Obolon Oksamytove (Deep Velvet) - Obolon Brewery

emerge077

Illinois

2.69/5  rDev -19.2%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.75

No date stamp on the green bottle.

Loose clumps of bobbles on the surface, caramel color in the light, good clarity. Head breaks apart quickly, no lace to speak of.

Metallic and grainy aroma, slight sweetness, vague old coffee, no roast.

Astringent, husky toasted grains, dry finish. Not overly sweet thankfully. However it's pretty bland and one-note flavor wise. Not much body, pretty coarse and lacking finesse. Overall not something i'd pick up again.

Serving type: bottle

02-05-2013 03:24:20 | More by emerge077

dbrauneis

New Jersey

3.05/5  rDev -8.4%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

A: Pours a hazy ruby red in color with light amounts of visible carbonation. The beer jas a thin layer of soapy light beige head that reduces to an extremely thin film and a thicker ring at the edges of the glass. Light lacing is observed.

S: Fair amounts of dark fruit sweetness (raisin) as well as some caramel malt sweetness. Some slight hints of earthiness.

T: Lots of sweetness with some underlying earthiness - dark fruits (raisin) and caramel.

M: Medium bodied with moderate amounts of carbonation. Slightly dry with a light amount of thickness that is exhibited by coating the inside of your mouth.

O: More of a sipping beer than a sessionable one, a little too sweet to be easy to drink.

Serving type: bottle

06-11-2012 23:20:23 | More by dbrauneis

metter98

New York

3.48/5  rDev +4.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A: The beer is slightly hazy garnet in color and has a light amount of visible carbonation. It poured with a quarter finger high head with large bubbles that died down and eventually completely faded away.
S: There are sweet aromas of malts in the nose along with some notes of dark fruits.
T: The taste is very similar to the smell and also has some additional hints of caramel in the flavors.
M: It feels medium-bodied and has a bit of thickness and coats your mouth. A moderate amount of carbonation is present.
O: This beer is easy to drink and has some nice flavors. The taste isn’t very complex, but it would pair well with a meal.

Serving type: bottle

06-10-2012 05:39:00 | More by metter98

mlazzaro

Massachusetts

3.45/5  rDev +3.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

.5L bottle.
Deep amber color. Great clarity. Khaki tinted white head. Holds just so-so at first and then depletes to nothing. Appears to have no sediment, most likely filtered. Average carbonation. Smells of clean lager yeast, mixed with some caramel malty tones. Smells well fermented.

Tastes of toast, caramel malt, a bit of roasty maybe. Light sweet adjunct flavor happening... Smooth mouthfeel. Carbonation gives a pleasant bite/acidity. Not huge off flavors. After taste is dark malt and slightly sweet. Bitterness and hop presence are minimal but suiting. Pretty good, nothing crazy awesome.

Serving type: bottle

05-19-2012 22:03:33 | More by mlazzaro

Dentist666

Russian Federation

3.33/5  rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Brewed with maltose treacle.
Pours clear copper-brown beer with moderate tan head, leaving some laces. Smell of caramel malts and dark fruits. Good taste of caramel malts, slightly smoky and roasted, chocolate and fruits. Medium-bodied beerwith high carbonation. Pleasant, but not so well-balanced beer.

Serving type: bottle

03-29-2012 10:56:55 | More by Dentist666

thekevlarkid

Maryland

2.68/5  rDev -19.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Out of a bottle this beer was a copper color with one finger of khaki colored head. The retention was so-so and it left spots of lacing. The aroma was of cereal grains, a bit of toasted malt and a bit of sweet malt. The flavors were not as appealing however. It tasted a bit skunky with notes of cereal, booze, sweet malt, caramel malt and an underlying flavor of h that seemed to spoil the rest. The mouthfeel was frothy, the body medium and the carbonation a touch too high. I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this one and even after trying it I wasn’t really sure what to think. Personally, it just didn’t appeal to my palate.

