Beer in Poland

Beer has been brewed in Poland for well over a thousand years and has a significant history of traditional and commercial beer production. In 2009, Poland was Europe's third largest beer producer, producing 36.9 million hectolitres, coming after the United Kingdom with 49.5 million hl and neighbouring Germany with 103 million hl.

Following the Second World War, most breweries were nationalised by the Polish United Workers' Party regime of the Polish People's Republic. After the Revolution of 1989 and the shock therapy of extensive privatisation, the market economy returned, international beer companies moved in and a period of consolidation followed. Three companies now control 80% of the Polish beer market (according to data at the end of 2014). At the end of 2013, there were 97 breweries in Poland, including microbreweries and contracted breweries.

Beer from small regional breweries, grouped in the Association of Polish Regional Breweries (Stowarzyszenie Regionalnych Browarów Polskich), crafts, contracted breweries and brewpubs has become very popular and desired by consumers.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.