Obolon Premium

Had a bottle of this last night, while making up a yeast starter (for homebrewing tomorrow evening). And while my first impression wasn't too positive, I warmed up to this beer not too soon afterwards. As such, this wasn't bad, IMO.

500mL green bottle, with a mixed English/Ukranian-language label. Semmed a bit skunky at the first whiff after popping the bottle cap, but this characteristic thankfully more-or-less disappeared by the time I got the entire beer into my glass.

Golden and clear, with a certian uniformity in the foam and head. Adequate head retention and lacing, too. Overall, nothing stellar, but no significant faults.

Nicely grainy and sturdy in the mouthfeel -- no soft and wimpy Lagers for Ukranian locals, it seems! Which is good, since the "hardness" of this beer's mouthfeel gives the flavor profile plenty of leeway to make good on it's promise to satisfy.

Clean and fairly drinkable, with some of the bitterness coming through in the extreme end of the glass. Was able to polish this off with no trouble what-so-ever. Perhaps a little too sturdy for many folks -- that is to say, perhaps a little too close to the knuckle-dragging market -- but this was a pleasant surprise, IMHO.
//TB