Obolon Lager
Obolon Brewery
- From:
- Obolon Brewery
- Ukraine
- Style:
- European Pale Lager
Ranked #143 - ABV:
- 5.2%
- Score:
- 75
Ranked #38,587 - Avg:
- 3.22 | pDev: 15.84%
- Ratings:
- | reviews: 88
- Status:
- Active
- Rated:
- May 11, 2026
- Added:
- Mar 21, 2002
- Wants:
- 4
- Gots:
- 9
SCORE
75
Okay
75
Okay
Obolon Lager is the best ever choice for those who is in love with lager beer. Well-aged beer with nice hops bitterness and flavor. This beer is produced in accordance with a classical technology and aged in cold environment.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Roguer:
Reviewed by Roguer from Connecticut
3.78/5 rDev +17.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
3.78/5 rDev +17.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Very attractive beer, with good head production and retention, very nice lacing, a darker golden lively body, and just a touch of chill haze.
Grassy, bready, and lightly toasty aroma; slightly floral. A bit of honey, but not overly sweet. Very nice aroma, and carries quite a punch despite the modest ABV.
Plenty of flavor on the palate, but it's just a bit muddled and unclean. Bread, honey, grass, biscuit, toast, a touch of bark. Balanced bitterness; it's not overly sweet, and actually carries a near-Pilsner bite.
Very crisp and lively. While it carries an appropriate amount of heft (clocking in just above 5% ABV), it's still very drinkable.
This is a lovely, approachable, yet full-flavored lager. I'd gladly take this on tap over your classically mass-produced, readily-available light-to-moderate lagers on tap across the US. It would make a very nice change up from Stella Artois et al.
Apr 14, 2024Grassy, bready, and lightly toasty aroma; slightly floral. A bit of honey, but not overly sweet. Very nice aroma, and carries quite a punch despite the modest ABV.
Plenty of flavor on the palate, but it's just a bit muddled and unclean. Bread, honey, grass, biscuit, toast, a touch of bark. Balanced bitterness; it's not overly sweet, and actually carries a near-Pilsner bite.
Very crisp and lively. While it carries an appropriate amount of heft (clocking in just above 5% ABV), it's still very drinkable.
This is a lovely, approachable, yet full-flavored lager. I'd gladly take this on tap over your classically mass-produced, readily-available light-to-moderate lagers on tap across the US. It would make a very nice change up from Stella Artois et al.
More User Ratings:
Reviewed by JPNesker from Canada (ON)
3.69/5 rDev +14.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
3.69/5 rDev +14.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
Don’t know if I’ve ever had a Ukrainian macro lager before!
Pretty bog standard (not an insult!) porch beer, totally quaffable!
Nose is great. Totes moreish.
Toasted bread and honey and smidge too bitter maybe somewhere in the sip. Certainly in the Aftertaste, which is almost metallic.
Love to sample the ubiquitous brews of places I’ve never been to. Decemt if unspectacular Euro Pale.
May 11, 2026Pretty bog standard (not an insult!) porch beer, totally quaffable!
Nose is great. Totes moreish.
Toasted bread and honey and smidge too bitter maybe somewhere in the sip. Certainly in the Aftertaste, which is almost metallic.
Love to sample the ubiquitous brews of places I’ve never been to. Decemt if unspectacular Euro Pale.
Reviewed by thehyperduck from Canada (ON)
3.46/5 rDev +7.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
3.46/5 rDev +7.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
500 mL can from the LCBO; dated Aug 1 2025 and served barely chilled. This is the third Ukrainian lager I've had the pleasure of reviewing, and the first new one I've come across since 2012.
Pours a clear brassy golden colour, graced with two fingers of lumpy, soapy white head that wilts away within the next five minutes or so. A lovely curtain of lace, about an inch thick, clings to the perimeter of the glass, with a tight collar and thin cap lingering on the surface - looks great so far. Standard Euro lager aroma: grainy, bready malts for the most part, with hints of apples, grassy hops and a scintilla of citrus peel.
It's a decent industrial lager with no serious off-flavours - and that's at least notable, as this lager was served with minimal chilling. Grainy flavour profile with notes of bready, slightly biscuity malts, as well as hints of honey & orchard fruit sweetness; maybe a touch of wet cardboard. Grassy, herbal hops make a brief appearance late in the sip, with graininess fading into an off-dry conclusion. Light in body, with middling carbonation and a crisp mouthfeel; good drinkability.
