Harnas | Browar Okocim S.A. (Carlsberg)

3.32/5  rDev +12.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5

Pours clear, gold in color with one inch head. Taste is pilsner malt, grass, and grain. Medium bodied and carbonation sweet. Makes for an above average Polish lager.

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2/5  rDev -32%
look: 1.25 | smell: 1.75 | taste: 2 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 2.75

Not usually a fan of Carlsberg owned stuff, they seem to have a philosophy to find the cheapest quality product and then make profit from it. Anyway, let's see.

Very watery appearance, not much head...not the best in terms of invitingness...

Very sweet, malty aroma.

Flavoursome, sweet malt, with refreshing dry bitterness. Quite a lot of carbonation that overpowers the hops somehow. This is better than many of the other more famous Polish pilsners in my opinion, however it needs a bit more hops. Anyway, much cheaper than pilsners from other countries! Gets a few bonus points for price.

This does however remind me of I think the Lidl or Supermarket mega budget pilsners...

Still, because it's so sweet I probably only want one of these, which is rare for me.

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2.95/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 2.75

Dark gold color, clear. Foam very high and stable, decently adorned with glass.
The aroma of malt and slightly metallic, surprisingly not smelly.
The taste is the same malty and slightly metallic, slightly sweet and a little sour.
Gentian low saturation high.

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1.88/5  rDev -36.1%
look: 2 | smell: 2 | taste: 1.75 | feel: 1.75 | overall: 2

500ml brown glass bottle acquired at a 24h alkohole shop in Krakow and served into a beer can glass in me friend's gaff there. Reviewed live. Expectations are low given Carlsberg's ownership. Best before: 03/03/15.

Served cold. Side-poured with standard vigor as no carbonation issues are anticipated.

No bubble show forms as it's poured.

HEAD: Two fingers wide. White in colour. Pathetically thin. Lacks any creaminess and frothiness whatsoever. Recedes fully within 1 minute, leaving no lacing.

BODY Dull yellow-copper. Clean; no yeast particulate or hop sediment is visible.

Appears adequately carbonated. It's a pretty generic looking beer.

AROMA: Malt extract/syrup, syrupy sweetness, and adjunct. Generic barley.

An unpleasant aroma of average strength. I'm not looking forward to trying it.

No yeast character, overt alcohol, or off-notes are detectable. Lacks a noticeable hop profile.

TASTE: Malt extract (helles malts), some syrupy sweetness, generic barley, and a hint of adjunct - maybe corn?

Unbalanced, boring, and off-putting. I don't like it at all. Too sweet. Graininess would be preferable. It's shallow and doesn't have a fresh or appealing taste.

TEXTURE: Syrupy, thick, and generally wrong for the style. Unrefreshing. Overcarbonated. Smooth and wet.

Poorly executed, with a poor overall presence on the palate.

OVERALL: A difficult brew to down given its low quality. Not one I'd buy again. Steer clear of this one. It's so generic there's little to say about it. Completely unremarkable in every way.

D-

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3/5  rDev +2%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

500 ml can, bought at a polish shop in Arnhem. Poured into a Guiness glass. ABV 6%

Nice appearance, with golden yellow colour and a big, soapy, snow white head, with very good retention. Some traces of lacing left behind. Activity in the glass is minimal.
A typical lager malty aroma, with maybe some apple notes on the background.
Not a bad taste, but nothing to be excited either. Sweet with a very slighty bitter aftertaste.
Thin to medium body, average carbonation. Just a little bit dry on the palate.
An overall average lager, very pleasantly drinkable though and the alcohol is not traceable at all.

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2.71/5  rDev -7.8%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

The colour is yellow with a tint of gold (6 EBC), the liquid is clear. The finger thick head is compact and white. It sinks slowly leaving no lacing.

The smell is aggressive with lots of alcohol and some solvents. Semi-sweet notes of cereals.

The taste is quite light. Some alcohol. Sweet cereals, some corn-like flavours. It is quite clean, but at the same time a little cheap. The short mild aftertaste got clean notes of alcohol and some sweetness.

