A guest post by Quinten Taylor,
Vice Chair of Reading CAMRA (2019) who is on Twitter as @SirQuinno
An article about the joys of
Ukrainian beer and bars? Really? Absolutely! Having ventured out to a
country I knew little of I was deeply impressed by how good the scene
is out there. For brevity I’ll concentrate on Kiev as the capital
and main destination for international flights. Distance per pound
ratio is cheap compared to many other European destinations; at the
time of writing, a return direct flight will set you back around £200
– not bad for 1,500 miles and three and a half hours!
 |
| The Motherland Monument, Kiev |
Kiev is a large and modern
metropolis of just under 3 million people and has a huge footprint.
The bars are spread across the city centre so be prepared to walk up
a thirst.
English is not widely spoken or understood in Ukraine
though a number of the younger bar staff know enough to make ordering
relatively straightforward… and don’t forget that a few words of
Ukrainian will get you a long way.
 |
| Woolly Hops at Bolshaya Vasilkovskaya st |
Ukrainians have an undeserved
reputation for frostiness, most servers we encountered were friendly
and curious to meet British beer tourists. Oh, and be prepared to use
Google Translate on your mobile as some menus are in Cyrillic only!
 |
| Kiev central railway station |
A quick run-down of the breweries.
There is a new and fast-growing craft beer scene in Ukraine and the
names I saw regularly around the bars included Tyspa, Ten Men,
Didko, Varvar, Underwood, Volta, Rebrew and my stand-out, Gonzo.
Ukrainian brewers are especially keen on sours, saisons and gose so
keep an eye out for really off-beat interpretations including brewing
with lime, apricot, blackberry and (memorably)… beetroot! Being so
far away from any other major craft beer nation means that genuine
experimentation is rife.
 |
| People's Friendship Arch - painted crack added since Russian annexation of Crimea |
Rather than attempting to weave a
narrative tapestry, I’ll go through the bars below with a pen-pic
of each one. Think of it as a ‘cut-out-and-keep’ guide for your
trip!
 |
| Vidro - beers with quartered pork & chicken bar snack |
Vidro (Tarasa Shevchenka).
Bar service
Close to Maidan Square, the heartbeat of the city, and therefore likely your accommodation. This is a simple long narrow place and almost micropub-like. 12 taps across most of the obvious styles. Gonzo predominates and we enjoyed their APA, Lavender Milk Stout and Raspberry Gose.
Woolly Hops (Bolshaya Vasilkovskaya). Table service
A fairly small wooden shack on the main road away from most tourists. 24 lines plus plentiful bottles. Staff a little hesitant but we got there. Oddly there is no bar, unobvious table service results in beer emerging from a downstairs cellar. Menu mainly in Cyrillic.
Bimbo (Volodymyro-Lybidska). Counter service
A little different, this is foremost a coffee outlet that also sells two dozen or so well-selected bottled beers from Ukraine and Poland (the Underwood Lime Saison was excellent). The staff here are very friendly. It was the bar’s birthday and coincidentally Mrs Quinno’s – on hearing this, they presented her with a gratis pavlova!
Taphouse (Yaroslaviv Val). Table service
Despite being labelled as owned by Collider brewery on Google there were none of their beers here; instead there was a similar (if reduced) menu to Woolly Hops that made me think they are now owned by the same people. Memorable for trying a beer from Tyspa called Kvass, made from black bread - a local speciality!
Close to Maidan Square, the heartbeat of the city, and therefore likely your accommodation. This is a simple long narrow place and almost micropub-like. 12 taps across most of the obvious styles. Gonzo predominates and we enjoyed their APA, Lavender Milk Stout and Raspberry Gose.
Woolly Hops (Bolshaya Vasilkovskaya). Table service
A fairly small wooden shack on the main road away from most tourists. 24 lines plus plentiful bottles. Staff a little hesitant but we got there. Oddly there is no bar, unobvious table service results in beer emerging from a downstairs cellar. Menu mainly in Cyrillic.
Bimbo (Volodymyro-Lybidska). Counter service
A little different, this is foremost a coffee outlet that also sells two dozen or so well-selected bottled beers from Ukraine and Poland (the Underwood Lime Saison was excellent). The staff here are very friendly. It was the bar’s birthday and coincidentally Mrs Quinno’s – on hearing this, they presented her with a gratis pavlova!
Taphouse (Yaroslaviv Val). Table service
Despite being labelled as owned by Collider brewery on Google there were none of their beers here; instead there was a similar (if reduced) menu to Woolly Hops that made me think they are now owned by the same people. Memorable for trying a beer from Tyspa called Kvass, made from black bread - a local speciality!
Solomyanska (Solomyanska
Square). Bar service
Situated in a pretty part of the old town, this is a brewpub that’s more a gastro joint; more foody than beery and a bored-looking girl sat behind a desk at the entrance who asked if we had a table. We were fine to just have the beer (great!) but we were ordered to sit at the bar and were the only people doing so. We got a flight of their six beers, none of which were particularly memorable.
