Zywiec Porter
Zywiec Breweries PLC (Heineken)

Zywiec PorterZywiec Porter
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From:
Zywiec Breweries PLC (Heineken)
 
Poland
Style:
Baltic Porter
Ranked #119
ABV:
9.5%
Score:
87
Ranked #15,471
Avg:
3.9 | pDev: 12.56%
Reviews:
490
Ratings:
982
Status:
Active
Rated:
Today at 12:58 AM
Added:
Nov 01, 2001
Wants:
  46
Gots:
  137
Dark, porter-type beer was brewed in Żywiec as early as 1881. It owes its intense color and clear flavor to four types of malt.
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Ratings by WildMaverick1200:
Photo of WildMaverick1200
Reviewed by WildMaverick1200 from Massachusetts

3.73/5  rDev -4.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Zywiec pours as a nice, very dark brown-but not quite black into the glass, with a couple of inches of head and almost no lacing. The smell is reminiscent of rum, honey and sour bread. In the taste, there are well roasted grains, a little bit of honey and more sour bread. Complex and interesting, like a good porter should be. Flavors are somewhat well balanced, with the initial taste leaning towards the sweet side, and a burnt but still sweet feeling in the aftertaste. It's medium-thick bodied, just right for an afternoon or evening drink.
Jun 28, 2015
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 4.05 by Roberto11232 from New York

Today at 12:58 AM
 
Rated: 4.42 by harsley from Massachusetts

Yesterday at 06:51 PM
Photo of Brook82
Reviewed by Brook82 from Ohio

2.94/5  rDev -24.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3
Good dark appearance with a tan/off white head. Left modest lacing in a pint glass. Muted aroma, got a little chocolate notes and increased alcohol as it warmed. Taste was roasted malts, albeit in the background. No too dry of a finish and somewhat thin. Probably won't purchase again.
Feb 24, 2024
Photo of ovaltine
Reviewed by ovaltine from Indiana

4.35/5  rDev +11.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Pours a clear mahogany brown color and settles as nearly black in the glass with a creamy tan head that provides a significant amount of lacing. Beautiful Baltic Porter.

The nose features loads of roasty malts, some dark chocolate, and a bit of stone fruit. The taste follows has a more pronounced roasty char and dark chocolate flavor profile, and the stone fruit, here as plums, is a fitting back of the palate finish on this delicious beer.

The mouthfeel is full and creamy, on point for this beer. What a delightful beer this is.
Feb 19, 2024
Photo of Bluerabbitbell
Reviewed by Bluerabbitbell from Pennsylvania

4.68/5  rDev +20%
look: 4 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75
1/7/24 Poured from a 500ml purchased from Vintage Estate Wine and Beer Store in Boardman OH.

Oh my, this one took me by surprise! Rich in aroma and flavor, I i cannot get over how good this is.

On the aroma you get an instant nosefull of irony molasses, licorice, and sweet and malty cocoa nibs.

The flavor then just wows you with that same molasses, licorice, and cocoa, flavors rounded out with malty caramel and raisin sweetness and a smooth mouthfeel that lulls you right in you into a deep, heavy eyelid, alcohol daze of goodness. Ahhhh.

Is this better than our favorite Edmund Fitzgerald? Gotta try them
side by side.
Jan 07, 2024
Photo of Lucular
Reviewed by Lucular from Maryland

4.28/5  rDev +9.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
500 ml bottle poured into a snifter. Pours pitch black with a medium tan head. Aroma and flavor feature dark roasted malts, dark chocolate, coffee, caramel, and just enough bitter/earthy hops. Complex, creamy, and flavorful. Really good porter and hides the abv well.
Dec 26, 2023
 
Rated: 4.08 by grantr94 from New Jersey

Dec 24, 2023
Photo of Oktoberfest
Reviewed by Oktoberfest from Ohio

3.95/5  rDev +1.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
A local emporium was all but giving these away and I wanted to do my part for beer and country. Although not a porter guy, generally speaking, I thought this was very good. A little sweet with no sign of the 9.5% ABV lurking around. I should return to the local emporium as soon as possible.
Dec 15, 2023
Photo of 57md
Reviewed by 57md from Pennsylvania

3.98/5  rDev +2.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Pours a deep dark brown color with honey edges and over a finger of beige head. The nose is roasty with some hints of plums. The flavor has roasted notes, but they are pretty mild for such a high ABV beer. The finish is on the dry side of things. The mouthfeel is creamy and the body is slightly light for the style.