The carbonation is strong, the mid-sized bubbles are short lived and quite mild. The liquid is semi-smooth.

Clean. Sweet. Some alcohol. A run of the mill pale eurolager.

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4.42/5  rDev +50.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5

One of the Wednesday Night Trivia crew was recently over in the Czech Republic for work and brought back some CANs for me. Once again, it pays to advertise and my thanks to Rod Shenk for the gift(s).

From the CAN: "Beer of Polish Highlanders". Thanks for sharing, fellas!

The CANQuest (TM) finds it amusing that the bulk of the reviews up to this point have been for bottles and yet the picture depicts a CAN! In its current iteration, the highlander takes up most of the space, battleaxe raised in his right hand with the mountains looming in the background.

The Crack & Glug was magnificent, resulting in a finger of dense bone-white head with good retention. Color was a golden-yellow with NE-quality clarity that would cause Croesus and Midas to salivate. Nose had an interesting fruitiness to it that I do not usually associate with the style. It reminded me of CANtaloupe or another sweet-smelling melon. Mouthfeel was medium-to-full with a black pepper spiciness accompanying the melon-like sweetness. Now, this I CAN totally get behind! Beer pairings are CANstantly themed around the CANtrast between sweet and spicy and here it is in the beer itself. Finish was semi-dry and quite refreshing on a hot summer's day. Now, if only I had an extra to take to AC on Thursday ...

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3/5  rDev +2%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Poured from a bottle into a Pilsener glass.

Look - straw-like in color, but a little darker. Not much foam at all, maybe 1/3 of a finger's worth, and kinda of a dull white color. Slow carbonation.

Smell - typical pilsener-like smell, a little like a light adjunct lager.

Taste and Mouthfeel - Like the smell, pilsener-ish, but mostly more like a light adjunct lager. Hints of spiciness. Texture is very light and somewhat watery.

Overall - not bad-tasting, but not complex at all.

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3.65/5  rDev +24.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

I got this beer form my running buddy and neighbour who was in Poland this summer. Had it in the fridge for a few months and now was the time to drink this one together with mrs. Brabander.

Poured in my Struise glas the beer looks OK. Big white head with a pale yellow fluid. Little carbonation.

Hints of bread and citrus from the hops. Soft taste, not bad at all!

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3.83/5  rDev +30.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Presentation: It was poured from a brown 500ml bottle into a Pilsener glass. The label has no freshness date but it does list its abv at 5.5%.

Appearance: The body has very clarity and a light golden yellow color with some visible carbonation. The pour produced a two finger thick head which is tightly packed and creamy. It hangs on well and makes some slick lace.

Smell: In the nose I am picking up a firm bready sweet and pale grainy maltiness with grassy hops backing it up.

Taste/Palate: Its flavor matches the aroma with mildly sweet overall character backed up with light hop bitterness. The palate has a light medium feel with soft carbonation and a smooth creamy texture.

Notes: As Pale Euro Lagers go this one is not bad at all and has a very nice creamy foam head. It is simple, clean and easy to drink.

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3.43/5  rDev +16.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

500ml bottle.

Pours a rich, deep gold, darker than the standard euro pale lagers. It has a right white head that dissipates rather quickly.

The smell is very malty with hints of honey, there is an overlying off scent that is a bit metallic. Theres no sign of hops.

The mouthfeel is thicker than most Euro Pale lagers, the flavor is rich and malty with not much hp bitterness. The mouthfeel is thick but with a high carbonation level, not bad.

It packs more of a punch than most at 6.2 and it bridges the gap between Euro pale lager and Euro strong lager. It is pretty drinkable though.

At .99 a pop this stuff is well worth it, it is a slightly stronger than average lager with a rich malty flavor.

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3.5/5  rDev +19%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

This is hardly great, but it's better than many other basic pale lagers and a little better than "Okocim Beer" or the basic Zywiec lager.

Very deep gold, it has a big white head steadily shrinking to a thin ring and leaving a little weak lace.