Situated in a pretty part of the old town, this is a brewpub that’s more a gastro joint; more foody than beery and a bored-looking girl sat behind a desk at the entrance who asked if we had a table. We were fine to just have the beer (great!) but we were ordered to sit at the bar and were the only people doing so. We got a flight of their six beers, none of which were particularly memorable.
Punkraft (14 Ihorivska).
Table service (or bar if you sit there)
A new cellar bar which felt the most recognisable as what we’d know as a craft bar. Orange and black inside with two smart bricked arch rooms behind. Parked ourselves at the bar and got served after a while but it looks like table service is the norm. 24 taps with 14 Ukrainian. We went for Didko Crye a hefty IPA and Rebrew Waka Coconut labelled as an ‘MIPA’, a new one on me!
Drunken Monkey (1 Kostiantynivska). Bar service
20 taps and a jumbo digital display board in Latin with a good range of styles and uniformly excellent quality. A memorable beer here was Underwood ‘Feel the Beet’ a beetroot sour. Russian spoken here more obviously than elsewhere and more of a pubby atmosphere as well. Probably my favourite.
Gonzo (19 Kostiantynivska). Table service
Brand new cellar bar operated by Gonzo brewery. 19 taps, mainly theirs with some guests. Fruit fans will enjoy it here, we had an excellent Mandarin APA and a Blackcurrent Gose. Staff were a bit flaky but it had only been open a few days, of course.
Craft vs Pub (Nyzhnii Val). Table or bar service
17 lines here in this fairly basic cellar bar with a number of breweries that were new to us and also some niche styles. Gremlin Good Girl Milkshake was declared ‘beer of the trip’ by Mrs Quinno.
A new cellar bar which felt the most recognisable as what we’d know as a craft bar. Orange and black inside with two smart bricked arch rooms behind. Parked ourselves at the bar and got served after a while but it looks like table service is the norm. 24 taps with 14 Ukrainian. We went for Didko Crye a hefty IPA and Rebrew Waka Coconut labelled as an ‘MIPA’, a new one on me!
Drunken Monkey (1 Kostiantynivska). Bar service
20 taps and a jumbo digital display board in Latin with a good range of styles and uniformly excellent quality. A memorable beer here was Underwood ‘Feel the Beet’ a beetroot sour. Russian spoken here more obviously than elsewhere and more of a pubby atmosphere as well. Probably my favourite.
Gonzo (19 Kostiantynivska). Table service
Brand new cellar bar operated by Gonzo brewery. 19 taps, mainly theirs with some guests. Fruit fans will enjoy it here, we had an excellent Mandarin APA and a Blackcurrent Gose. Staff were a bit flaky but it had only been open a few days, of course.
Craft vs Pub (Nyzhnii Val). Table or bar service
17 lines here in this fairly basic cellar bar with a number of breweries that were new to us and also some niche styles. Gremlin Good Girl Milkshake was declared ‘beer of the trip’ by Mrs Quinno.
Old Bar (off Velyka Vasylkivska). Table
service
Off the main street by the McDonald's and metro (look for the sign by the alleyway entrance), housed in a polygonal shaped wooden construction. Self-proclaimed slogan of 'old bar, new beer'. Service swift and slightly aloof. However there’s 28 taps and the best range of bottles in Kiev.
Off the main street by the McDonald's and metro (look for the sign by the alleyway entrance), housed in a polygonal shaped wooden construction. Self-proclaimed slogan of 'old bar, new beer'. Service swift and slightly aloof. However there’s 28 taps and the best range of bottles in Kiev.
Varvar (Saksahanskoho). Table
service (or bar if you sit there)
There are two Varvar brewery owned bars in Kiev, this is newer one in the city centre. The interior is professionally crisp with much exposed light brick. 14 taps, mainly theirs with the odd guest. Tasters readily offered by friendly and professional staff.
Pivna Duma (various locations). Table service.
A small chain of brewpub restaurants throughout Kiev, we did the one by the train station. Most people were here to eat, but drinking at the bar is fine once the staff have understood you are beer tourists but it did feel a little odd. We took a flight of the 5 homebrews, with the dark and IPA most drinkable.
There are two Varvar brewery owned bars in Kiev, this is newer one in the city centre. The interior is professionally crisp with much exposed light brick. 14 taps, mainly theirs with the odd guest. Tasters readily offered by friendly and professional staff.
Pivna Duma (various locations). Table service.
A small chain of brewpub restaurants throughout Kiev, we did the one by the train station. Most people were here to eat, but drinking at the bar is fine once the staff have understood you are beer tourists but it did feel a little odd. We took a flight of the 5 homebrews, with the dark and IPA most drinkable.
Tim adds – Cheers Quinno! Look
out for edited print versions of Quinno’s Kiev guide in a future
issue of Ullage (West Berkshire CAMRA magazine) and Mine’s a Pint
(Reading CAMRA magazine).
Anyone with a story suitable for
publication in Ullage and / or as a guest post in BeerEurope is
welcome to submit details to Tim via editor@westberkscamra.org.uk
