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Winter fruit teas became an inspiration for this beer, but as with borsch recipes of those are unlimited. Arrowwood tea was too hardcore even for us, so we've decided to brew a sea buck-thorn and ginger variant. This tea is often considered a great help for colds or preventing other microbes from getting at you during humid and cold season. Bright fruity tartness and light bite of ginger (added on cold side to avoid the flavor of boiled ginger which we re not fond of) make for a great colorful spot amidst greyness of this winter.
For the longest time we've been going to brew something full-bodied, thick, intensely hopped, beer to cover receptors with haze and keep them in a tropical spell. A beer to be enjoyed to the state of daze. A beer to make all world to wait while you are still embraced by it's fog. So this is the attempt of this beer, heavily hopped with Citra, Ella, Galaxy and Mosaic. Tropical power and beauty. At least it's hazy enough for a fog.
Two sides. Two continents, two shores, two traditions, classics and modernity, American and German hops, like two sides of a coin. This is our first release of the year, crisp Pilsner. It's our tribute to tradition and rebellion against seasonal demand for heavy and full-bodied stuff. You can drink it either with friends, who just started to discover world of other beer and or geeks tired of onslaught of experiments, both would be happy. So let the year begin.
Black Bean is a bit Malevich here, but this beer was born as a kinda joke for black Friday. A black imperial stout, fullbodied with black tonka beans. These magical beans reminds some people of dried cherries, some of cinnamon, some of vanilla, and sometimes all of those. Well, it seems it's our first beer which have grown from super tiny batch into more, and all this thanks to your feedback. So this beer is yours as it is ours.
Trio of Citra, Mosaic, Ella and triple-hopping (hot and twice cold) instantly throws you into the turbulence zone, or rather DIPAzone. Round, full-bodied, with distinct hoppy profile, engulfed into tropical fruits and citrus, this is almost ideal salvation these cold and dark days when all you can think is how to finish all the tasks and survive the holidays. This is it, your perfect hoppy remedy.
If you paid attention to the fact that this is the easiest beer we've ever made, you are right, it's only 2.8% ABV, but this wasn't our aim. We've decided to make a series of fruited Berliner Weisse with lactose for body, and for absolutely fantastic mouthfeel we introduced nitrogen. No, it's not a special nitrogen tap, it's addition on the maturation stage. This was the technic we wanted to try. And for the mousy, creamy head we've named it Schaum which is "foam" n German. But enough technicalities, believe us, it's amazing.
DOK Brewing loves experiments as much as we do. An interesting not too famous style? Yes, please! New ingredients? Bring them on! So we brought them Ukrainian honey and they brought us Belgian one. Tropical stout is a funny branch of foreign stouts which travelled to islands and became popular in slightly changed form. On new lands the style grew its own roots, anchored in alternative sugars such as cane sugar or molasses. So the beer was quite strong, but still easy-drinkable. And caring hands of our Ukrainian-Belgian group of gardeners made it bloom.
The main theme here is determined by Citra, Amarillo and Cascade, three whales of revolutionary beer movement. Well, it can be discussed forever, which hop variety was the most influential in the history of beer industry, but we don't plan to do that. This pale ale has all of it: old-school hopping varietals, almost classics, and modern twists like wheat and lactose for body. And these instruments play a nice tune together.
One more cousin of our W-Saisons. This time it wears raspberry dress. Juicy, brights raspberry from nearby farm gives it the impression of summer sun and apparent fruity sweetness, though the base dry as bone. For our W (wild) series we brew a mixed grain wort and let Saison yeast have their fun first, and added a bit of wild touch later, just a bit of bretts, to not overwhelm this delicate, crisp, hayish profile. After almost a year we adorn it with fruits or leave as is.
Our W (wild) series grows bit by bit. It grows slowly, because you can't hurry beer like this. We brew a mixed grain wort and let Saison yeast have their fun first, and added a bit of wild touch later, just a bit of bretts, to not overwhelm this delicate, crisp, hayish profile. And after almost a year we adorned this beauty with cherries. If you ever helped your grandma to pick up cherries on the farm, you'll remember that day over a glass of W4.
