The first part of our July '25 trip to Poland was a stay in the central city of Łódź. Somewhere which would provide me with a lots of pictures of repurposed red-brick factories, an evening of heavy metal, pizzas, street art, and craft beer emporiums.
But first, an unexpected 90-minutes in Warsaw: our transfer from the airport not coinciding well with onward trains.After several visits to the capital, this is the first time I've managed to get a blue-sky picture of the cities most iconic building/horrendous monstrosity (opinions differ).

We took the photo, crossed the road, veered through the passge in the shopping centre (exotic shops including H&M and TK Maxx), then down Chmielna, a leafy street lined with cafes, bakeries, and restaurants.
Our craft beer destination - a handy 6-minute trek from the central station - was Hoppiness...
Our craft beer destination - a handy 6-minute trek from the central station - was Hoppiness...

The beer board behind the bar listed 12 choices. Ranging from ones you recognise (Lindemans Kriek) to the more obscure (Funky Fluid Ice Cream Sour - Mrs PropUptheBar's choice, of course).
I stuck with a sensible 4.4% 'modern bitter' from Browar Harpagan called 'Bitterpunk'. 22 złoty being around £4.50 for a half litre.
We stayed inside in this comfy modern bar, whilst the shaded terrace in front was proving the most popular spot for the international punters on this hot and sunny afternoon.A good start - the first beers tasting marvellous after planes, trains and automobiles and a 3.30am wake-up call.
We had a 75-mile trip SW of Warsaw to reach Łódź.
On a train with a mind-boggling seat numbering system (the kind where seat 75 is next to seat 81 and nowhere near 74). For reasons unknown the ticket office staff informed us we couldn't sit together and reserved seats in different carriages, despite the train ending up no more than half full.
This was in danger of making Cross Country Trains seat reservation systems look competent 😱.
We got there in one piece, arriving in Łódź's spectacular Fabryczna station.

From wheere we set off on foot to find our hotel.
Łódź city centre is big - that 20-minute walk only covered a couple of centimeters on our handy In Your Pocket city map. You'll get your steps in when visiting Łódź.
Łódź city centre is big - that 20-minute walk only covered a couple of centimeters on our handy In Your Pocket city map. You'll get your steps in when visiting Łódź.
We arrived on a Saturday night, so I could worry about culture, sightseeing and pronouncing the city name correctly tomorrow.
Local beer, please!

Browar Księży Młyn (Tymienieckiego 22/24, 90-349 Łódź)
This brew pub is a couple of km from the acely named 'unicorn stable' tramstop by our base in the city. Translating as 'priest's mill', the brewery is part of the huge early 19th century textile factory complex which has undergone a modern makeover.
This brew pub is a couple of km from the acely named 'unicorn stable' tramstop by our base in the city. Translating as 'priest's mill', the brewery is part of the huge early 19th century textile factory complex which has undergone a modern makeover.
The front door led to a relatively small room featuring the brewing coppers, bar counter and a handful of tables. Somewhere beyond are more indoor spaces and a big hall catering for events, but we opted for the cool courtyard on a fine evening.
Five of their home-brewed beers on the menu, if I remember correctly. A menu made more comlicated by including all the seasonal specials and an 'ask your server what's available' instruction. Probably not the autumn pumpkin ale or winter warmer.I started with a 'Dziewiarsjie' 7.4% cold IPA which disappeared from the glass alarmingly quickly. Then followed it with the superior (in my own humble opinion) 'Zakladowe' IPA, brewed with Belgian yeast and Munich malts.

Poland is more about multi-tap craft bars than brewpubs these days, so I'll take the opportunity whilst I have it to include a shiny brewing equipment picture...

Just to one side of the southern end of the pedestrianised part of Piotrkowska is OFF. Another cotton mill, this one operating until 1990 and converted in more recent years to an entertainment hub.
Lots going on here - a bistro in stacked old shipping containers, artisan coffee, stylish restaurants, cool kids lounging on bean bags with cocktails, DJs spinning records, pink flamingos...
So what type of uncultured soul would wander past all these options and end up in the football pub? Ah, that'd be me.
Football Pub (OFF, Franklina Delano Roosevelta 12b, 90-062 Łódź)
Okay, it may not be the trendy place to drink in the complex, but I rather liked the tiny football bar. Reminiscent of many similar places throughout the continent, with just a handful of tables inside, football pictures, football lampshades, and club scarves galore.
Any scarves from decent teams amongst that lot?
Ah yes...
No, not 'erby C'.
"Are you from Nottingham?" asked the owner behind the bar, impressively before we'd gone searching for the Forest scarf.
"I'm good with accents," he insisted, but surely not that good - I've lived in a lot of places since a Notts childhood.
He was a nice chap and he came from behind the bar to point out which one was him in the Widzew team photo on the wall.
The Football Pub is - perhaps not surprisingly - not a craft beer hotspot. From the trio of lagers on the bar, we grabbed a half litre of the Brackie Žatecký Pils, part of the Zywiec empire.
And took this to the outside table where we could observe the buzz of Saturday night activity in OFF from a safe distance before retired to the hotel for a much-needed good nights sleep.
Up next...
Pictures that make Łódź look appealing. Crazy craft beer. Rob Halford.