So, sleep deprivation is a real thing. I’m sure those of you who have had children know that. I’m starting to experience it first hand and I certainly do not enjoy it. That said, I do enjoy beer, and glad that’s an exciting thing making this sleep deprived time a little more fun.

Yesterday’s beer was not that enjoyable, but with today’s I hope we turn that around. Today we have a beer from Fabryka Piwa in Poland called Deep Space.

Fabryka Piwa was founded by Wojciech Warzyszyński and Marcin Krzystanek. It is located in Czestochowa, Poland.  Originally they brewed out of a very small restaurant called “Browar Marysia” having a capacity of 5hl, because they wanted to slowly enter the market and make their presence known to see what the response would be to the beers they were brewing.

As the response was well received, they decided to look at refitting and opening a bigger space in an old Cisctercian brewery. They’ve been working on this since September 2014. The traditions of brewing in Szczyrzyc date back several centuries. The old brewery was nationalized at the time of the communist regime and then returned into the hands of the monks when the regime fell. Unfavorable market trends led to his downfall. The condition of the brewery was so bad that it was decided to replace the old brewery and replace it with new equipment and more tanks.

While they had initially wanted to brew 8 beers when they opened the new brewery in 2015, they’ve now reached the point where they are brewing 16 different brews. The brewery, despite its name meaning Factory Beer, focuses on high quality crafted beers.

Stouts are a dark beer made using roasted malts or roasted barley, hops, water and yeast.  Traditionally the term stout was used to describe the strongest (most alcoholic) porters, typically around 7-8%, produced by a brewery.  The reason for the name ‘stout’ was because these strong porters were often sold in stouter bottles than the standard porters.  This gave them the nickname ‘stout’ which eventually became the term used to describe the style of beer.

There are numerous styles of stouts ranging from Dry Stouts, to Porters, and Oyster stouts and my favorite Imperial Stouts.  The specific stout style, Foreign Extra Stout, were stronger stouts than those typically brewed for today’s market. Not quite getting to the Imperial Stout ABV but ranging in the 6.3-8% range. They have a history stretching back to the 18^th century when they were more heavily hopped versions of stronger export stouts. Hops, of course, act as an excellent preservative and allow the beer to keep as it travels. Guinness Foreign Extra Stout (originally, West India Porter, later Foreign Extra Double Stout) was first brewed in 1801 per Guinness. It was brewed with extra hops to give it a distinctive taste and a longer shelf life.

The main difference between a Foreign Extra Stout and a domestic stout is the hop content and maturation of the beer. Let’s get to it.

Appearance – Black as space itself with a whisp of tan head.
Smell – Smells of deep rich chocolate, cherries, subtle coffee, and a distinct aroma of alcohol warmth.
Taste – Has a good rich malty backbone with a nice subtle hop bitterness that works with the roasted characteristic and subtle coffee/chocolate of the malt. Subtle cherry and dark fruit after notes.
Mouth feel – Medium-Full bodied with a light carbonation.
Overall – A very good stout. Fits the category with the extra hop bitterness and full rich flavour. Reminds me a bit of some other stouts I’ve had recently.
Do I like it? – Yes, this was quite nice. I found the aroma to be reminiscent of an Imperial Stout. The taste and beer is more of a toned-down version and falls in between a standard stout and an imperial one. Very nice and good flavours.