What is Extra Special Bitter? Is it really bitter? No, good people in Britain called all pale beers bitters to distinguish them from darker and sweeter milds way before the "pale ale" notion appeared. For a very, very long time all pale draft beers were called bitters. But let's not dwell too much on history. We've brewed an ESB before, but what will happen, if you'll get your hands on legendary Maris Otter Malts, classics like East Kent Goldings and brew a bitter? It will be better. ESBetter.
This beer is a new step of our evolution. The recipe was designed exclusively to became the first release in our canned line-up. We decided instantly that it should be something easy, summerish, but not lacking flavor and joy of hops. So the name just came after an evening run. Imagine coming back home slightly but pleasantly tired, thirsty, with new ideas and here it is, waiting you in the fridge, something not too high in ABV and flavorful. It is a Blisss. The ssss sound of can opening and joy and happiness melting in one. You don't have to run to enjoy it to the fullest, but it's a pretty neat match.
Paradigm it's a hop variety from far away shores of the Lake Michigan, but it's also means an example, a model, a template. We brewed a beer with our friends from Saugatuck Brewing Company and Silpo again this year. And we want collabs like this to be an example, a model for all brewers to do gigs like this more often. So they can bring something new to you, beer loving fellows, to bring a word about Ukraine to the world, and just enjoy the fun of co-creation. This year it's a sour IPA, tangy, grapefruity and slightly reminiscent of pine. Enjoy!
Weeeell, it will be tricky, but we will try to convey the play of words. It's kinda weird name you'll say. Yes, we know that each beer is supposed to have a story, a meaning behind the name, and indeed we were going to conjure some legend about lost city (or was it empire?). It's all because we dry-hopped the beer with Eldorado and Equanot. But it was such a lovely and nice day, that the name just invented itself, we don't need any fairy-tales about mysterious cities, gold and treasures, because this is it, this is our treasure, our joy, Eldoradist` (roughly Eldoradjoy in English). More joy, more beer,
They say that all new is long ago forgotten old. So we are back to our not that old but good Mist, but we've given it new dress. We removed vanilla, but added Sabro hops, this new variety which promises to bring coconut flavors to beer. It's always so exciting to get our hands on all new stuff produced every day by hop, barley and yeast breeders, working relentlessly in the fields and laboratories. Because curiosity (and not laziness we sure) moves human evolution forward.
They say we know all people in the world via 5 handshakes. We needed only one at the festival with Ollenaut brewery to make this first ever Estonian-Ukrainian collab happen. Of course this is Baltic Porter. Ingredients from both countries (Ukrainian cranberry and Estonian rye malt) have met in this concoction, spiced with love for good beer. We've brewed lighter, more drinkable version of this in Estonia in February, and more robust and full-bodied one in March in Kyiv, so this is the second iteration of Handshake. We hope for the third, but let's don't haste. So, as our Estonian colleagues say, Terviseks!, Cheers!
We have took our long-time-planned ideas and made them true this Spring. Just as birch sap ale, we've been thinking of adding borsch to beer for a long long time. Well, at least some ingredients of it. And thanks to a combined efforts with our colleagues from Underwood Brewery, we've done it at last. We've considered Gose, salty spicy tart ale, the best base for baked beetroot and pink peppercorns. And you can even imagine a sour-cream in there due to lacto. Do you feel the beet of this borsch song?
You know, sometimes we yearn for flavor overdose, going to extremes, having a cake and eating it too. So we took all the best we've had, like coconut (yes, we do love coconut and so do you), crazy fragrant cocoa beans (no sugar, God forbid, pure cocoa), vanilla (oh this velvety aroma) and packed it into Imperial Stout. For the overindulgence, for richness, for benevolence. And we call it properly Luscious.
We continue our W-series of bretted Saisons and W3 has waited for an opportunity to meet you all for a very long time. And to make this meeting even more colorful and effervescent, we treated little creatures to apple juice. You know that all sugars (even those white cubes, but now we are talking fruit sugars) give yeast food and supply us with alcohol and bubbles. That's a mushrooms and brewers symbiosis. But let's go back to beer, it's a Saison which means dry, bit spicy and light as morning glow in Summer.
