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Does anyone has an opinion about Ukrainian beer? I found it to be very good.
I am thiknig of importing the beer to USA. It is available wholesale for about 20 cents a bottle in Ukraine.

Thanks.
Mark

... in response to Ukrainian Beer, posted by mdante99 on Dec 9, 2001

Mark,

Have you looked into "business" aspects of this deal?

My findings on insurance, custom taxes and fees, etc were not optimistic at all.... May be it is different story shipping from Russia than Ukraine, but I doubt.  

Also, Russian and Ukranian beer tastes so much better because it does not have preservatives as mentioned before, but it means that you will have much shorter period before it's past due date. In my "previous life" in Russia I did work on the projects with local breweries and that was one of the major problems for them to start importing.

... in response to Re: Ukrainian Beer, posted by RW on Dec 10, 2001

RW:
Here is the result of my preliminary research.

It is not possible to import beer from Russia and make a profit because of the costs.

The Ukrainians however are actively promoting Obolon beer to foreign countries.
The price is around 20 cents in Kiev; by the time it gets to New York, the wholesale cost is about 40 cents a bottle.
The manufacturer has also added prservatives so that the shelf life is about six months.
The Latvian are marketing their Zelta beer to foreigners.

The Baltic beer is also very good and is available in USA in some stores.

Also the Czech are actively promoting their beer for exports.
Developing the initial business is difficult, but I think Americans will like the taste of it.

RW, I have tackled far more difficult tasks before; like convincing my wife to marry me, so this should be easy :-).

Mark

... in response to Re: Re: Ukrainian Beer, posted by mdante99 on Dec 10, 2001

Good for you, I am just curious as I have done a lot of research on that topic as well.

But still.... all the freight, taxes, customes fees (US + Ukraine), brokerage fees, possible USDA inspection+ storage add up only 20c a bottle? That's pretty good deal if it is so...  Also, is it already certified in US?

In the worst case you just drink it all or announce a special sale on this board :)))

Russian Wife

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Ukrainian Beer, posted by RW on Dec 10, 2001

The beer has to be imported in large quantities to reduce the costs as you described.
The Baltic beer is already available in USA though only sporadically. The Czech beer is available fairly commonly in the stores. I am trying to follow and see how the Czechs have succeeded.
In the meantime, I am getting free samples shipped over to me; not bad :-).

Mark

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Re: Ukrainian Beer, posted by mdante99 on Dec 10, 2001

Why don't you just brew your own beer and market it, that would save all of those import costs that were mentioned?

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Ukrainian Beer, posted by Ramblin on Dec 11, 2001

But would he be able to duplicate the taste of the Ukrainian beer?  Some of us like the taste.  I like Slavutych and a brand from Odessa.  (Sorry, only had it once and don't remember the name.)

... in response to Ukrainian Beer, posted by mdante99 on Dec 9, 2001

While in New York, I took Olga to the Brighton Beach area of Brooklyn, which has stores, shoppes, restaurants, etc. all in Russian. There we were able to buy her favourite Russian beers for less money than we pay for American beer, and in those larger bottles.

However, Olga has adapted my love for Corona with a lime ;=)

... in response to Re: Ukrainian & Russian Beer, posted by JohnG on Dec 10, 2001

V wanted me to buy some peeva so I got my favorite, Pacifico. She wasn't impressed with it so the next trip to the store I bought some Coors (Curs). She thought it was much better. Go figure. At least it's much cheaper!

... in response to Ukrainian Beer, posted by mdante99 on Dec 9, 2001

Have Ukrainian beers gotten better over the past few years?
Last time I was there was 1995.  The beer in the hotel was very poor, like a batch of Stroh's gone bad.  Beers on the street weren't much better, when we could even get service.  

... in response to Ukrainian Beer, posted by mdante99 on Dec 9, 2001

With large Russian and Ukrainian populations in major cities and with large chains in the bigger cities like Beverages and More that have large international selections, you shouldn't have too much difficulty rapidly expanding once you get your foot in the door.  Get the stuff over here ASAP!  I'm sure I can convert a lot of my friends to it.  BTW, does the ATF regulate the ETOH content of beers sold in America?

... in response to Ukrainian Beer, posted by mdante99 on Dec 9, 2001

They have it.  Or possibly in the Chicago area.

