Most people do not consider Poland a hot-bed of brewing, but this eastern European country has a strong brewing tradition which has grown in the past decade. One of the more tasty Polish brews available here in Milwaukee is from Okocim, which has been brewing beer since 1845 in the city of Brzesko, Poland, about 125 miles south of Warsaw. The Okocim brewery boasts of the pure, soft water they use in brewing their beers. This naturally soft water flows down from the Tatra mountain range, along the Slovakian border.
Okocim Mocne Malt Liquor is a strong, pale beer with a full malt body and a well-rounded hop balance. Mocne (pronounced Moosena) is brewed using only Polish ingredients, including Polish Pils malt and special Goryczkowy hops. This is an aroma hop which gives this beer a slightly metallic taste.
{INSERT_RELATED}Mocne pours to a thick, rich head, and is light golden in color. Savoring that first sip, you experience that full malt body with an excellent hop aroma, which must derive from the Gorczkowy hops. With the thick, rich mouth feel you can tell that this beer is higher in malt and alcohol than regular beer. In fact, Mocne malt liquor has an alcohol content of 7.5% by volume.
Most domestic malt liquors use a fair amount of sugar to boost alcohol content but this beer does not. It is produced using only malt, hops, yeast and water. Mocne also has a rather quick primary fermentation time of only five days, and the brewery said the total fermentation and aging time is only 17 days. That's pretty fast for a high-gravity beer. The results though, are impressive.
Okocim Mocne is only available in 500ml bottles and cost $1.75 as sampled. Two other fine brews from Okocim Brewery are also available: the hearty, dark and rich Okocim Porter, and Okocim OK which is a lighter Polish Pils style. I encourage you to try them all, you can bet your dupa you will enjoy them.
Next month we head back to Belgium, the country with the most brewing diversity of any on the planet. 'Til then -- cheers!!