Did you missed Bo? So here's it, the third story of our Baltic pirate adventures. As proper seaman, Bo smokes pipe, and we couldn't omit such a detail in his bio and not ot turn it into beer. Tobacco Brut Baltic Porter? Why the hell not? Of course tobacco in beer is not that strong as Bo smokes and scares all sea monsters off, we love experiments indeed, but everything should have it's logical limit.
We all need more white stripes in our striped life sometimes. So here they are. This is super seasonal, one-time brew our brewers envisioned for a long time and they've got all the ingredients at last. A lot of birch sap, barley and wheat and rye malts, saison yeast, few raisins and a bit of spring magic will definitely improve reality, at least to some degree.
We keep the tradition of Easter "monastery-style" brewing alive and this year we are releasing the triple. The style is not that ancient as many think, it's not century-years old, but less then hundred years in action, because the first beer named "Tripel" has appeared in 1956. But this dry, spicy and reminiscent of fresh meadow was loved so much, that it got a following, copying and is still adored. So we've got the abbey yeast and joined the fan-base. This is our Easter triple tipple. Best seasonal wishes!
You've met Bo already, and here we are presenting next part of his adventures. Where the wind blows, the ocean flows, there Bo finds himself. And this time it's far shores of Brazil. Bo in Brazil is a Brut Baltic Porter aged on amburana chips, which is an exotic tree variety, loved by craft brewers of Latin America. Thanks to our tireless wanderer and ever curious brewers you have an opportunity to discover this flavor yourself.
The third year in a row we honor, celebrate and talk about women's role in beer history and their love for beer. This time we've done this with 10 our female fans and hundreds of people around the world during Pink Boots Brewing Day, a day for more than 320 breweries from all around the globe to brew a special beer. We've named ours "Unhazed", because we want to break through fog of stereotypes. Women love beer. They don't drink only sweet stuff. Or whatever you've been told about women and beer, believe us, they do love beer, they brew beer and enjoy it. This is super quaffable session IPA suspended in dankness of super fresh PBS hop blend (Loral, Glacier, Mosaic, Simcoe і Sabro). Let all of us have gentle and fresh season.
Where to start... They say that St. Patrick didn't brew himself (though we don't know the name of his brewer), but he can't shed the reputation of patron saint of Ireland and brewing anymore. That's why we wanted to make a tribute to tradition this year as well. And what can be more Irish than Irish dry stout aged on oak soaked in Irish Whiskey? This Ireland in a glass is official collab with Tullamore Dew. Yes, we thought of calling this "The Boilermaker", but let everything be orderly, and the name Irish Coffee fit's the beer perfectly, because there's no lack of coffee flavor and warming notes in it. And it's a damn good coffee!
Bo Swensson is a Baltic pirate, daredevil and wanderer. He loves a good pipe, good food and staring at stars resting on a ship deck. You've never heard of Baltic pirates? Well, history and imagination hide a lot of unknown, they are. Why imagination? Bo is as fictional character as the Brut Baltic Porter beer style. But the fact that there was no such style or person doesn't mean they shouldn't exist, right? This is first appearance of our Bo, but we planned two more, so don't miss it.
An apple has a vast array of meanings, but we are not to deep dig into the mythology or symbolism, we are to play with beer again. And nothing bring us more joy than working with local ingredients and producers. So this ale was brewed in October with addition of 100 liters of fresh apple juice and this Spartan variety of apples was grown on a farm not far from Kyiv. Champagne yeast has transformed this goodness into something completely unexpectable and different from everything we've tired. And what about name? Snakebite is a beer/cider cocktail, so is a relative of a sort.
Chipotle is a smoked jalapeno hot pepper. Dragon Milk is our Milk Stout with chipotle. Just to let you know this dragon is quite sophisticated, it doesn't burn out everything on it's way, but gives you a pleasant chili kick on the aftertaste adding the smoky part of chipotle to the equilibrium. Perfect for a winter evening, when you don't want to warm up with boozy stuff, but eager to get the chill out of your bones. Works like magic. Dragons are magical creatures all in all, even if it's tamed in a glass.
This younger x-masy brother of our Ølen we've brewed in the beginning of December with a group of our fans and beer lovers. Why x-mas? It's even more piny (more juniper in infusion), we added a bit of Mandarina Bavaria hops and fresh tangerine peel. Nordic fairy-tale came true. If you liked the previous version, you'll love this one.