Final Grade: 3.46, a B-. Obolon Lager is pretty solid for a random Eastern European lager: I mean, there are plenty of other choices in that broad category that I'd rank below this one. That might sound like I'm damning this beer with faint praise, but the reality is that Euro Pale Lagers are frequently underwhelming, and rarely interesting... so as you'd expect, this is nothing to write home about. However, it's also inoffensive and quaffable, and likely the best Ukrainian beer I've had so far (though Lvivska 1715 is alright, too). Worth a shot if you enjoy European lagers - I'll continue to buy this for as long as it remains available.
Mar 24, 2026Pours a clear brassy golden colour, graced with two fingers of lumpy, soapy white head that wilts away within the next five minutes or so. A lovely curtain of lace, about an inch thick, clings to the perimeter of the glass, with a tight collar and thin cap lingering on the surface - looks great so far. Standard Euro lager aroma: grainy, bready malts for the most part, with hints of apples, grassy hops and a scintilla of citrus peel.
It's a decent industrial lager with no serious off-flavours - and that's at least notable, as this lager was served with minimal chilling. Grainy flavour profile with notes of bready, slightly biscuity malts, as well as hints of honey & orchard fruit sweetness; maybe a touch of wet cardboard. Grassy, herbal hops make a brief appearance late in the sip, with graininess fading into an off-dry conclusion. Light in body, with middling carbonation and a crisp mouthfeel; good drinkability.
Final Grade: 3.46, a B-. Obolon Lager is pretty solid for a random Eastern European lager: I mean, there are plenty of other choices in that broad category that I'd rank below this one. That might sound like I'm damning this beer with faint praise, but the reality is that Euro Pale Lagers are frequently underwhelming, and rarely interesting... so as you'd expect, this is nothing to write home about. However, it's also inoffensive and quaffable, and likely the best Ukrainian beer I've had so far (though Lvivska 1715 is alright, too). Worth a shot if you enjoy European lagers - I'll continue to buy this for as long as it remains available.
Reviewed by talisen-crw from Canada (ON)
3.5/5 rDev +8.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
3.5/5 rDev +8.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
At my lady Pamela's house; canned and chilled, 500mL in a pint glass. From The Roundhouse Centre LCBO on Howard Ave. in nearby Windsor. Best before August 1/26. My 1st beer from the Kyiv, Ukraine brewery. Radically recommended by Gracie the cat...
Jan 17, 2026
Rated by Pmicdee from Canada (ON)
3.74/5 rDev +16.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
3.74/5 rDev +16.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
Jan 16 2026
Jan 16, 2026
Rated by Nash39 from Florida
3.25/5 rDev +0.9%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
3.25/5 rDev +0.9%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
The pour is golden yellow with a moderate amount of carbonation. The taste is white bread, white crackers, & boiled broccoli. Cheers! B-
Dec 22, 2025
Reviewed by ChrisCage from Canada (AB)
3.84/5 rDev +19.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 3.75
3.84/5 rDev +19.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 3.75
500ml can that is 5% alc/vol but this is the closest I can find to what I'm about to enjoy here....if its wrong I will move it to the correct beer!
A- This one pours with a very much chill hazed golden color that is actually very much hard to see through, although during the pour it seemed to be quite clear! The head is super white, starts out about two fingers in thickness, and settles rather quickly down to a layer of thin white head, swirling about in a dance like manner. The carbonation is solid from what I can see, with plenty of columns rising to the top of the liquid, while the lacing is rather thin, and quickly dissipates back down into the brew, leaving only behind a watery film on the inside of my glass.
S- There is a definite bready malt aroma about this one, and it is actually quite pleasant! Aside from this, there are underlying smells of sweet caramel malts, toffee, sweet barley kernels, honeyed bread, perhaps some orchard pear and/or apple, and some drying grassy notes. The finish is of dry grain, muted hop bitterness and some balancing caramel sweet apple like juiciness.
