Not a style of beer you hear about every day, so let’s learn something
I recently reported on the success of Washington and Oregon breweries at the 2025 Great American Beer Festival, the nation’s largest and most-prestigious beer awards competition. While it is impressive to win medals in the most hotly contested categories, like IPA and Pilsner, it is also notable to earn a medal for a beer of a less common style. For example, winning a medal for a Grodziskie Pivo, which is what Chuckanut Brewery just did.
Chuckanut Brewery is no stranger to winning medals at the GABF and other competitions. Among many other beers, its Vienna Lager and Dunkel are regular visitors to the podium. However, earning acknowledgement from the judges for this less common beer style is a different kind of honor. It’s a reward for exploration beyond more familiar beer styles. A reward for acknowledging a historic and uncommon beer style.
What is/was a Grodziskie Pivo?
The medal was awarded in the Historical Beer style category. Historical Beer describes this one perfectly. Like many European beers, it is a style associated with a place. Grodziskie was originally brewed about 600 or 700 years ago in Grodzisk Mazowiecki, a town in an area that would eventually become Poland. The town is about 150 miles east of Berlin and about 200 miles west of Warsaw.
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It was brewed using wheat that was dried with circulating smoke, which lent it a gentle smoky character. The local brewers guild enforced strict rules to ensure the quality of the beer, which helped the beer gain a reputation far and wide. At one point, beer from Grodzisk–Grodziskie Pivo–was exported to 37 countries and the local brewing industry thrived.
Following the Second World War, the production of beer was nationalized under the Communist government and Grodzisk-style beer all but disappeared. In recent years, it has garnered interest from the European home-brewing community. Also, some commercial breweries have dabbled in the style. For instance, Chuckanut Brewery.
The Beer Judging Certification Program (BJCP) describes the Grodziskie Pivo style like this: “A low-gravity, highly-carbonated, light-bodied ale combining an oak-smoked flavor with a clean hop bitterness. Highly sessionable.” Read the complete style guidelines here.
Historically, the appearance of Grodziskie causes some folks to compare it to Champagne because it was most often bright, clear, and highly carbonated: Polish Champagne. Unlike many wheat beers, which appear cloudy with suspended proteins and yeast, Grodziskie is filtered. Historically, it was filtered with isinglass, a naturally derived filtering agent made from fish bladders. The light, filtered, sparkling wheat beer was traditionally served in a conical glass that showed off it’s clear, golden color and its thick layer of bubbly foam. Polish Champagne.
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Chuckanut’s Grodziskie
“Chuckanut Brewery is absolutely ecstatic to bring home a Silver Medal from the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) 2025 in the Historical Beer category for Chuckanut Grodziskie,” said an announcement from the brewery. “This is a favorite lager for Chuckanut brewers and brewery fans and a very unusual beer. Chuckanut recognizes that it is a true honor to be among the best beers in the nation.”
“Grodziskie is a fascinating Polish smoked beer style known as Polish Champagne. This beer is a low-alcohol (3%ABV), highly carbonated, refreshing light-bodied wheat lager, with a delicate oak-smoke flavor that finishes with a clean hop bitterness. The smoke character is gentle and flavorful. The moderate bitterness is evident and lingers throughout the finish.”
“Chuckanut Grodziskie is a great anytime beer, with breakfast, lunch, dinner or even at snack time due to its low alcohol strength. Find Grodziskie in limited supplies right now around the NW and at the South Nut Tap Room in the Skagit Valley.”
To learn about other recent beer releases, visit our New Beer Releases page. To let us know about your brewery’s new releases, here’s how to reach out to us.
