Browar Zarzecze in the Żywiec Basin: craft brewery shop

Browar Zarzecze works in the village of Zarzecze near Pietrzykowice in the Żywiec Basin — a region where beer has been brewed since at least the 19th century and home to the famous big Żywiec brewery. Zarzecze is a completely different story: a family craft brewery that grew out of home brewing. From 1982 its founders built industrial facilities, including for the brewing industry; in 2001 they took up home brewing, and in 2014 they released their first batch under the Browar Zarzecze name — just as the Polish craft movement was gathering pace.

Today it is one of the largest craft breweries in southern Poland: more than 4,500 batches brewed, about 18,000 hectolitres a year, a 50-hl brewhouse and lagering tanks of 50 and 100 hl. The brewery brews under its own label and for many "contract" brewers from all over Poland who have no brewhouse of their own. The brewers say they combine the classics with the "new wave": next to lagers and pilsners there are top-fermented ales, and quality is checked at every stage — from brewing to bottling.

Why go

• Buy fresh beer straight from the brewery. The brewery has its own shop selling beer brewed on site — handy if you are driving through the Żywiec Basin to the mountains or Lake Żywiec.
• Build a Żywiec-region beer map. Other breweries of the region are nearby, so Zarzecze fits easily into a beer route around Żywiec.
• Brew your own beer. The brewery offers home brewers, bars and companies the chance to brew beer to their own recipe — once or regularly; the brewers help adapt the recipe to their brewhouse and fill bottles, cans or kegs.
• Enjoy the basin landscape — the brewery sits in a valley among the Beskids, with views of the surrounding ridges.

What to taste and buy

The core range is called "Klasyk Beskidu" (Beskid Classic): lager, pilsner, wheat beer, porter, APA, IPA, Hazy IPA and an alcohol-free beer. The brewery's online shop (as of October 2026) also lists a bock (Koźlak), a Märzen (Marcowe), the Baltic porters Noctis and Nightly Plum with plum, the blends Lush Blend and Big Blend, and the alcohol-free Hoppy Zero and NoBuzz IPA; prices run roughly from 8 to 15 zł a bottle, often discounted.

If you don't know where to start, try a Baltic porter — a strong dark bottom-fermented beer considered one of the calling cards of Polish brewing; Zarzecze makes both a classic version and one with plum. Koźlak is a strong malty bock, and Marcowe is an amber Märzen-style lager traditionally brewed in spring. For drivers and non-drinkers there are several alcohol-free options, so nobody has to leave the shop empty-handed.

Practical information

Address: ul. Łęgowa 1, Zarzecze, 34-326 Pietrzykowice (Silesian Voivodeship), between Żywiec and Bielsko-Biała, near the S1 expressway. Brewery shop: Monday–Friday 8:00–16:00. The website does not offer brewery tours — it is above all a production site, so come here to buy beer rather than for a tasting. Contacts: +48 696 034 150, [email protected]; orders — +48 604 787 013, [email protected]. Beer is sold to adults only.

Nearby

• Pinta brewery in Wieprz — a few kilometres away.
• Lake Żywiec.
• Żywiec castles and the folk art fair on Żywiec market square in summer.

Official website: browarzarzecze.pl

Photos: browarzarzecze.pl.