Obolon Extra Strong
Obolon Brewery

Appearance:  Available at an Uzbek restaurant in the National Captial Region. Poured into a tall, thin glass. The color of honey. Very clear with a few bubbles ascending to meet a small blanket of slightly off-white foam.

Aroma:  Enough alcohol to burn the nose hairs. And malt sweetness. Boozy cider. But mostly alcohol.

Taste:  Very sweet malts. Apple cider. Pears. Caramel and molasses. Sweet bread. Brandy. Cheap wine.

Feel:  Very smooth, actually. Just enough carbonation to soften the bite of the booze. Full.

Overall:  Surprisingly it's the sweetness, not the alcohol, that makes this one a challenge to drink. Maybe split it among a few friends so you're not overloaded with the richness (and the ABV). It's not a bad beer at all, it's just a lot - which I guess one should expect with the "extra strong" moniker.

Pairing: The strong apple cider notes of the beer do well with dry and flaky crusts which would lend to thoughts of apple pie.

 

 

Pours an effervescent gold/honey color with 2 fingers pearl colored head at fridge temperature, maybe some time in the freezer would've been better??? Above average head retention & better lacing

S: Sweet breadyness & apples, faint boozy notes, some perfumy hops late

T: Insanely sweet, pears, a touch of solvent & slight grassy bitterness up front. Boozy golden delicious apples with caramel, a little dryness & faint floral hops & some leafy hops as this beer warms up. Finishes a little dry with honey notes, faint breadyness, pears & treacle & some woody hops

MF: Medium body, slight carbonation, skews insanely sweet, but consistent for the style

Drinkability is a damn chore but could've been worse at this ABV. This is the stuff of hangovers & nightmares if sessioning was attempted. Small sips for sure, my first wasn't & just about wretched. I will say this actually improved as it warmed

A fine brew. It tastes a little like an IIPA without significant bitterness. It's fairly sweet with a nice fruity bouquet. Moderate hoppiness. Nice head. I taste pear notes. I will buy again.

Poured from a 16oz imported can into a tulip nosing glass. The intial “pop” of the can hinted at high carbonation. The head is small and disipates quickly, not leaving much for streaking. Color is a clear copper. Nose has sweet aroma of of baked pie crust and toasted barley. Taste is sweet apple brandy with a dough foundation that has a touch of baking spice. Halfway between a store bought apple pie and the cardboard box it comes in. Finish is silky and crisp, the mouthfeel carrying enough carbonation to hide the ABV, somewhat. Obolin Extra stong is medium bodied and reminds me of an olde-style euro beer you’d get at a renaissance faire. Cheers!

Deep, golden color with a medium-sized, white head. Malt, grain, dried fruits, and light vinous notes in the aroma. Some alcohol, but not too bad. This is a first strong lager brewed by a big Ukrainian brewery that is actually drinkable.

500 ml can, as Obolon Extra Strong, from Vinmonopolet, Nettbutikken. ABV is 12%. Clear golden colour, large tan head. Sweetish aroma of malts and alcohol.The flavour is way too sweet and alcholic, but at least there are some hops trying (without much success) to balance some of the sweetness. Not totally undrinkable though.

(50 cl can, no date/code; purchased single off shelf at Total Wine today... poured into my St. Bernardus goblet)

L: crystal-clear, pale copper-colored liquid, with tight white foam fading slow after the pour... kind of looks like an industrial tripel... there's a seal/emblem of sorts on the can that says 'Expert Quality' with a hop in the middle

S: dull expression/intensity... baked apple cider and dirty pennies... little indication of its strength... nothing particularly off-putting, aside from a subtle hint of sickly, syrupy sweetness ahead

T: fruity malt wine, softly apple-cinnamon spicy up front, taking on a mildly more clove cut in the aftertaste... this is kind of like Heady in that it's preferable to drink from the can, as it concentrates the flavors, gives it its best showing... it has a vague semblance to the generic Euro Pale lager with its doughy foundation and lack of hop personality... grain dust, chewy pretzel, old paper bag, and smooth rye vodka in the repeat residuals

F: silky smooth, quiet flow with a delicate pinging bitey sting building o'er dem sips... face gets a little flush, emanating into the upper chest as well... honestly, its plush and rush textures and feels are sedative heaven

O: straight up tastes like some of the dingy, high-gravity malt liquors I've found in gas station convenience stores across this great nation, just a tiny touch more young and clean than some of those decrepidly old fridge turds whose flavors I will never cleanse from my consciousness... but it does grow on you, I'm afraid to report... Total Wine Cherry Hill has a ton of Ukrainian beer on their shelves right now - does this help them? (2410)

 

 

 

 

Appearance: A slightly hazy deep golden body is crowned by a small, dense and finely beaded white head which persists quite well. Extremely finely-beaded lacing coats the glass wall in an unbroken sheet. Sparse streams of fat bubbles drift lazily to the surface.

