With summer looming and the first days of real heat expected any time now, the beer season in Kyiv can be officially considered open (though when or whether it officially closes is another matter altogether). Though Ukrainians are considered mostly a vodka-drinking nation, they actually consume quite a bit of beer as well – sometimes even in the coldest days of winter, with their fingers freezing to the bottle. But everyone knows that the summer is the time when even those who don’t really like beer are unable to resist a cold bottle on a hot day.

In fact, the popularity of beer here can be easily judged by the selection the country currently produces. Ukraine’s beer industry is indeed booming. Perhaps the variety is not quite as extensive as other world-famous producers such as Germany. But with new brands appearing every day it seems, it’s really hard not to get lost among all the different labels to find a beer that suits you best. Often faced with this problem myself, I decided it was time to conduct a search and find out what’s what in the wide world of Ukrainian beer.

Not being much of a beer drinker myself – even though I do have a few on my favorites list – I asked my friends and colleagues to join in the tasting and also share their own preferences and experiences when it comes to beer. One of my colleagues – an experienced beer drinker and bar regular – concluded that he has lately been drinking Chernihivske Light instead of Slavutych simply because most of the bars seem to have the former on tap more often – though he said couldn’t really tell the difference between the two. My other friend said that she actually liked Lvivske beer, but only the ones she had in Lviv. In her opinion, the ones sold in the capital aren’t quite as good. Another one of my best friends recently went through a real beer disappointment: she discovered that Chernihivske Bily Med (White Honey) – wheat beer with honey – was not going to be produced anymore. Of course, this one was her favorite – but apparently there aren’t enough like-minded drinkers.

Just some five years ago, Obolon was considered the best beer we had – either the light or dark variety, whichever you preferred. However, it’s now often thought of as nothing but a cheap low-grade drink. And even its attempt to produce original varieties, such as Pils, which, according legend was created according to an old Czech recipe, didn’t add to its popularity. However, Obolon still has one plus: the sweet beer mixes it makes, sold in cans, with your choice of cherry, lemon or cola flavor. I first started more frequently buying the cherry-flavored one because it reminded me slightly of Belgian cherry beer, which is so hard to get in Kyiv, but lately I found the cola-flavored one was also pretty tasty. Besides, not being quite as strong as even a light beer, the beer mixes are just fun for a hot day rather than a drink with actual alcohol. 

Sarmat and Rohan rank a little higher in terms of quality and taste. They also offer some original brews – at least in name. For example, Rohan, apart from the usual light and dark varieties, also makes Arriba and Monastyrske. My friend who tried Monastyrske (Hr 2.10) greatly appreciated its mild flavor and pleasant aftertaste, but she was quite disappointed by Arriba (Hr 2.58) – it didn’t give her any of the feeling of the Latin carnival its name tried to convey. As for Sarmat, in addition to its classic beers, we also tried Ra and Ale. They were both pretty light and mild, though we couldn’t really tell the difference except that Ra had some special flavor to it and was a little more bitter.

Such beers as Dnipro (Hr 1.44) and Arsenal (Hr 1.74) take a special place in our suds review. Initially advertised as men’s beer, it’s also quite cheap and fits best for such occasions when the amount of drink matters more than the quality or taste (the latter of which is indeed heavy and strong). The same goes for Yantar, which appeared on the Ukrainian market just recently. Another beer that stands out is the wheat beer Etalon Pshenychne (Hr 4.44) – the most expensive brew on our list and one that may be well worth it: one of my male friends distinguished it as the best of the suds I offered him to sample. I, however, wasn’t able to appreciate it enough to call it my favorite.

But indeed the absolute winners of our review came as no surprise – Chernihivske and Slavutych firmly retain their position as the most popular suds in town, including both their regular varieties as well as a few of their special beers. While the classic light brews from both Chernihivke and Slavutych are mostly equal in quality and taste, the two brands mostly compete when it comes to their specialty drinks. For instance, Slavutich offers Slavutych Extra (Hr 2.10) and Slavutych Premium, which we found quite decent, as well as Slavutych Ice (Hr 2.58), which tasted really weird to me, but maybe it’s because I bought it at a supermarket and it wasn’t actually ice cold. As for Chernihivske, it’s certainly mainly popular for its wheat beer line, which once included three different kinds. But, after Bily Med was discontinued, to the great disappointment of my friend, only two remain – Chernihivske Bile and Bila Nich (White Night). Bile, which was once given the honor of the “best wheat beer” by the Post, still retains the title, while Bila Nich is still the only dark wheat beer that’s a real treat for someone like me who prefers “Weiss” beer to light, with a special fondness for dark beers in general.
But, of course, tastes differ and you’ll never really know if you’ll enjoy a certain beer until you’ve tried it. After all, having so much choice is only a bad thing if you’re lazy or fear any kind of change. Anyway, just make sure it’s cold and have the best beer fun in the summer sun!

by Alexandra Matoshko, Kyiv Post Staff Writer