Beer Post #5

Now, that I've got your attention...

With Andrey and some buddies, I found this beer hall, Stargorod, in Kharkiv, Ukraine which is styled after a Czech beer garden. It has long, picnic-style tables so it is easy to bond with your neighbors. They had a traveling band comprised of guitar, accordion and violin playing polka music.

They brew their own beer in affiliation with a Czech brewery. They offer a light lager, a white ale, a Bavarian dark ale, and a wheat (which was not available when I visited). The dark was very nice. It had a flavorful nutty quality with hints of chocolate malt, but it wasn't too heavy.

While there, I enjoyed a champion's league soccer match on the big screen television between Ireland and Donetsk, Ukraine. It didn't turn out as the locals would have preferred because Ireland scored the winning goal with 2 seconds left in regulation time. Final score: 2-1.

Oh, yeah, and the servers uniforms, as you can see, give new meaning to the phrase business casual.

Beer Post #4

Tonights' beer post is in honor of Russian Imperial Stout, which I would be drinking if they had it here. I have discovered it is an English style beer that no one drinks here in Kharkiv, Ukraine. They've never heard of it!

At wikipedia, the Russian Imperial Stout is described as, "Imperial stout, also known as "Russian Imperial Stout" or "Imperial Russian Stout," is a strong dark beer or stout that was originally brewed by Thrale's brewery in London, England for export to the court of the Tsar of Russia as "Thrale's Entire Porter".^[5] It has a high alcohol content (nine or ten percent is common) intended to preserve it during long trips and to provide a more bracing drink against cold climates. The colour is very dark, almost always opaque black. Imperial stout exhibits enormously powerful malt flavours, hints of dark fruits, and is often quite rich, resembling a chocolate dessert."

Never heard of Russian Imperial Stout, learn the history and beer characteristics in Roger Protz's great article in All about Beer.

Beer Post #3

Stella Artois, What more needs to be said? But for the uninitiated, Stella Artois is the quinnessential Belgian export. It is drunk the world over for it's association with the great beers of Belgium; however, since it is a lager, it doesn't represent traditional Belgian beers to me. In its defense, it is a thirst-quenching, easy drink to mellow out with. That is when you don't want to drink your meal (like when you're drinking a mealy, substantial beer like a Guiness or La Trappe Quad). Check out its review at the Beer Advocate website. Cost: H3.65 ($0.66). I recommend it with a nice bit of fried cod and frites [fish and chips].

Update: I made some new friends at the Stella Artois blog. These guys have a cool blog devoted entirely to this brew. It is definitely worth a look. The Stella in my frig right now, I'll drink to you! Thanks, Jack & Neil!

Beer Post #2

I share tonight's brew with Sergey! We're enjoying a Ziberta beer, produced by Obolon, which is Ukraine's largest brewery. Ziberta is less commonly known around here than other Ukrainian beers, because it is a newly launched premium brand. The one that Sergey is holding is a traditional German heffe weissen called, Klasychne Nimetske Pshenychne. It's the best Ukrainian beer in this style that I have tried. Try it with sausage and pickles! It is a little more expensive than other Ukrainian beers, H3.60 ($0.72) per half liter. Yummy.

Here's an excerpt from Company News about the newly launched Ziberta brand, "Alcoholic Beverages Kyiv
based Obolon, one of Ukraine’s four largest beer manufacturers, launched a new beer under the trade
mark Kolektsyia Ziberta. The trademark includes three types of beer: Klasychne Nimetske Pshenychne, Klasychne Fla
mandske Bile and Klasychne Angliyske Porter. Obolon is positioning the new brand on the market as a premium brand. The company said that the launch of the new trademark was prompted by growth of the premium sector in Ukraine’s beer market. Obolon also plans to invest Hr 150 million ($30 million) into the construction of a malt
ing plant in Khmelnytskiy Region and launch its operation in autumn 2007. The capacity of the Ukrainian beer mar
ket is estimated at 145
150 million dec
aliters a year. Obolon increased beer production by almost 11%, to nearly 94 million deciliters, in 2006 compared with the year before." (sorry for the goofing squares, I can't get rid of them).

Thanks, Sergey, for having a brew with us tonight! You can meet Sergey Miroshnikov on Facebook. He's a very good babysitter, too! Thanks again, S.

Beer Post #1

Tonight, I am having a nice wheat beer from Ukraine. It's called...

ΠШЕНИЧИЕ ЕТАЛОН (Pshenychne Etalon). Manufactured by Etalon, it is a pleasant, unfiltered weissbier that lacks that unique German yeast found in the traditional style. This brewery also makes a filtered version called "krystall" that I can't be bothered to try, because filtration of a wheat beer is a sin.

You can read at Etalon's website about the history of wheat beers. Make sure you click in the upper right corner on EN for English! This is an informative website.

I would recommend Pshenychne Etalon for happy hour with light snacks (e.g., cheese board with grapes and bread). The cost for 1/2 a liter in Kharkiv, Ukraine: H2.80 ($0.55). Definitely worth the cost!