Changes

There were times when people told legends of saints and blesseds, of their great piety and their alleged miracles, to give people an example of how to heroically keep one's faith and stay in God's grace. Nowadays, some of these stories are being told to help sell beer. We've already talked about the legend of "[[Saint Piva of Warka]]". Today, on the 416th anniversary (give or take a few days) of his death, we're going to take a look at a certain Błażej Pęcherek (pronounced '': {{smallpron|BWAHbwah|zhey}}-zhey pen-{{smallpron|HEHpen|Heh|rek}}-rek''), who lived in a region of what is now west-central Poland, known as Greater Poland. Better known as Father Bernard of Wąbrzeźno (pronounced ''vawm-: {{smallpron|vawm|bzhezh|BZHEZHnaw|link=no}}-naw''), he is famous for his legendary role in the creation of Grodziskie beer.

As with every legend, so does this one bring about so many questions: who was this Bernard? Was the town of Grodzisk (pronounced '': {{smallpron|GRAWgraw|jeesk}}-jeesk'') really ravaged by an epidemic? Did the town well really fill with water thanks to Bernard's prayers and was the water really perfect for brewing beer? Is it true that the inhabitants of Grodzisk brought a keg of the beer each year as a votive offering to Bernard's grave in Lubiń? And was the beer really famous for its health-promoting properties?

However, the ''koźlak'' is nothing more than a Polish version of the German ''Bock'', while the Baltic porter is brewed – as the name of the style implies – throughout the Baltic Sea basin. Does it mean that Poland hasn't made any original contribution to the world of beer? Not exactly. The one unique native style that Poland has to offer is Grodziskie (pronounced ''graw-: {{smallpron|graw|JEESKjeess|kyeh}}-yeh''), also known as Grodzisz (''{{smallpron|GRAWgraw|jeesh|link=no}}-jeesh'') or by its German name, Grätzer (''{{smallpron|grate|sir|GRATElink=no}}-sir''). The only problem is that this beer style, well… it went extinct.