Serving type: bottle

01-28-2012 12:48:50 | More by thekevlarkid

tvv375ia

Iowa

4.03/5  rDev +21%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

poured from 500ml bottle into imperial pint glass

A-fairly opaque firebrick color with about a 2 finger head that faded away leaving a small cap

S-almost a dark fruit type smell to go along with some carmel malts

T-carmel to start then a little plum/raisin type then a slightly sweet finish without much flavor

M-good carbonation with a medium creamy body and since it says velvet on the label I will go with that - medium body with creamy velvet finish

O-I saw this a Cyclone Liquors the other day so I decided to pick it up for 2.49 and was pleasantly suprised for the price considering it is from the Ukraine very good value and really tasty

Serving type: bottle

12-10-2011 02:42:41 | More by tvv375ia

mrfrancis

Kentucky

3.68/5  rDev +10.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

A: Pours a clear ruby with a tight, lingering khaki head.

S: Fruity aromas reminiscent of raisins, prunes, and Medjool dates are immediately evident. As the beer settles a bit, the fruit aromas are joined by a pleasant smokiness and hints of milk chocolate.

T: Compared to most lagers, this one is rather sweet and fruity with notes of raisins, prunes, figs, and Medjool dates up front. Milk chocolate, caramel, heavy cream, earthy hop, and light woodsmoke notes emerge around mid-palate. The finish is sweet and malty with notes of woodsmoke, caramel, chocolate, raisins, and dates being most pronounced.

M: Light to medium bodied, velvety, and a bit malt-forward. Carbonation is initially very active, but settles down a little before the finish. If the carbonation weren't so forceful and obnoxious when the beer hits the palate, it would be much easier to enjoy.

O: As far as European dark lagers go, this one is very enjoyable. If it displayed a more pronounced hop flavor and a little less carbonation, it would be a stellar example of the style. Overall, this is a very solid dark lager, though there is room for improvement.

Serving type: bottle

11-21-2011 19:46:34 | More by mrfrancis

Bookseeb

Washington

3.2/5  rDev -3.9%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Appearance has a red ruby brown color leaving a quickly dissapating head. Smell of mellow malts and hops. Taste of lightly roasted malts with a balanced mellow hop that finishes clean and slightly dry. Mouthfeel is light with good carbonation. Nothing complex, just an easy drinker.

Serving type: bottle

09-15-2011 00:57:14 | More by Bookseeb

Criscoh88

Maryland

3.58/5  rDev +7.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Had a 1pt. 0.9oz bottle

Appearance: A dark beautiful red. Not cloudy but thick. Small head with minor lacing.

Smell: fruity almost wine like. Rich scents of caramel and malt.

Taste: A bitter sweet flavor. I would say its fruity but not to the point where it is overwhelmingly sweet. A smooth bitter aftertaste pulls you away from the fruit flavors. An enjoyable end note.

Feel: Smooth, not much of a carbonation bite. A bit much syrup-ish for my liking.

Overall: A beautiful beer in color. Disappointing head. Great aroma and good flavor. Goes down smooth but leaves you with too much syrup flavor. I would prefer to try this in the Fall/Winter seasons. I may get this again.

Serving type: bottle

08-01-2011 02:42:55 | More by Criscoh88

tempest

Pennsylvania

3.73/5  rDev +12%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Cracked open a bottle for a Sunday night cap. There were hint of oxidation and prolonged aging, but this was still a fine beer. Sure, I'll say it had a "velvety" feel as the label suggests. It's a moderately thick, somewhat sweet (not too sweet) lager that's heavy with dried fruit flavors, notes of roast and caramel, and a hint of leather and cider - from age, I presume. There's a mild balancing bitterness. This really is not a bad beer at all. In the end I'd call it a tasty dessert beer that's not cloying or filling.

Serving type: bottle

03-21-2011 04:16:58 | More by tempest

Bouleboubier

Pennsylvania

3.58/5  rDev +7.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Drinking this having been prompted by a forum thread by GoalieRon33.

Can't fit the entire contents of the bottle into my trumpet pils glass. Foam rises high and fizzy. Reddish-brown - a shade reminiscent of a doppelbock maybe. Looks alright to me.

Real fruity-malty aroma. Staling cherry? Getting no hops. Definitely some cookie-ish and darker malt. Hmm, it's nice. Fairly bold.

Taste begins with a firm smack of that malt. An almost sour cherry (flemish red?) flavor takes hold (just lacking the depth and quality of) in the middle before its substance on the tongue all but vanishes leaving behind some residual fruitiness and a touch of sweetness for a moment or two.

