Zhygulivske Lager Beer - Pivo Svitle (Жигулівське)
Obolon Brewery

Presentation: 500 milliliter bottle poured into a pint glass. Purchased from Total Wine & More.

Look: dark amber color. Slightly cloudy appearance. Moderate size head that evaporates rather quickly. Minor amount of lacing.

Smell: carmelized malt notes primarily. A bit of grainy notes and a bit of honey notes. Faint hops aroma.

Taste: carmelized malt flavor primarily. Sweet honey flavor secondarily. Slight flavor of grains and a slight earthy flavor. Aftertaste of floral hops.

Feel: smooth and creamy mouthfeel. Moderate bodied. Moderate to low carbonation.

Overall: I rather like this beer because it has a unique flavor profile. It’s a lager but it has some flavor characteristics of an ale, which makes it interesting. I have tried many lagers but I haven’t had one quite like this before. I think it is worth trying because of its uniqueness.

Obolon Brewery "Zhygulivske Svitle"
500 ml brown glass bottle without production codes or freshness dating
$4.49 @ Total Wine & More, Claymont, DE

Notes via stream of consciousness: This one is a little bit darker than the other Obolon Zhygulivske beers that I've been tasting. It's a clear amber colored beer with a short head of creamy white foam atop. The aroma offers some sweetish and caramelish malt which explains the color. There's a hint of some floral hops there as well. On to the taste... it follows the aroma with some lightly sweet, caramelish, honeyish, and mildly toasty malt that's got some floral and herbal hops in the background. A stiff bitterness balances it nicely and it finishes dry with some grassy/hay-like maltiness fading and then some light mineral character left lingering. In the mouth it's medium bodied on the lowest end of the scale, or perhaps light bodied on the highest end of the scale - ? It's gently crisp with a very fine-bubbled, moderate to median carbonation. It's not the greatest beer I've tasted from Obolon, and I'm guessing that it's a lower priced brand. It's well made but the head did dwindle very quickly because of the lower carbonation level, although the lacing was quite good. It's clearly a lager, but in many ways it reminds me of some cask-conditioned English ales I've sampled, mainly because of the caramel character and softer mouthfeel. I'll say that it's at least worth trying.
Review #9,287

 

Poured from a bottle into a pint glass
Appearance – The beer pours a clear deep golden amber color with a small fizzy head of white foam. The head fades very rapidly, leaving just a trace of fizzy lace on the sides of the glass.
Smell – The aroma is strong of a caramel smell mixed with a bit of bread and a touch of grain. There is also a bit of corn and a touch of honey.
Taste – The taste starts with a crisp caramel and corn flavor mixed with a bit of grain and a touch of cracker malt. These tastes last throughout the taste, mixing with a little bit of increase in the sweet along with a bit of hay and must, leaving one with a rather crisp taste on the tongue.
Mouthfeel – The body is light and crisp with a slightly lower carbonation level. A bit of a higher carbonation level may have been slightly better, but overall, the feel was decent.
Overall – A easy natured easy drinking lager. Not bad.

Pale yellow color with a thin, white head. Malty and grainy aroma. Taste is malty, sweet with bread notes. Thin body. Another attempt to play on people's nostalgia.

I don't see any bottle date or import date on the bottle or label.

Appearance: The body is a dark shade of copper and it has a short-lived fizzy head. It leaves only a thin ring of white foam around the glass. No lacing. Good clarity.

Aroma: It has a sweet corn smell with a very light bit of noble hops.

Taste: It has some sweet tasting caramel flavor which is a bit watered down. There is a light bit of noble hop character which comes through a touch giving it a bit of an herbal edge which isn't quite strong enough to compete with the sweetness. It has a very faint skunky character.

Mouthfeel: Light bodied and watered down. It is unbalanced in favor of sweetness. Drinkable.

Overall: It's a fairly below-average beer as a whole. It is on the sweet side so while it's good enough to drink a single beer it's far to sweet to pick up another one. It's probably worth tasting if you have a sweet tooth. If you enjoy Vienna Lagers that are a bit on the sweet side this will probably be up your alley. The noble hop character that sits under the sweetness is good and the flavors are clean but it's still just too sweet. I wouldn't recommend it to most people but it's not a bad beer by any means.

From the half liter bottle, it pours a clear golden color with a very thick white head that slowly reduces and leaves lacing. The nose gets some grainy malt. The mouth follows with a pleasant light malt flavored brew that is medium bodied and leaves a very mild aftertaste.

 

 

Pours a clear honey gold with a thick white head that leaves spotty lacing. Aroma is mild, biscuit, a touch of citrus, corn and a hint of European hops. Flavor follows the nose with more flavor than the 4.6% AVB would suggest should be there. Feel is light and crisp, well carbonated. Overall, a fine example of a European lager.

500ml bottle twice into a tulip glass.
L: Pours clear medium-light amber with a few large carbo bubbles, a thin eggshell white head that goes quickly to edge foam, minimal lacing.
S: Cereal grains, caramelized malts, light hop notes, a touch of brown bread.
T: Lightly fruity, subtle sweetness, caramel malts, a hint of raisins, brown bread dough, lightly pale, no real bitterness but background citrus exists. Has a light, sweet aftertaste.
F: Lightly brisk, medium-bodied mouthfeel with a fast, clean finish.
O: I find this beer to be a close relative to some examples of American Marzen Lagers. Light, gently sweet, a slightly rich centralized caramel note and a rapid finish. An excellent tasting and easy drinking beer overall. It is very good in its style.

 

 

Clear golden pour with a fat finger of pearl white foam. Smells of cereal euro malt, cracker and honeyed grain. Taste adds some leafy hops to the finish in a gentle way, cracker is more defined. Feel is thin and watery but decently crisp and does down easily, not nearly pale enough. Label is pretty eye catching though

 

Toasting to Ukraine standing up for freedom in a most honorable and inspiring way!

 

 

Dark saturated golden orange, rising carb trails, thin layer of fizzy foam.
Aroma of plain soggy cereal grains, slight shortbread sweetness.
Taste is nondescript, saltines and crispbread, faint yeast.
Watery and light bodied, mellow carb, dry finish. Relatively clean.
Overall, the best thing about it is the label, though not majorly flawed.

Poured from a brown 16.9 oz. bottle. Has a very dark golden color with a 1/2 inch head. Smell is of malts, honey, somewhat sweet. Taste is identical to the aroma, highly refreshing. Feels medium/full bodied in the mouth and overall, a bit different for the style, and a beer that exceeded my expectations.