T- The flavors follow suit well to the aromas, and I don't mind anything I am tasting here. There is a distinct sweeter malty taste about this, with caramel/toffee richness, followed by some underlying dry grassy and/or unmalted grainy character. Again, I find there are some orchard fruits noted here (apple/pear/apricot), all dry, under ripe and tasty. The finish is clean in a cloying kind of way in the fact that there isn't really any type of lingering flavor on the palate, yet when swallowing, the flavors are thick then disappear as fast. Overall quite a nice lager in this category.
M/O- The mouthfeel is more medium/full for the style, definitely not crisp, but still refreshing all the same. The carbonation is zesty enough to provide a dry cleanliness and the food pairing options are plentiful! I would enjoy this on its own in the pub, preferably on tap of course, but with food, a burger, and perhaps a savory Asian dish like potstickers would be a nice accompaniment. I hope to find this on the shelf sometime again, and hope for the Ukrainian people to prosper at the end of this needless occupation still going on as of this writing
Dec 19, 2025A- This one pours with a very much chill hazed golden color that is actually very much hard to see through, although during the pour it seemed to be quite clear! The head is super white, starts out about two fingers in thickness, and settles rather quickly down to a layer of thin white head, swirling about in a dance like manner. The carbonation is solid from what I can see, with plenty of columns rising to the top of the liquid, while the lacing is rather thin, and quickly dissipates back down into the brew, leaving only behind a watery film on the inside of my glass.
S- There is a definite bready malt aroma about this one, and it is actually quite pleasant! Aside from this, there are underlying smells of sweet caramel malts, toffee, sweet barley kernels, honeyed bread, perhaps some orchard pear and/or apple, and some drying grassy notes. The finish is of dry grain, muted hop bitterness and some balancing caramel sweet apple like juiciness.
T- The flavors follow suit well to the aromas, and I don't mind anything I am tasting here. There is a distinct sweeter malty taste about this, with caramel/toffee richness, followed by some underlying dry grassy and/or unmalted grainy character. Again, I find there are some orchard fruits noted here (apple/pear/apricot), all dry, under ripe and tasty. The finish is clean in a cloying kind of way in the fact that there isn't really any type of lingering flavor on the palate, yet when swallowing, the flavors are thick then disappear as fast. Overall quite a nice lager in this category.
M/O- The mouthfeel is more medium/full for the style, definitely not crisp, but still refreshing all the same. The carbonation is zesty enough to provide a dry cleanliness and the food pairing options are plentiful! I would enjoy this on its own in the pub, preferably on tap of course, but with food, a burger, and perhaps a savory Asian dish like potstickers would be a nice accompaniment. I hope to find this on the shelf sometime again, and hope for the Ukrainian people to prosper at the end of this needless occupation still going on as of this writing
Reviewed by AdmiralOzone from Minnesota
2.99/5 rDev -7.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
2.99/5 rDev -7.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Pours clear straw yellow with a thick white head. Aroma is mild, some biscuit, yeast and malt. Flavor follows the nose, some sweet corn followed by a bit of noble hop in the finish. Feel is light bodied and lightly carbonated. Overall, nothing to write home about but, Viva Ukraine.
Apr 11, 2024
Reviewed by deleted_user_1239096
4.14/5 rDev +28.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
4.14/5 rDev +28.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
With the Ukrainian war going on, I am amazed to have found this beer on tap. The local Scottish pub got two kegs in.
Doesn't have much of a head but is still good. Leans more towards a sweetish finish (think wheaties) and is good for a hot day.
Jul 29, 2023Doesn't have much of a head but is still good. Leans more towards a sweetish finish (think wheaties) and is good for a hot day.
Reviewed by C-Stockwell from Scotland
3.22/5 rDev 0%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.25
3.22/5 rDev 0%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.25
L: very nice gold, although the head dissipated quickly
S: cannabis and lager malt
T: fresh bread and molasses, somewhat watery
F: thick, cloying, needs more carbonation
I bought this simply to try Ukrainian beer. Simply getting a beer from Kiev at this time is impressive. An acceptable, drinkable lager.
Apr 08, 2023S: cannabis and lager malt
T: fresh bread and molasses, somewhat watery
F: thick, cloying, needs more carbonation
I bought this simply to try Ukrainian beer. Simply getting a beer from Kiev at this time is impressive. An acceptable, drinkable lager.
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