2nd largest country by area in Europe (after Russia); 233,000 Square Miles with around 43.5 Million people. Not a great place to be at the moment, but I thought it prudent to showcase it’s beer scene this week.
We have 281 breweries on the database, a further 14 closed.
My input is pretty lame this week, 14 rates from 7 breweries, never been near the country, so no place reviews or quirky stories to say about the country.
Zero to add for once, still am awaiting my 1st beer from this big country. Closest I got to visit was when I was travelling in Romania in 2008, the write up in Lonely Planet sounded great, I met some folk who where heading there… very tempting to change my plans but responsibility’s at home called.
My thoughts go out to all Ukrainians at this terrible time.
There are 6 active cideries in Ukraine, with the most entries by Royal Fruit Garden on 30, closely followed by Berryland on 29 (of which I’ve had 7 from)
The top 5 raters for Ukraine ciders and cideries are:
151 beers, 69 of which were in a long weekend last November. Was booked to be there right now, well ok I’d be on plane home now but close enough…
First went in 2006, in overland from Krakow via Przemysl border crossing and out back into Poland via Dorohusk/Jahodin to Warszawa. Had a few beers but all macro. Next trip 2008 in from Moldova and out via Przemysl, 2011 in from Romania to Chernovci and out via Chop to Kosice, again all beers macro. 2013 was my first proper trip, in via Jagodin to Kyiv, having previously not gone east of Lviv. We then weaved our way further east via Stefanesti, Mykolaiv and on to Crimea, then up to Donetsk, Kharkiv and Luhansk, then back to Donetsk for a flight to Kutaisi, Georgia. Unlike previous trips we actually found some local beers including stumbling on a brewpub in Stefanesti which wasn’t on any beer gen sites at the time, and in Luhansk my first ‘PET shop’ with 18 taps dispensing into bottles (0.5l to 5.0l!).
A year later we planned another trip to the east, literally 2 days after i booked the flight Putin invaded Crimea and by time we would have been there Donetsk airport was rubble. Never got round to replanning until 2020, then Covid hit…
Last November was my first proper craft trip, taking in Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk. Had a great time, loads of good beer, good food, friendly people. Planned to go back despite Putin’s forces gathering on the border, really didnt think he’d actually try to take the whole country. Devastating to see what’s happening there and really hope a solution can be found soon.
So sad to hear what’s happening in Ukraine, it’s a country that Loz and I have never been to but has always interested us, maybe one day when all this shit is over.
I’ve only rated 4 beers from Ukraine and all were back in 2006-7, so I haven’t really got any experience of the current beer scene there and looking at those beers I have had, they all look to be macro.
I don’t know what else to add other than best wishes, peace and love to our Ukrainian brothers and sisters
Although I’ve not tried any ‘craft’, ie non-lagers, there is an excellent cider producer Berryland that are heads and shoulders above most EU producers. Hopefully I’ll get to try some more from them in the future.
I’ve been to Ukraine just once, driving with a van full of mates in 2012, stopping off in L’viv on the way to Kyiv. It was about a year before I joined RateBeer so didn’t pay any attention to ticking or trying anything other than whatever lager happened to be available, not that there was much else back then.
Judging by the display of vodka and spirits in the average motorway petrol station (see photo) beer didn’t seem to be the drink of choice.
I remember going to a kind of soviet war-themed bar in L’viv with no sign out the front. My guidebook said you had to knock and an officer would ask for the password. You say it, in Ukrainian, and he lets you in and gives you a shot of vodka. Which is what happened. Actually a very decent bar, no need for the tourist stuff really.
Really liked Kyiv, quite a lot of history here, some spectacularly ornate churches and museums.
Being the Euros there was a buzzing atmosphere. For some reason I found accommodation in a building in the Swedish fan zone campsite so hung about with them a fair bit. Got interviewed on swedish and Korean TV. I guess I must stand out as an excellent knowledgeable pundit, despite not really being into football that much. Think I blagged it ok.
A highlight was getting a tour of Chernobyl and seeing the remains of Reactor 4 with my own eyes before it was covered up. Saw a friends band Jucifer from the US in a small rock club in Kyiv. Glad I experienced the city as it was back then, but feel saddened to think of all the people I met and what they’re going through right now.
regret not doing the Chernobyl & Pripyat tour, we always talked about it, a mate went in 2014 (got out just in time before Kyiv rioting started).
Just remembered indirectly I have Eurovision to thank for my first trip - up til then you needed a visa for Ukraine, and IIRC it was proper ‘tell us all your plans, your mother’s maiden name, your inside leg measurement, etc’ rather than just ‘pay us some money’, they dropped it temporarily for Eurovision and then I guess got a taste for the tourist £/€/$
We actually almost didn’t do it. We were driven to the exclusion zone border and the tour wasn’t actually registered for that day. I had to convince my friends to go back the following day, else we’d regret it in the future.
And yes, glad we did. Very informative, took us all over and learnt a lot about that time. Reactor 4:
Funfair dodgems that appear in all the photos - weren’t actually in operation at the time, my guide said this area was still being finished at the time the reactor blew.
A very appropriate country for this week, but alas I’ve noting to contribute from either a beer or touristic point of view, never had a Ukrainian beer, or visited the country. Just hope that both will be possible once this whole mess is taken care of.
14 ticks on the yellow app for me, a mix of macro pish and craft. A few decent scoops from VarVar stand out in my memory. Availability of local craft in Kyiv supermarkets was good on my last trip and some high-end stores had some notable imports too.
I’ve been couple of times, in 2016(ish) for a holiday in Kyiv and a trip out to Pripyat/Chernobyl. More recently in 2019 for work; back to Kyiv and on to the university town and home of Poroshenko, Vinnytsia and to Yampil, a small town on the Moldovan border.
Such a wonderful country, one of my favourites. My heart breaks for the people there. I hope they will come back stronger but it looks like a bleak time ahead.
Nothing to declare, and the only consolation is that I have equally failed to taste a Russian beer. I actually went to a couple of local Nottingham eastern European convenience stores in search of Ukraine beer last week and came away with Estonian and Latvian. There was also plenty of Polish available. I also listened to the radio this week where a craft brewer in the Ukraine recounted how he had switched his production to Molotov cocktails. It’s so depressing to think how much suffering a megalomaniac can cause.
I’m told Ukrainian law makes it difficult for brewers to export - this certainly matches my experience, pre-b****t I obtained quite a bit of Russian craft from the likes of Beerdome but never saw any Ukrainian
Received an email earlier from Beer Republic, Netherlands who along with a number of Russian breweries that they regularly stock are trying to do something in a little way for Ukraine.
Russia
DRINK BEER • HELP UKRAINE
Beer binds. War does the opposite. In order to support the people and in particular the children suffering from agression we have a special incentive we hope you can help with.
In cooperation with our dear friends from Bakunin, AF Brew, Zagovor, Paradox and Brewlok we try to raise as much donations as possible for Unicef.
GET 4 BEERS FROM ABOVE BREWERIES AND GET 1 FOR FREE.