This offering is a bit of a mixed bag, but I think worth $3 for a 500ml bottle at 9.5%.
Dec 11, 2023
Photo of Redhab62
Reviewed by Redhab62 from New Jersey

4.67/5  rDev +19.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
I'm not a beer connoisseur, so I can't give you all the details. When I have a beer, it's like a glass of wine. I know what tastes good. I don't taste hints of this or that, or how creamy the texture is, or what it smells like. I enjoy a beer or a glass of wine for what it tastes like on my palette. I love food and I rate food the same way too. I know what tastes good and what doesn't. This Porter tastes good, one of the best I've ever had. Call me a rating virgin, I don't care, this is a damn good beer!
Oct 19, 2023
 
Rated: 2.85 by bendukes86 from South Carolina

Oct 15, 2023
Photo of PlutonowyManiek
Reviewed by PlutonowyManiek from Belgium

3.59/5  rDev -7.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Dark ruby brown colour, clearly the liquid is clear. Brown foam, high, persistent, paints nicely on the glass.
Aroma heavily roasted, caramel, ash, nutty, there is some coffee and a hint of fried plum. There's a little bit of not much going on here.
Taste dry, the bitterness is heavily roasted, caramel and burnt ash character. It's long and noticeably high, not overbearing.
Medium saturation. Full body, the liquid has a smooth texture. I may be picking on myself, but unfortunately you can feel slight alcohol notes and this is not in plus for this beer. Aftertaste long dry, with a fruity (plum) finish.
Sep 28, 2023
Photo of Cathartes
Reviewed by Cathartes from Massachusetts

3.84/5  rDev -1.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
16.9 oz bottle acclimated to 55°F and poured into a nonic pint glass.

Pours black with orange highlights. Produces a 1.5 finger khaki head, tan at the top, leaving a film that gives way to a ring with spots of lacing.

Initial aroma is strong, it smells of burnt coffee, and almost Worcestershire sauce, maybe not that specifically, but the same intense quality. I get what seems like a note of black licorice, including the sweetness. After agitating I notice alcohol come out, it seems very similar to the licorice I smelled before, and is perhaps what I was smelling then.

Initial taste before swallowing is a little cocoa powder in the inhale, then surprisingly sweet, there's an alcohol presence that doesn't burn, and a moderate bitterness, tasting both of hops and roastiness, it grows more intense the longer it sits, and the alcohol begins to burn. After swallowing I notice that licorice adjacent taste, which gives way to an aftertaste of strong bitterness, being dry and very malty. I notice it's also acrid and a little acidic, with sweetness that balances it somewhat. It's intense, but the flavor is there.

Mouthfeel seems to be full bodied and a little creamy. Not spectacular in my opinion but very nice to drink, and easy to enjoy the texture.

Overall I have to say that this is quite intense. That's not a negative, it just is. It's rather abrasive, which leads me to drink it slower than average. Huge amounts of roasted malt combine with an acrid taste to form something that really must be drunk slowly. I didn't dislike it, it just was not 100% my speed. It's not something most would want to drink often, but it's a concrete wall of a beer.

May buy again, not unlikely. My thing is though that I'm more likely to try something I haven't had before in the same style, and I wasn't highly impressed by this one, despite it being good. It deserves to be bought again for sure, just that I may or may not.
Sep 09, 2023
Photo of Overtonjd
Rated by Overtonjd from New Jersey

4.28/5  rDev +9.7%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
500ml, 9.5 ABV, $2, you could do MUCH worse than this one!
Sep 03, 2023
 
Rated: 4 by doctorgary from New York

Aug 11, 2023
 
Rated: 4.03 by guzzleacoldone from Ohio

Jul 29, 2023
Photo of MikeWard
Reviewed by MikeWard from Pennsylvania

4.06/5  rDev +4.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Shared 500ml bottle with s-I-l Greg, who provided this tasty treat.

Almost black body with a small tan head. Big aromas of dark malt, coffee, licorice. This carrys over the taste, really strong flavor. The roast finish is actually smooth. Been after this one for a while. Very enjoyable.
Jun 10, 2023
Photo of MadMadMike
Reviewed by MadMadMike from France

3.94/5  rDev +1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
250 mL bottle into a pint glass. Tan head rises over dark brown brew.
Aroma of dark malt, bit of licorice, and a noticeable tinniness.
Taste matches. The dark roast is followed by cocoa, smidge of dark coffee, mild stone fruit and anise. The tinny flavor subsided, thankfully. Finish is dry with a nice bitterness and a bit of alcohol.
Feel is creamy but not thick, medium carbonation.
Overall, an OK Euro Porter.
May 11, 2023
 
Rated: 4 by QuintusHorace from California

Apr 21, 2023
Zywiec Porter from Zywiec Breweries PLC (Heineken)
Beer rating: 87 out of 100 with 982 ratings