It’s been two years since the last blog post, so most of you probably thought that this blog was dead. Well, not quite. It may be on its last legs, it may be having a mini-revival, it may go on to unforetold greatness, we shall see. Suffice for now to say that a new post has been blogged, and that the topic is beer.
Travelling is, as the avid reader of this blog will have discovered by now, one of my main hobbies. There’s nothing more exciting than checking out new places, countries, cities, bars and pubs. However, having been to almost all the countries that are fairly easy to get to, the number of new countries I manage to add to the list seems to diminish every year. This year, however, has been a bit of an outlier – I have been fortunate enough to visit no fewer than two new countries: Ukraine and Cyprus.
Ukraine has been in the news for all the wrong reasons in the last few years, mostly due to the conflict in the east that never seems to quite get resolved. This country is, however, massive – if you’re in the west then all the shooting is at a safe distance, so that’s why I booked a long weekend for my lovely wife and myself in Lviv, only 70km or so from the Polish border.
If you want everything to be clean, efficient and predictable, then you should go to Switzerland. If, on the other hand, you like a city to have contrasts, charm, history, a great vibe and ancient trams you could should consider Lviv – seldom have I been to a place with such a youthful spirit mixed with centuries of history and ancient trams. Oh, and to top it all off they have ancient trams which rumble around at just over walking speed where the fine you have to pay if you get caught without a ticket is less than the cost of a normal bus ticket in most western European countries. Did I mention that Lviv has trams? You probably think that I have gone off the rails (as it were). Time for a beer.
Beer drinking in Lviv is an absolute pleasure, not least because it’s dirt cheap, but also because the beer is surprisingly good. The standard brands are OK, though owned by the big multinationals – I guess the foreign investment has improved quality from what it was back in the Soviet days, so from that point of view I approve. The real excitement for beer lovers is, as usual, the microbreweries, of which the main one in Lviv is smack in the middle of the town centre: the Pravda Beer Theatre.
The Beer Theatre is something quite extraordinary. It’s a cavernous bar/pub/restaurant building with multiple floors, multiple bars, and a shop. Their beers are very interesting, not least because of the political nature of their labels and the unabashed support for Ukrainian independence. Suffice to say that political correctness is not a priority, and that Russia is not a popular country in this place. For example, they have a beer called “Frau Ribbentrop” with the picture of the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, on the label. The label helpfully explains that, just like the Nazi foreign minister Ribbentrop did in 1939, Merkel has made a pact with the Russians that does not help the Ukrainians at all. Other politicians, including Trump, Putin and Obama also get their beers with labels that aren’t exactly overflowing with praise. The Obama beer was a very good dark lager, and the Trump beer was orange and tasted awful. The pub’s atmosphere was good though, so regardless of your views on said matters, I think you’ll end up having a good time.
Lviv has a boatload of places to eat and drink where the quality is high and the prices low, and it has not yet been overrun by tourism. Therefore, the contrast between Lviv and the second new country of 2019, Cyprus, was big.
Cyprus is a small island anchored at the very east end of the Mediterranean Sea. Its economy relies heavily on tourism, and the tourists come to enjoy the sunny and warm climate, I presume – in any case, I’m pretty sure they don’t come because of the beer, because the beer is not good. The main local beer brand is called Keo, which tastes of cat piss. Judging by the number of stray cats that roam the streets it would not surprise me if this assessment is more accurate than most people like to think. There’s another beer called Leon which tastes a bit better, and locally brewed Carlsberg (as far as I could tell), which is probably not the best beer in Cyprus. My advice: avoid if you can.
So, is the situation all bleak? Is there nothing for those who fancy a decent pint of beer? Those who search will find, they say, and I discovered that the trick was to go to the capital, Nicosia, and search for the local microbrewery (named "Pivo Microbrewery"), situated right on the border to North Cyprus – a border that runs right through the middle of the city almost like the Berlin Wall in the olden days. Crazy stuff, but at least it’s possible to cross over without too much hassle these days, which we did – it’s definitely worth checking out the other part of Cyprus if you can. Or bottle? I prefer bottles to cans. Check out the other part of Cyprus if you bottle!
However, it’s even worthier to check out the aforementioned microbrewery, run by some very friendly gentlemen who know what they’re doing. We happened to visit on a day where the brewery was technically shut, but since we looked thirsty and forlorn, one of the owners took pity on us and let us taste the beers in the beer garden while he continued to label bottles and whatnot. They have three beers: one Bavarian wheat beer, one Czech-style Pilsner, and one amber IPA. They were all exceptionally good and true to style – in fact, much better than most microbrewed beer I have come across. Sadly, the number of restaurants and shops that stock these excellent brews is very limited, so you have to either travel or be very lucky.
All in all, 2019 has been another good year for the beer blogger, aka me – two new countries and a few hundred new beers have been added to the log. I’ve also invented a new word – “knurgelsmack” – but I’m not yet sure what it means. We live in interesting times! Until next blog post I wish you all a happy festivity of your choice, where you can raise a glass of excellent beer of your choice, shout whatever “cheers!” is in a language of your choice, and have a really splendid time whilst doing all this.
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