Kormoran: Krzepkie (Poland: Imperial Pils: 7.4% ABV)
Visual: Yellowed gold. Large white bubbled head. Moderate carbonation.
Nose: Smooth. Crisp. Wheat hops. Soft caramel. Fresh floral lager character. Cake sponge.
Body: Smooth. Crisp lemon. Palma violet. Moderate hops but low bitterness. Fresh lime. Raspberry pavlova. Floral character. Small treacle like boozy back. Vanilla malt chocolate.
Finish: Custard. Palma violets. Smooth toffee. Hop oils. Some bitterness. Honeyed barley, or maybe golden syrup. Slight alcohol air.
Conclusion: Welcome to some heavy duty lager. This plays the lager style straight, no heavy hop exploration, no fruit infusions, wheat, or any other twists. Just careful brewing and patient lagering for maturation best I can tell.
It has a lovely crisp lager character and noble hop palma violet feel matched with soft toffee and custard sweetness which I take to be from the increased malt load. It gives a thick texture, matched by soft sherbet froth at the edges.
I am impressed, the sweetenss gives an almost pavlova feel at times that reminds me of Schneider and Sohns’ Hopfen-Weisse, in that element alone obviously. The other elements are noble hops pocked throughout that pushes a quality Poland lager feel, just bigger.
It is dangerously drinkable for the abv. It does have an occasional sign of alcohol, a treacle booziness mid body and a spirit air in the finish. Neither are common and they are both a minor flaw in that they mar the flavour, and a saving grace in that they remind you of the alcohol weight,
Overall it is an impressive lager, while it has a few harsh edges, the flavor and drinkability are such that I will not hold them against it. This is a big, malty sweet lager and it tries for nothing else, however it does that very well.
Background: I took a look on rate beer after drinking this, apparently they don’t rate it. collectively speaking. 24th percentile overall, 61st percentile by style, so just above average. Huh. Then again, much as I appreciate them as a reference I do have semi regular disagreements with the consensus. And that is fine, we all enjoy beer in our own way. Anyway, I went squee a bit when I heard Independent Spirit had some craft Polish beers in. It is my shame, that it all the years I have done this, I have never reviewed a Polish beer. Drank a few, but never reviewed. Poland has a great tradition of quality lagers, and now it seems the start of a craft beer scene – they do not deserve to be ignored. So I have redressed the balance with this long matured strong lager. I also gave their American IPA a try – pretty good, not world shaking, but a solid tasty IPA that can stand proud against the crowd. They also do a garlic beer – I have no idea what that is like, I am mildly nervous at the concept. Maybe that means I should try it and face my fears? Drunk while listening to Erocks awesome Sandstorm Meets Metal.