Feels nice n smooth right off the bat - kind of what I would assume they mean by "velvet" - but something creepy happens maybe 7/8 the way through the oral liquid transfer and doesn't seem to go away. The pleasant flavors drop out, the smooth moves on, and you're left with the flavor of old dusty furniture or lace drapes and a feeling (and/or essence) a little like sucking on a shoe insole. Shit, or maybe even that of sucking on some velvet, huh?! I have some odd tastes - none of this is bothering me all that much. Pretty dry though. Oxidation?

$2.19 or whatever? Hell, there's some flavor there for sure. I'll go in again.

Serving type: bottle

02-24-2011 04:45:01 | More by Bouleboubier

MoreThanWine

Massachusetts

3.38/5  rDev +1.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Poured a 2" head which pretty quickly dissipated to 1/8". Dark in color but with a reddish tint when held to the light, no wonder they call it velvet. Smell and taste of barley malt and rye. A very mild beer, easy to drink, in fact the mildness is a surprise considering the darkness. There's also a zingy acidity which is refreshing. Very drinkable. Not a whole lot above a good pilsner but still a fine beer I'd enjoy any time.

Serving type: bottle

12-24-2010 11:54:51 | More by MoreThanWine

biboergosum

Alberta (Canada)

3.53/5  rDev +6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

500ml bottle.

This beer pours a clear very dark cola colour, with two fingers of foamy pale beige head, which leaves some random streaks of lace around the glass in its wake. It smells of mild caramel malt, and subtle dark, somewhat boozy fruit. The taste is dry bready caramel malt, tending towards treacly molasses as it warms, and earthy, dry fruity hops. The carbonation is average in strength, the body medium in weight, generally smooth, and clean. It finishes on a drying trend - the softly bittering hops trumping the diminishing malt.

A decent dark lager, nothing eliciting strong oohs or aahs, but still rather balanced and drinkable.

Serving type: bottle

12-12-2010 00:41:38 | More by biboergosum

Shadman

Alberta (Canada)

3.2/5  rDev -3.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Came into this review with low expectations given the country of origin.

Has the look of a munich down. Nice amber brown, good tan head and lacing.

Raisin sweetness, sweet breads. Not offensive by any means.

Sweet raisin malts with the light toasted munich
Malts. Chalky dry finish. Bit to sweet and cloying to move up a notch

Decent feel. Tends to flatten out after a short time.

Not bad. As a decendant of Uke immigrants, I'm somewhat relieved it doesn't suck

Serving type: bottle

10-03-2010 23:03:16 | More by Shadman

Zraly

Virginia

4.08/5  rDev +22.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4.5

Purchased from the Euro Deli in Williamsburg, VA, which sells an assortment of tasty goods from Poland and its neighbors (e.g., Ukraine).

Reddish-brown with a light mocha head. The head didn't retain very well, lacing was minimal. Nice smell of fruit and malt.

For the most part this is quite smooth, although the carbonation is just a tad too harsh to fully appreciate some of the nuanced flavors. It's a sessionable brew for malt lovers; I can drink sans food. There is a slightly creamy, smokey, almost chocolatey presence in the taste profile. It reminds me ever-so briefly of brownie batter. There is also a hint of cherry cola and plums. Hops are merely hinted at for balance on the palate. Very interesting and for me, extremely drinkable.

This would be great with grilled kielbasa, if you want to pay homage to Ukraine. As mentioned, I can drink this by itself. I could see it going well with a big slice of black forest cake -- the hint of cherry and chocolate would pair beautifully with this neat, Euro lager find.

Serving type: bottle

09-02-2010 22:50:01 | More by Zraly

tone77

Pennsylvania

3.48/5  rDev +4.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Poured from a green 16.9 oz. bottle. Has a dark amber color with a 1 inch head. Smell is very mild, some malts. Taste is of malts, some caramel sweetness, a bit of hops, good flavor. Feels full bodied in the mouth and has good drinkability. Overall this is a good quality beer.

Serving type: bottle

08-23-2010 14:12:43 | More by tone77

tjd112

New Jersey

4.4/5  rDev +32.1%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

I poured this into a Sam Smith nonic. The appearance looked very good, a mahogany red body, an off-white head with good retention, some lacing on the bottle. Smell is of plums and dark fruit and the taste was just that with a little bit of malts added in. Mouthfeel was medium and smoooth, and I found myself gulping this down

Serving type: bottle

08-16-2010 19:36:38 | More by tjd112

mytireisfat

Colorado

3.78/5  rDev +13.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

P: one pint 9 oz green bottle, has place for best by date, but no date.

