Although the alcohol market in Poland boasts many different products, the leader among alcoholic beverages remains one. It is beer! Almost everyone loves the golden drink, and more and more of it is produced in our country every year. And it is nothing new, as the brewing traditions in Poland date back to the early Middle Ages. Interestingly, some historical breweries are still in operation, and many of you have certainly tried them in your life without realizing that they are made on the basis of ancient and traditional recipes!
Breweries and brewing traditions
When addressing the subject of the oldest Polish breweries, two things must be distinguished: the brewing traditions themselves will be one thing, and the date of establishment of the selected brewery will be another thing. When we look at the latter (ie the year when the "beer factory" was officially established), it may turn out that the oldest breweries are "only" 200-300 years old. However, they did not come out of nowhere - usually there were already well-established brewing traditions in a given place, and the formal establishment of the brewery was only to give them a more official expression.
Warka strong, i.e. a strong and long tradition of brewing
The Warka brewery itself is not one of the oldest - the well-known beer of the same name has been produced there since 1975. However, the brewing tradition of Warka beer is a completely different and much longer story. According to historical sources, they date back to the 15th century - even then, an alcoholic drink based on barley was produced in the city of Warka. Moreover, in 1478, Prince of Mazovia Bolesław V granted the city the exclusive privilege of delivering Warka beer to his court and selling it in the basement of the Warsaw town hall. There are even theories that the name of Warka was derived from the beer, and not the city's beer.
We can learn from historical sources that Warka beer was valued for its taste, color and clarity in the Middle Ages. Even the Apostolic Nuncio Hippolytus Aldobrandini (later Pope Clement VIII) liked the beer of Warka, who said it was "delicious, biting, similar in color and taste to wine".
Lwówek Brewery
The Lower Silesian brewery Lwówek was officially established in 1861 - Julius Hohberg bought the civic brewery (founded by the Brewery Brotherhood in 1850), decided to expand and start the enterprise. However, it relied on traditional recipes and local brewing traditions that probably date back to the 12th century! The oldest mention of the Lviv brewers' guild dates back to 1209 from the Wrocław City Book. The privilege of brewing beer was to be associated with the granting of civic rights to Lwówek. Was the same beer produced at Julius Hohberg's enterprise? We do not know exactly that, but surely both beers had a common denominator!
Żywiec Brewery
Probably not many people realize that the Żywiec Brewery has quite a long history. Interestingly, from the very beginning of its existence, it was a leader in the region. The enterprise was established in 1856 on the initiative of the Duke of Cieszyn, Albrecht Fryderyk Habsburg. As early as 1857, the brewery brewed 17,856 liters of beer (as for those times it was quite a lot), and within a dozen or so years it doubled its production. Perhaps it was the name of the owner that made the brewery successful - as early as 1869, Żywiec Beer was the largest plant among 260 breweries in Galicia.
The owner of the brewery in Żywiec quite eagerly invested in new devices supporting production: a barley sorting machine, a device for filtering beer during bottling, a Linde system cooling unit or a Ringhofer system brewhouse. Modern and improved production systems meant that Żywiec beer was considered a good quality drink, which translated into its popularity.
Witnica Brewery
We are moving to the Lubuskie region. It was here, in the 14th century, that the village of Witnica, situated in the Warta valley, became the property of the Cistercian Order of Mironice. What's so special about it? And the fact that the brothers had a special privilege allowing them to produce beer! The brewing traditions in the town were therefore long, but the official establishment of the company dates back to 1848, when Ernest Ferdinand Handke leased a small brewery in the town.
Interestingly, the brewery in Witnica is on the list of monuments of the National Heritage Institute.
Tyskie Browary Książęce
Tyskie, considered in Europe as "the best Polish beer", also boasts an interesting history. It has been produced in Tychy for 400 years - and it is constantly! The date of establishment of the breweries in Tychy is assumed to be 1629 - this is the date of the first official inventory of the brewery's property. It is very likely that the production itself had already started earlier.
At the beginning of its existence, i.e. in the 17th century, the brewery produced three types of golden liquor: mail order, yeast and table beer. The first had the highest quality and it was intended for sale. The other two were produced rather for local consumption.
This is a brief list of the oldest Polish breweries. In total, the number of breweries established before 1900 in Poland is as much as 25 (we are talking about enterprises still operating!). Did you realize that sometimes there is a long and quite interesting story behind your favorite golden drink?
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