Every year we brew a beer which shifts celebratory traditions, with your help obviously. It doesn't have to be a glass of champagne or another sparkling wine to toast the beginning of new year. This time our "Sparks" create the mood, and what can be more celebratory than Christmas sparklers? (Ok, besides tangerines and Christmas lights?). It's a super light and dry grisette, wheat hoppy beer kept on bretts for half a year. Do you remember how a hayrick smells like? Dried grass, hints of meadow flowers and warm nights. That's it. Your perfect celebratory glass.
Phantom cake, ghost cake, cake of Schroedinger, there is no cake, but you can't stop thinking about the cake: vanilla, nuts, creamy roundness, chocolate. Full-bodied, fragrant, intence, sweet, but no way cloying. Ten kinds of malt, vanilla beans, roasted peanuts, lactose, Magnum for bitterness, but you won't find it there. Forget dieting, sweets for everyone! Buy the way, will you recognize the cake we thought about while brewing this?
When you carefully and thoughtfully chose the base beer, select beans, roast them specifically, brew coffee, decide which of four varieties to use, and thrice play with proportions of other ingredients it is time for a new crossover to be born. It's a beer version of the coffee beverage Flat Red, created by Vadim Granovskiy, owner of the local roastery Coffee in Acrtion. Rouge Brut IPA, oranges, pomegranates, cold brew embraced together in this collab. Coffee meets Beer. And it's wonderful.
Stopover is a long-stay between two flights from one destination to another. So for Brazilian brewer Wagner Falci from Daoravida brewery travel from Milano to Rome included 26-hours stopover in Kyiv. And that's how the first ever Brazilian-Ukrainian collab was born. True Brazilian style Catharina Sour was brewed using Brazilian experience and knowledge and Ukranian fresh ripe grapes of local variety. So it was Brazil and Ukraine via Italy (though UK was involved as well) in the name of the beer, which connects people. Again.
So each year this time comes, when all around is conquered by La Calabaza. The same calabaza which originated from Mexico, got the nickname of Jack-o'-lantern in Ireland, though this nickname is remembered only once a year. But no matter what are the origins of names or holidays for a brewer pumpkin is first and foremost a great seasonal ingredient. You can add it in every possible style of beer without any constraints and limitations and who doesn't love to play as hard as he can? So this year meet the cousin of our Splash "hopped" with baked pumpkin, cinnamon and acacia honey.
Rouge is a younger brother of our Brut IPA and cousin of Redember, and it got the best of both: it's dry, effervescent, got an amazing color and fruity undertones. It's a celebration in a glass, like rose champagne, bubbles, fireworks, happy voices and flutes clutter. Calista and Pacific Gem hops give this beer very sparkling-wine berry aroma. Do you have a friend who likes sparkling wines but have no idea that beer can be similar? Bring him or her a glass of Rouge.
Norwegian yeast, Carpathian juniper and hops, grown in Kyiv, this is our north Ølen, Norwegian Farmhouse ale, mysterious beast of far-away Nordic brewers. They brew their øl – beer – using juniper infusion, with almost no hops, and bear saliva (oh no, it’s from Kalevala) kveik, very special indigenous yeast. From the first day we’ve learned of it’s existence, we’ve been eager to have a go on it, and at last we’ve gathered all ingredients needed. So now we’ll find out what kind of beverages ancient Norseman drank. Or not so ancient, because this beer is still brewed and enjoyed.
This is older brother of O'Gurke, our first attempt of "Grandma's pickles jar". In the beginning it was just Captain Salt + Tomato, but since one-time experiment it has grow up into seasonal must have and festival hangover relief. The name has found it itself, being a nick-name given by lovers, and now it's destined to stay forever.
When breweries meet and decide to brew something together, sometimes it takes a lot of efforts to choose an idea. But not this time. Expertise and experience of Saugatuck multiplied by love for the Varvar Milk Stout, and so we have a square milk stout. Or rather Imperial Milk Stout. Almost a month of e-mailing, more than a day and night of brewing, artwork, naming, a bit of magic and love for beer, and that's it. "Awaken your inner sweet-tooth and open up new flavor horizons!". No. Just enjoy this beer brought to you by three teams: Saugatuck Brewing Company, Beermasterday by Silpo and Varvar Brewery. And yes, beer is connecting people.
