Ukrainian beer
Ukrainian beer is young: the craft scene is only just over ten years old and grew up alongside a market full of pale lager. That gives you brewers who like to experiment with styles and local flavours. At Hoptimaal you'll find beer from SHO Brewery (IIIO) and Varvar Brew, mainly Barleywine and Weizen.
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A young scene with an old brewing city
Ukraine has a relatively short beer history compared to its western neighbours. The oldest brewery is the one in Lviv, founded in 1715. According to a legend, beer was already being brewed in the city in the fifteenth century. Obolon started in 1980 and was the first Ukrainian brewer to export to the United States. Chernigivske came about in 1988 as a gift from the brewery to Chernihiv, when the city celebrated 1,300 years of existence.
For a long time pale lager defined the picture, often low in alcohol and cheap. The craft scene is much younger: in 2022, craft brewing in Ukraine had only existed for about ten years. Brewpubs in Kyiv began serving a wider selection, with amber ales, porters and the occasional stout.
Local styles and local flavours
The classic Ukrainian classification is simple: svitle (light), temne (dark), mitsne (strong) and bile (white). Bile is wheat beer in the style of German hefeweizen, often more spicy and citrusy than the German example.
Newer is golden ale: a strong, sweet beer of about 7 percent with restrained hopping, sometimes with coriander. Small breweries made it for lager drinkers who wanted to taste a bit more beer. In 2021 the Association of Independent Breweries, together with enthusiasts, began the process of turning it into an official style.
Local ingredients are showing up too. Rebrew, close to Kyiv, makes a tomato gose with tomato pulp. Varvar brewed an imperial stout together with Brew York, including a variant with smoked pear, inspired by uzvar, a festive compote of dried fruit. The Lviv Craft Beer and Vinyl Festival returned in May 2025, for the first time since 2019: it had been paused because of the war.
Ukrainian beer at Hoptimaal
With us you'll find beer from SHO Brewery (IIIO) and Varvar Brew. Varvar is regarded as one of the best-known craft breweries in Ukraine and brews in Kyiv. The range centres on Barleywine and Weizen, and that Weizen fits nicely with the country's bile tradition.
Highly rated on Untappd are Varvar SolidØl Blair Athol Marsala and SHO (IIIO) UA Weizen. Every brewery has its own page with us, with all the beers we supply from it.
Frequently asked questions
What is typical Ukrainian beer?
Traditionally it is pale lager, classified as svitle (light), temne (dark), mitsne (strong) and bile (white, in the style of hefeweizen). Craft brewers add golden ale and beers with local ingredients to that.
Which Ukrainian breweries are well known?
Of the big names, Lviv (founded in 1715), Obolon and Chernigivske are the best known. In the craft scene, Varvar, Rebrew and Pravda stand out. At Hoptimaal you'll find SHO Brewery (IIIO) and Varvar Brew.
What is Ukrainian golden ale?
A strong, sweet beer of about 7 percent with little hop character and sometimes coriander. It was made as a bridge for lager drinkers and is not yet an officially recognised style: the Association of Independent Breweries has been working on it since 2021.
Beer from other countries
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