Aroma is apple,grain, bread dough, hints of herb and yeast. Overall, it's a pretty good European pale lager and fairly close to being like a real helles.

Taste, though somewhat promising at first, doesn't live up to the aroma, as with the Okocim Beer. It has appley-raisiny fruitiness up front with lightly yeasty bready dough, hints of herbs, hint of lemon, balanced light bitterness and sweetness with a lightly sweet raisiny-bread-dough aftertaste. It has a failry good, solid feel. However, the character soon thins and becomes subdued and more bland, losing much of what it first seemed to have. It retains some character, but not a lot.

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3.35/5  rDev +13.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

This beer pours exactly like a pilsner a pale straw colour with average carbonation that leaves a fast vanishing one finger head,it has aromas of malty corn,wet hops and some wheat,it has an average mouthfeel with a light fruity hop taste that is average and wouldnt recommend that u go out of your way for it,but its very easy to drink as a session beer.

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3.33/5  rDev +13.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Pours a clear golden color with an off white head that leaves some sticky lacing.
Smell is faint of corn husk and perhaps very faint notes of hops.
Taste starts out smooth and there isn't a nasty bite from the carbonation that then changes to a sweeter note with some hints of hops. No metallic bite here.
The finish is smooth with a clean syrupy taste lingering on your tongue.

Overall a decent beer, it's still a euro pale lager and it cheap so you can't expect a complex beer. It is however a smooth easy drinker that doesn't have any off notes. Worth a try.

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2.95/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

500ml bottle with no freshness date poured into a standard pint glass.

A- this one pours a pale golden yellow colored body with a small fizzy white head. the head vanishes after a second and becomes no more than a crown. little to no lacing left on the sides of my glass.

S- sweet grainy malts. very generic "beer" smell.

T- alot like the smell. sweet grain. small metallic taste but not too bad. not much else.

M- extremely highly carbonated.

D- probably wont be seeking this one out anytime soon.

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2.11/5  rDev -28.2%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Harnas From Polish Mountains, probably should stay up in the Polish Mountains. Pretty uninteresting, this slightly sweet brew, leaves much to be desired. Color reminiscent of cheap costume jewelry. Kind of a sticky finish, which makes sense considering there isn't much there except a little bit of sweet malt. The one bright spot, aside from the guy on the box (no not on the label, but on the box) is the nice bubbly head. But that dies off really fast. Drinkable? Yeah, would I go out of my way to find it or get it? No way

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2.13/5  rDev -27.6%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 1.5

Sometimes...Polish lager can hit the spot. 500 ml botle, on to the beer:

Poured perfectly into a half-liter stange, light soapy suds stay afloat, then drop to a thin lace on top this darker gold/orange colored beer. Run of the mill aroma. A kiss of booze, a little stale grain, okay whatver. Moving on to the taste, it has a very sweet flavor. It tastes like they added a whole bunch of sugar to get the extra kick. Not alcoholic tasting, but sweet and malt dominating, without much balance. Somewhat snappy in the mouth, but that sweet body is extra work in the mouth.

And sometimes...Polish lager can ruin the spot. Unbalanced and not refreshing.

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3.33/5  rDev +13.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Clear yellow colored beer with an about perfect head, pretty much what a lager is supposed to look like.

Aromatic strong brewers yeast with some grass and grain aromas. Spicy and soapy Nobel hop aromas. Slight fruity aroma but I can't identify the fruit something like peach.

Starts out malty and quite full of yeast flavor and a vague fruity flavor. Grassy and dry the flavor doesn't quite deliver what the smell promises you. OK lager, but not a great one.

Mouthfeel is OK.

An OK beer but also sort of forgettable. Probably would pick this over Heineken but if a German Lager was on the menu I would get that instead.