... in response to Ukrainian Beer, posted by mdante99 on Dec 9, 2001

rtg

... in response to Ukrainian Beer, posted by mdante99 on Dec 9, 2001

My vote is for Slavutich.

It was a much heavier and stronger beer than Obolon and seemed to have a much higher alcohol content too, but I liked the taste much better than Obolon.

I was told that Obolon used to be really good but the quality of that beer has really gone down in recent times.

The only one thing I did not like about the Slavutich beer was that you woke up the next day feeling like you were run over by a Mac truck.  It was like drinking twice the amount of Obolon.

I guess that is the price for good taste, so to speak.

... in response to Ukrainian Beer, posted by mdante99 on Dec 9, 2001

I'll vote for Obolon (from Kyiv) also and maybe some Crimean red wine. Careful on the wine as V brought back some wine labled "Kpèm" (Crimea) was actually from Dnipropetrovsk. (Don't be too impressed, V helped me spell that :)

... in response to Ukrainian Beer, posted by mdante99 on Dec 9, 2001

Ukrainian beer and also wine for that matter don't have preservatives. They are both superior to anything you can get here for that matter, unless you buy the minikegs that some large supermarkets carry. Those are draft beers that contain no preservatives.
I noticed last week that there is now a lot more imported beers being imported in the USA with the change of the container law. For instance you can now get Baltica Beer (brewed in St Pete's) both in the bottle and also the mini kegs.
As for wines, to my taste you can't beat the wines (mostly white wines) from both the Crimea and also Odessa-Nikolaev-Kherson region. I would rate Georgian wines a close second. They are all made naturally without preservatives or sulfites and I will take them over any of the imports we can buy here in the USA. They don't have the complexities of a good French wine but they are a lot lighter and hangover-free   :-)

... in response to Ukrainian Beer, posted by mdante99 on Dec 9, 2001

.....OK, bring me back a case of Obolon ;) Also....
Did you see my post about Nemiroff Ukraine vodka?
Karl

... in response to Mark......, posted by tfcrew on Dec 9, 2001

Obolon will be a real mail order shipped. Unlike my wife, I had to go get her :-).

No I did not see your post about the Vodka.

Mark

... in response to Re: Mark......, posted by mdante99 on Dec 9, 2001

..but to my amazement, Svetlana had finished that bottle. I looked for her birthday toast and it was empty!!
She polished off the last 3/4 of it!! So I deserve some Ukraine beer next time.
She brought my Mom back some other Ukie vodka. The bottle is shaped like a lighthouse. Mom has that bottle encased like the shroud of Turin.

... in response to Mark......, posted by tfcrew on Dec 9, 2001

Also there is Hetman vodka which is really good!  Interesting bottles with matching shot glasses!  Brought 5 bottles back with several boxed 6 packs of the matching shot glasses and gave 'em to friends as gifts.  Big hit.

... in response to Ukrainian Beer, posted by mdante99 on Dec 9, 2001

I really like it because it is very fresh and they don't put preservatives in at least the brand that I drank (Obelong? had like a picture of a monk on the label holding a mug of beer?).  Most of the bottles had a date of 5 days or less from the time it was bottled.  Now I wonder if all their beers are bottled without preservatives?  And if so, do you plan to ship them via ship?  Might not be so good by the time they arrived?  Don't know what the shelf life is without preservatives in them.  Maybe other brands do have the preservatives.

... in response to Re: Ukrainian Beer, posted by DE on Dec 9, 2001

The beer is called " Obolon "; it is very good; I will suggest everyone going to Ukraine to try it.

For the local market it is made without preservatives; for export they make it with preservatives for a shelf life of six months.

Mark

P.S. Its alcohol content is somewhat higher than American beers, so be careful.

... in response to Re: Re: Ukrainian Beer, posted by mdante99 on Dec 9, 2001

Yeah, not only higher ETOH content, but also bigger bottles :)

... in response to Ukrainian Beer, posted by mdante99 on Dec 9, 2001

Slavutich is an excellent beer.

... in response to Re: Ukrainian Beer, posted by Bobby Orr on Dec 9, 2001

...I'm writing these down.
I did not drink any Ukie beer!? I was too  naturally "upper" over there. (smile)..
 However, I managed to get my share of Austrian and Polish beers. Silly me ..I forgot their brands :(