-weh): large (0.5 l) / small (0.3 l).
- Z beczki (z BECH-kee): on draught.
- Na zdrowie! (na ZDRO-vyeh): cheers!
Nobody will mind if you order in English. At Lot Chmiela and Wściekły Chmiel the bar staff speak it every night.
Can’t decide? Get a tasting board
At Lot Chmiela you can order four beers of 150 ml each on a wooden board. Pick them yourself or let the bartender choose. It’s the fastest way to find your style. To try more bars, see our list of craft beer bars in Poznań.
Next: Cocktail bars near the Old Market Square · All Poznań guides
Come for a pint at Lot Chmiela
British-style craft beer pub with a beer garden, Żydowska 4, two minutes from the Old Market Square. Open daily from 4 pm, English spoken.