The other day I was strolling through the aisles at Whole Foods looking for some, well, whole foods to enjoy with my whole beer. I picked up some tasty cheese, fresh veggies, and store-made sausages as I am often wont to do here. And of course I stopped by the beer aisle to see if they had anything exciting there, as well.

That’s when I spied a half-liter bottle of Warka Premium. Truth be told, this was a relatively inconspicuous looking bottle of beer tucked away in the import section and almost lost amongst some of the flashier looking beers there. But not having tried it before, I decided to risk the $1.99 asking price and dropped it into my cart between the Chimay cheese and German sausage.

Warka beer comes from a brewery in the small town of Warka, Poland. Warka’s major claim to fame seems to be that Casimir Pulaski, who came to America to help the fledgling American republic in its struggle for independence, was born nearby. And indeed, some of their beers even feature his face on the label.

All well and good, I say, but how does the beer taste?

Warka Premium pours to a beautiful pale copper color with a lightly foamy head formation and a rather non-descript nose. I wasn’t expecting much based on the aroma of the beer, but the bottle did warn me that Warka Premium has a “unique taste”, and sure enough, when I sipped, I found that it does. Warka Premium won’t overwhelm you, but it does catch your attention with delicate notes of caramel, toasted malt, cotton candy, brown sugar, and honey. There’s a hint of burnt caramel flavor underneath, too, which actually makes this a pretty interesting brew.

Don’t look for much in the way of hops in the finish, though, because you won’t find them. Warka finishes on the sweet side, and even deceptively light. Still, it’s stronger than most lagers at 7% alcohol by volume, and a couple of half liters of this beer should do you nicely for and evening.

Well worth trying for the unique taste alone. The very reasonable price makes it a true bargain. Now maybe I should have just picked up some kielbasa instead of bratwurst to go with it…..

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