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2.36/5  rDev -19.7%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5

Pours a clear slightly darkened golden color. There is very little carbonation and no head at all except for a slight skim of white that dies away quickly.
Not much to the smell at all. There is a slight bit of Euro hop tone, but not much besides.
Taste doesn't have much going for it either. There is a wheat base with a bit of a hop tinge, but somewhat watered down compared to the other offerings from the Okocim Brewery.
Mouthfeel falls a little flat as well. There is not a lot of thickness or smoothness or carbonation. Just kind of a flat liquid.
Drinkability is okay. The beer is easy to drink for a beer with 6.2 ABV. However, there really is no reason to drink this beer at all...

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3.52/5  rDev +19.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Harnas is a typical Euro-style lager (meaning not German or Czech) with a little bit of extra strength to it, and a little bit more color.

It displays a mainly clear, deep golden body beneath a short but creamy bright-white head that shows average retention and lacing, at best.

It's clean, and obviously fairly well-brewed, displaying a fairly common sweetish and grainy maltiness and a mild, lightly herbal and spicy hop character. Surprisingly, it has a bit of a toasty/slightly caramelish side to it. - ? At the same time, I'm wondering whether there's adjunct to it - ? It's firm bitterness balances it, keeping the sweetish maltiness in check, and it finishes with some residual malty sweetness and smears of herbal, leafy, and spicy hops. Served cold it's refreshing, but with a little warmth the sweetness starts to cut down on drinkability.

On the other hand, it's soft, with a moderate bitterness, and that makes it very accessible as there's not much that's objectionable about it. People who wouldn't normally drink a more bitter, solidly composed beer might go for this. Of course there's not that much to be excited about either, which would probably leave beer drinkers looking for something with a little more balance.

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2.98/5  rDev +1.4%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Bought at a gas station in Warsaw. Has a Native-American looking man on the bottle for some reason. Tastes lighter than Carlsberg's other Polish product, Okocim, but still 6% abv. Pours with almost no head. Light yellow color. Tastes malty with not much other flavor, nothing offensive. I am starting to believe that all of the large-scale Polish lagers are almost indistinguishable. A good beer to chase shots of Wyborowa.

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2.78/5  rDev -5.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

Appearance: Pours a clear, orange-gold body with a thin, white head.

Smell: Aroma smelling sweetly of faintly toasted pale malts with a large note of green apple. Hmm.

Taste: Sweetish, lightly toasted malts with a minor hint of grain. Big, tangy taste of acetaldehyde coming across as crisp green apples throughout. Light hop bitterness. Still a bit of sweetness for the abrupt, apple-burdened finish.

Mouthfeel: Light-bodied. Medium carbonation.

Drinkability: Even considering all those pesky apples, it wasn't outright terrible, but not a beer I'd ever repeat.

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3.33/5  rDev +13.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Single 500 ml bottle purchased from Super Saver Liquors in Somerville...
Appearance: Clear, see-through, light-golden hue with a decent-sized foamy head that deposited a thin film of lacing around the edge of the serving glass...
Smell: Euro lager aroma with hints of light lemons, slight vanilla, and citrus...
Taste: Crisp, clean, refreshing... Nice 6.2% ABV to match... Not bad for a typically mediocore style...
Decent mouthfeel with an equally good level of drinkability...
Not bad...

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1.34/5  rDev -54.4%
look: 2.5 | smell: 1 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 1

Worst beer i've ever tried to review. So where do I start. Oxidised, overly sweet, and it has the flavor of wet cardboard with sugar on top. I couldn't finnish it. I'm sorry I don't mind The OK Okcim and the porter is one of the best but I have to say that this is crap, an utter dissipointment. sorry but it is that bad, worse that special export light. Yes its that bad.

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1.55/5  rDev -47.3%
look: 2 | smell: 2 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 1

Harnas...

The worst of the run of Polish beers I tried. Dark golden color, pale smell of some malt, grains, and alcohol. Taste is an extremely unpleasant sweet maltiness, the flavor overwhelms the palate and ruins the experience. I tried to taste other things and could only detect alcohol otherwise.

Mouthfeel and drinkability suffer greatly as a result. I actually thought I had a bad beer and ordered another from a different spot but I got the same experience. Overall, simply not a good tasting beer, not recommended.

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