Aroma: Caramel and white bread note, with bitter apple rind, grape skin, and a sweet, vinous alcohol present a surprisingly complex aroma, devoid of any harshness.

Taste: Opens with a wave of rather sweet alcohol, caramel and bready malt, soon followed by bitter apple rind. Toward the middle of the taste, grassy and medicinal hops present, graciously offsetting the sweet alcohol presence. The alcohol presence, while a bit high at twelve percent is, nonetheless, free of "hot" or harsh notes, offering an almost delicate presence and a pleasing warmth. As the taste draws to a close, mild hops vie with the sweet alcohol, concluding with a gracious entente and a very mild bitterness, which lingers on, well past the end of the taste.

Mouth feel: Very pleasant and full, with mild carbonation.

Drinkability/notes: A fairly extreme beer, in terms of ABV, which offers a gracious presence typically absent from cheap, high alcohol beers, such as malt liquor. Well done, Obolon. Glory to Ukraine!

Presentation: Packaged in a standard 500 ml aluminum can. Served in a South American-style Pilsener glass.

From the half liter bottle, it pours a clear golden color with a modest, soon diminishing, white head. The nose gets some alcohol, grain and grass. The mouth gets bread and doughy malt as well as a touch of fruit. Overall, a dangerously drinkable high alcohol product.

Amber body with an average size beige head and spotty lacing. The alcohol influences a lot in this beer including the aroma. The smell also provided a sweet edge to the sharpness of the hops. Resinous flavor with notes of ripe fruit and herbal, spicy hops. Finishes with the aforementioned alcohol push. Medium-to-full bodied, decently carbonated mouthfeel.

Overall, a bold strong lager that might come close to a barleywine. This one took a few extra sips before it grew on me.

 

 

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

Notes via stream of consciousness: There's a slight haze to this 12% amber colored beer. The head is a finger's width or more of off-white foam that appears to be holding quite well. The aroma expresses sweetish and caramelish malt with a hint of fruitiness and vinous character in the background. The flavor follows with some added graininess to the malt, a distinct fruitiness that includes apple, sweet red wine, raisins, and sweet red berries, and hoppy notes of dried leaves, grass, and spice ~ unless of course that spiciness is coming from the alcohol. A median bitterness balances it nicely along with the alcohol and spiciness, and it finishes dry. In the mouth it's medium bodied and gently crisp with the alcohol adding a nice little snap. The head held up very well given that it's a strong beer, and it left some thin but very nice lacing about the glass as it went. I'm a little surprised at how accessible this is at 12% ABV, and it's actually very easy to drink, at least at the outset. It doesn't have the depth of character that a lot of stronger beers have (barleywine, etc.) but it's surprisingly enjoyable.
Review #8,895

Poured into a Seattle Beer Week pint glass. Pours medium to dark coppery amber with a three finger white head with good retention and near solid lacing. Aroma of caramel malt, citrus and grassy hops, orange, toffee and dark dried fruit. Flavor is dry caramel malt, grassy hops, dark dried fruit, over-ripe orange, mild honey; light grassy hop bitterness in s somewhat astringent finish. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. Eastern Europe seems to produce some strong lagers that can have some medicinal or unusual flavors. This one tastes somewhat like a attenuated bock; quite malty, but with more hop bitterness that is left a bit stark in the finish. It's not as fusal oil forward as most. It kind of reminds me of an American malt liquor, but with a bit more malt character. A bit boozy, but actually not bad for a 12% lager. If I was in the Ukraine right now, this would be a welcome quaff, strong and relatively easy drinking. I see the bottled ale is in a green bottle, so I'm glad I got the canned version, which has no detectable skunking. This can is labelled "Extra Kyivske", but I'm guessing this is the same as the "Extra Strong" also listed here; I reviewed here because this is how it's named in this import. My heart goes out to its home country as winter approaches. (Ukrainian flag emoji here).