Et tu, Brute? Yes, we too. We couldn't contain our curiosity and attempted this newest sub-genre of IPA. It's completely different from his hazy cousins, not sweet at all, but bone-dry, crisp, light-bodied, and aromatic nonetheless thanks to duo of Citra and El dorado. So, Brute, to be or not to be?
When first summer apricots are in full swing, heavy branches pregnant with fruit, ripe orange cheeks basking in golden morning light, seeping through the mist... Oh, stop, it's another story completely and there is no fruit in it. But it's completely impossible not to think of apricots when holding a glass of our Mist. The color, the aroma... But it's more about morning haze than about fruits, because they are missing from this Milkshake IPA, there is only lactose and bit of vanilla. Just don't think of apricots.
What would happen if you mix idea and efforts of one brewer with experience and meticulousness of another? You'll get a double effect. And this is just that case. The winning recipe of Lizard the Brewer was brewed at our brewery. Deep, burnt, intense, extravagant experiment is out of the tank and named Doppio Effect. You can't find a better name for it. It will be a waker. You have our word.
So, the idea of Grandma's pickles has been nagging us forever, and we've stopped resisting at last. The cucumber version of our Captain Salt is a treat for weird beer taste lovers, an eye-opener and horizon-expander, it's a revelation for everyone who dare to taste it. We add fresh cucumber, fresh as the whole idea.
Almost 9 month ago we've brewed two future saisons, added wild yeast, and left them to ferment. We added grape into one, and honey into another. But don't expect any excessive sweetness, stubborn yeast consumed almost all the sugars. That's why W1 is dry and crisp and refreshing, as summer saison should be. Just as we wanted it to be. And let's applaud our designers for the W1 cut from the real honey-comb.
So, who we've got here, so wild, so undomesticated and untamed? Bone dry, 100% fermented. Our first release of wild program we've dedicated our small brewhouse to. Bretts, isolated wild yeast, the most exciting and unexpected will be happening here. Whn we've promised a lot of surprises for this year we weren't joking. All range will have a name W, shortened from "Wild", and we are not going to hold our horses. It won't be fast though, you know, all this bugs need time to grow and do their magic. So the first one is a rgape saison, and his honeyed brother will be coming after soon.
Since the first barrel we've got, the idea of making something dark, strong and sour has been floating around. To make something truly unconventional and bit crazy. So we've made strong porter, introduced it to Bretts, poured it in the barrel. And it hasn't disappointed. It's a beer for brave explorers, but aren't we all like that? It's not a high fashion yet, but pretty close to it.
Remember our Leprechaun? So this one has got a pot of peanuts instead of gold (you asked us for peanut beer for so long we couldn't wait anymore), and we've got completely new mythological creature. Does this one eats peanuts all the time instead of smoking pipe? Is it mischievous or does it help to peel peanuts? Who knows. All these creatures have their own life, even if it's a fruit of your own imagination.
Once upon a time all beer and malt were smoky, because malt was dried on the smoke of the open fire. But since the invention of smokeless drying and roasting brewers picked up new fashion and forgot about smoked malts (not in Bamberg, but it's another story though). We've came back to the origins and brewed a Wee Heavy, using Scottish peated malt, therefore combining traditional and non-traditional into one. It's a brew for grown-ups. Fans of Islay whiskey will like it for sure.
So, where to start? Firstly, March 8th was all-female brew-day (under guidance of our head brewer though) at our brewery, and we are immensely proud and happy to be a stage of this event, showing that ladies love and are interested in beer as well. And indeed why shouldn't they? Beer is great drink, so why miss it? We chose a saison style for this day, fresh and crisp beer usually with distinct peppery aroma provided by special yeast and sometimes pepper as well. In attempt to underline this spiciness we added pink pepper to the brew, though pink pepper is not basically a pepper, but cousin of cardamom, so beer won't be hot. Female and male appreciators of unusual flavor will love it for sure. Because beer is for all.