Staropolskie Chmielne
Browar Staropolski

BBD of August 2026, some carbonation evident by the way the flip top bottle popped open.

S: Grassy with pear notes, some perfumy hops, fades some once warmer. Average head retention & lacing

T: Follows the nose, some dryness, a little woody hop bitterness as well up front. Apple flavor, dryness, sweet bready notes & some grassy & herbal bitterness once this beer is warmed up. Finishes with dryness & apple juice mostly, some herbal hops, but not enough

MF: Medium body, slight carbonation, skews sweet for the style

Drinkable, but nothing special. Sweetness & apple juice flavors drag this beer down

This beer is packaged in a tall swing-top 500 ml bottle with a green label. The beer itself is mostly clear with just a hint of a haze and medium-sized white head. The aroma has a sweet, malt and bread character. The taste is quite sweet, balanced with a firm mid-taste bitterness. Medium-full in body and nice mid-range carbonation. I enjoyed it.

 

Staropolskie Chmielne

Kultowy Browar Staropolski

Lager - Dortmunder / Export

Very clean, mineral spring style. Huge caramel sweetness in the very unique malt. Herbal and Grassy hop balance is definitely off kilter. Fluffy and airy body just disappears on the palate.

3.60

Bottle

16.9oz bottle. Poured out a clear, pale, golden color with a small, fizzy, white head of foam. It left minimal lacing. Sweet buttery aroma with caramel and toffee notes. Very buttery taste with caramel and a very mild bitterness.

Amber color. Medium-sized, white head.. Malt, hay, and fruits in the aroma. Malty, moderately sweet taste. Balancing hoppy bitterness at the end.Not bad.

My second from Staropolskie, this is my first from their three cash cows and classics. Chmielne is worth having again.
Chmielne Looks average; while pleasant, its foam could stick around. But I also give points for packaging and my copy had a flip top, plus the appeal to tradition and Polish history adds flavor to the experience. Smells are mostly sweet malt and not distinct. However, Tastes are balanced with just enough hops to check the sweet malt. Medium-mouthed, soft, yet sufficient bubbles to cleanse my palate. A good lunch lager. (Good Exports typically are good for lunch.)

Starapolskie gets good Overall Hugs for having an English button on its website (although I couldn't get it to work well on secondary pages.) The front page lay-out of an early 20th Century newspaper is clever and consistent with Straopolskie's theme of classics.

 

 

Aroma is sweet fruit/dark fruit/stone fruit, almost like fruit cake. The flavor is fruit/fruit cake, malts and a huge caramel/mildly sweet/not sure where from alcoholic finish.

 

Refreshing, crisp, and complex, this is a surprising brew for sure.

My Dad provided me this bottle, and when poured it's an almost amber yellow/orange color, vibrant and just a bit hazy. The head on this one is thin, and wispy.

Smells of sweet malt and tastes like a sweet fruit with a honey-banana lingering on the palate. Almost Belgian-like. Surprisingly solid for a "lager!"

Mouthfeel is like a hearty ale. It almost feels like it's going to go full stout or something - not an experience I've had before. I haven't had such a bright, clear beer feel like that.

This is an excellent summer beer for something interesting, yet easily drinkable. For "fancy beers" this would please a lager drinker like a Bud or Miller aficionado, but also satisfy someone who wants something interesting.

I would happily sip away at this on a boating trip or beach at the lake, or after a solid mowing of the lawn in the summer sun. The flip top makes it ideally suited for hauling in a cooler, or resealing to finish later...which I didn't need because I sipped my way through the whole bottle and want more.

The label notes it's a lager beer, filtered and pasteurized and lists hops: Magnum, Sybilla, Hallertauer tradition, citra.

 

500ml bottle pours a cloudy golden yellow color that leans heavily to orange-brown with a small cap of white-colored head that recedes to a thin layer. Smells of rich, sweet, honeyed malts and a slight noble hop note. Flavor follows the smell with a very rich and fairly sweet, honeyed malt flavor with plenty of caramel and bready flavor as well. Hops lend a small herbal flavor and a small bitterness, but enough to balance the malt. Long finish that fades into a soft, sweet honey aftertaste. Medium to full body and subtle carbonation mouthfeel.

This was a really unique beer for me, and very good. The honey sweetness is delicious but doesn't get cloying or overpowering. Would certainly buy again.

Appearance: Pours a mostly clear, orange color with a moderate white head. SRM of 8. (3.75)

Aroma: Strong aromas of earthy bread, honey, tea, and flower. Smooth and sweet. (3.75)

Flavor: Strong flavors of earthy bread malts, some orange citrus, tea, and flower. Sweet honey on the finish. (3.50)

Feel: Heavier bodied, average carbonation. Leans heavier and sweet. (3.50)

Compared to Augistiner Edelstoff 5/2023: Pours darker, similar head. Stronger aromas. More orange citrus, flower, tea, honey. Less light cracker and grains. Heavier and sweeter.

Overall: Interesting take on a European Export/Dortmunder. Ranked #39 on BeerAdvocate which for my rating seems high. Big citrus, tea, flower flavors with a smooth and sweet honey body. Big, heavier, and sweet. Moreso than my liking (Rating: 3.63)

500 bottle, best by 08/15/2022, but I digress. Found this oddity at my local Binny's, as sometimes I just crave cheap imported beer. My first encounter with this beer and this brewery.

Poured to a Camp Crystal Lake stemless wine snifter.
Uncorks with a pop and a hiss, slightly theatrical, pours a nice honeyed golden beer body, not unlike the honey lager from Poland I just consumed. Small finger of bubbly white head. Looks fairly appealing.
Aromas of fallen green apple / orchard / grassiness / earth. Slight notes of cream & sugar.
Flavors of overripe fallen apple, sweetened caramel, honey. Super overripe fruits, notes of raisin, fig, apple.
Feel is not unpleasant. Light in body, crisp, fairly easy to drink. Slightly sweet for my tastes.
Overall, not unpleasant, but definitely way more cidery than I would have imagined, tastes almost like some gluten-free beers / sorghum based beers I've had in the past. Not what I would expect when I see it classified as a Dortmunder Export Lager , but whatever, it is what it is. I'm thinking that perhaps my bottle might have been too old, as other reviewers don't seem to note what I've experienced. I'd try it again fresh, & would give other oddities from this brewery a shot.

Browar Staropolski Staropolski Chmielne -----3/5

 

this brewery makes some great tasing beers this dortmunder style is lightly malty and drinks smooth

 

Orange-gold with some chill haze, thin white head with good retention, rings of lace
Honeyed malt aroma, along with some herbal hops
Caramelized honey malt flavor, along with some citrus and herbal hops
Medium bodied, could use some more carbonation to make it pop
If it were a little bit more bitter, this would be awesome