Grodziskie
Live Oak Brewing Company

Transfer from RB

Draft at the brewery
Big foamy creamy head with good retention, thick lacing, clear light pale color

Nose light smoke almost cherry wood like smoke, doughy malt, grainy,

Taste brings mild smoke, little yeast, doughy malt, light straw, more of the light cherry wood smoke

Mouth is med to lighter bod, med carb

Overall pretty good for the style, light smoke and light all around but plenty of character

 

 

Ultra pale yellow body, sharp and clear; decent carbonation; thick, billowy and loosely spongy head, white. Mild aroma; no real smokiness; bright and lightly herbal. The taste brings an ashy, smokey flavor to the palate; extremely mild herbal note and barely perceptible malt note; little sense of hop bitterness. Very light body; smooth and lightly slippery; mild sense of smokey dryness.

Being rather familiar with the style, this is a solid example of it. The wheat base is not noticeable per se, but there is a nice smokey character with a delicate phenol component. The mouthfeel is very light, as to be expected. Overall, a light, delicate, smoked beer.

ABV: 3%; pouring temperature: 56 °F; canning info: unreadable
Source: local purchase (Coaltrain Fine Wine, Craft Beer & Spirits)

(shaker pint draft pour at The Beermongers in Portland, OR on 4 Jul 2024)

For the life of me, until a few moments ago, I could not remember the second (and final) beer I had at Beermongers during a recent short road trip, probably because I was at the time engrossed in a conversation with a couple from Seattle via Dallas... this beer definitely cut through the mix though... for its small abv, damn does this pack an aggressively-smoky character, which is at its relative zenith, given the supporting flavors... pale, pretty much clear liquid, with some fleeting foam on the pour... bowls you over with the smoke, but not to the point where facial reflexes indicate pain or displeasure... honestly, I could've had maybe 3 pints of this (and their draft list had several tantalizing, completely different alternatives that vied for my attention...) ... this was maybe the third or fourth Grodziskie I've tried in my time, and it wasn't the most interesting or dimensional, but certainly the most dynamic and memorable... I'll be getting another hopefully next month at the brewery... at any rate, worth trying, because its relative smoke factor might be more intense than the Bamberg collective (2357)

 

Had a 16 oz draft pour at High Side.
L - Pours a clear light yellow color with a decent white head.
S - Smells smoky.
T - Tastes of lemon and smoke.
F - Lighter body and carbonation.
O - Very interesting smoky beer.

 

Canned 6/21/23; drank 12/3/23 @ Pokemon Communion.

Mostly see-through dull orange/yellow appearance.

Huge bright white head; a thick curtain of tree-rung lacing remained.

Campfire smoke & bacon notes in the nose.

Medium thin mouthfeel.

Smoke, bacon & faint wheat flavors.

Big & bold for being so low in a.b.v.; not an every day beer but certainly worth trying.

 

07.06.23. Poured into a Samuel Adams Perfect Pint.
A: Very clear very pale yellow with 1-2 finger white foamy head with good retention and sparse lacing.

S: Aroma is hammy with light pils breadiness in the background. Clean with no esters.

T: Flavor is surprisingly meaty with strong ham, bacon, and burnt wood flavors. Clean without esters and bitterness is low.

M: The feel is incredible for the ABV with light but not watery body and high carbonation to help scrub the smoke and keep it in check.

O: A unique beer with a great balance of smoked flavor with some pils breadiness. A very good low ABV beer but it seems like the smoked flavor is strong enough to pile up for me

 

3/28/23 On tap at Live Oak Brewing, Austin TX.

Aroma is light, refreshing, smokey.

Straw colored, light lacing. Thin head remains through drinking until the end.

Flavor is smokey (duh), cracker, light, refreshing.

Biergarten location is at the end of a long deserted road. Have faith, it's where the GPS says it is located! Ha ha

1860
Name: Grodzikie
Brewery: Live Oak
Location: Austin, TX
Style: Smoked Polish Beer
ABV: 3%
Date: 11/22/2022
Getting off the airplane in Texas, I head straight to this brewery. This has been on my bucket list for a while. It was Rauch Fest Weekend, and this beer was in the to-go cooler. This is the first time I review this style, and I am stoked. Using a pokal glass, I served the beer at around 42 degrees. The pour created a frothy and creamy two-fingered white creamy head with excellent retention. The slow dissipation left some lacing on the glass. Charting the color somewhere around SRM 2, pale straw with light golden hues. The clarity is brilliant with some carbonation bubbles. The appearance is excellent for this style.
Nosing the glass, I smell smoke, Maillard, crackers, light floral esters, and bacon.
Light crackers, lots of smoke, bacon, Maillard, crackers, floral esters, and slight malty sweetness.
The mouthfeel is dry and crisp. The body is light and has a medium-plus carbonation, a lingering finish.
This beer is unusual. It tastes like a german smoked beer but is light in body. I enjoyed this beer lots of flavors going on but balanced. So glad I finally reviewed this style. I want to drink more of these.

This one pours a slightly golden straw yellow, with a small head, and lots of lacing.

This smells like liquid bratwurst essentially, with some wheaty sweetness, and lemon peel.

This is a very intriguing beer – there’s no tartness, like some examples of this style – just a lot of slightly sweet wheatiness, and a really meaty and bratwurst like sweet smokiness.

This is light bodied, pretty crisp, and reasonably drinkable.

I don’t always like when smoked beers come across as so blatantly meaty, but I still enjoy this overall.

This pours a white gold with tight foam. The nose has that distinctive smoked character, true to the style. This is by no means a one note smoke bomb, however. It’s tart, crisp, slightly so, with an effervescence that snaps. Oh it’s a good one.

 

Pours super clear and barely yellow like this thing was trying to beat a presumptive drug test. Makes 1" white head nonetheless. Its a pretty interesting appearance. I like it. Oh jeez I just looked at this beer's average score here. Pathetic, the small abv curse strikes again.

The aroma hits both those unique and awesome category box checks. Oak smoked wheat, this is cool. You've got the usual delicious tangy wheat thing going, but the smoke and woodiness brings whole layers of complexity to what you thought you knew about berliner weisse, but instead, with a lager yeast. Holy moly wrapping my head around this.

Taste just floors me. There is a lot going on here, in such a small beer. Good lemon meets smoke tang, great levity of the mouth feel. Never acidic sour, just that sour mash sour, light but flavorful. I don't know how much I agree with the aggressive hopping, but I'm probably just too inundated with ipas to make that call. I would venture to say its hopped traditionally for a pilsner.

I'm telling you, not usually a smoked beer fan, but the nuance and subtlety are key. Wonderfully done. Easily one of my favorite beers I've had in a long time. About $1.50 a can. I'm done with $20 - 50 beers for the most part, thanks to beers like this. Going to have a pick up of this every time the hookup is in the area.

6pack from a good old friend in Texas
Pours a clear straw color with a thick fluffy white head, good retention and beautiful lacing.
Distinctive smoke aroma, like walking into a smoker once it has cooled down. Not as harsh as a original Schlenkerla but very much present. Taste follows the nose with earthy notes and dry finish. Some lingering smoky bitterness.
Body is light and the mouthfeel leaves a bit of a coating.
The smoke is not overdone, I like it.