A: One finger white head with a tint of brown, that dissipates quick. Red color. well carbonated.

S: Sweet malt. Fruit, herbs, maybe a bit of a garden smell.

T: Same as the smell. maybe a bit bitter.

M: Medium body, well carbonated.

D: Having one of these every once and a while would be nice. but not to many...

Serving type: bottle

08-02-2010 19:53:30 | More by mytireisfat

wordemupg

Alberta (Canada)

3.05/5  rDev -8.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

500ml bottle poured into pint glass mar13 2010

A a clear reddish amber with lots of carbonation both floating up and stuck to the side of the glass, and a beige head that has decent retention and leaves a couple rings of lace

S some sweet grains, mild chocolate and some molasses

T not far from the smell but it has something working against it that I just can't place, nothing overly offensive just not helping it's cause, fermented fruit perhaps?

M thick enough to prevent a watery feel and it's well carbonated

D I don't see myself drinking this again, looks better then it is. I'm not saying this is a bad beer It's just nothing special

I'm about to read other reviews on this one because the flavor I can't place is bugging me a fair bit. I'm not going to give you a reason not to try this beer, but I'm not going to give you a reason to look for it either.

Serving type: bottle

03-14-2010 02:29:12 | More by wordemupg

IronDjinn

Alberta (Canada)

3.1/5  rDev -6.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

From a tall green 500 ml bottle. Tall spongy off-white head on it with good retention, with a deep translucent ruby brown body.

Mild aroma of raisin and caramel, some toastiness.

Grainy malt up front in the flavour, some toasted notes, ambiguous sweetness in the middle, neutral, slightly sweet dry finish. Clean aftertaste.

Medium-bodied mouthfeel, healthy carbonation, dry finish.

A mediocre, unoffensive dark lager with a bit of off flavour the more it warms, although quite forgettable. I'll pass on this next time.

Serving type: bottle

01-28-2010 02:55:46 | More by IronDjinn

Grunewald

British Columbia (Canada)

3.25/5  rDev -2.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

A - poured from a 500ml bottle into a tulip glass. It pours cloudy ruddy brown with a cream head.

S - malty raisin (raisin bran?), copper and caramel

T - sweet malt then a skunky transition into an astringent grape/prune finish

M - medium carbonation, thin body and semi dry finish

D - there are some nice flavors here though it would be better if it loses the macro lager skunk and mouthfeel

Serving type: bottle

11-19-2009 06:30:05 | More by Grunewald

rfgetz

New Jersey

3.45/5  rDev +3.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

A - Dark brown in color, pours with a fluffy off white head, decent retention and lacing

S - roasted malts, carmel, milk chocolate, buttery biscuits, a little cheap beer stank

T - carmel malts, cheap milk chocolate, roasted nuts, buttery biscuits, a little cheap beer dank

M - Light to medium bodied, full carbonation

D - Not a bad beer, still has a little ways to go with the cheap lager stank and dank.

Serving type: bottle

09-10-2009 13:44:46 | More by rfgetz

MeadMardigan

Maryland

2.4/5  rDev -27.9%
look: 4 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

A: pours with a thick mocha head that quickly evaporates; color like root beer

S: initial smell is metallic with a faint corn syrup sweetness

T: tastes largely how it smells, but in reverse; first taste is of the sweet barley, then metal, with a weak finish of hops

M: feels very thin in the mouth; carbonation predominate character

D: I was fairly thirsty when I opened the bottle, but even after only a few sips,was already looking forward to a different beer

Serving type: bottle

08-11-2009 22:02:48 | More by MeadMardigan

SLeffler27

New York

2.33/5  rDev -30%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2

This one puts up a big, rocky head, almond in color that drops quickly leaving no lace over a clear, reddish-brown lager.

The aroma is slightly off, skunky and grainy, with a hint of plum in the background.

This bottle is clearly off, but only just. Obolon is well-balanced, possibly tilted toward the malts. There is no real finish, and the flavor is just slightly more full than the typical popular lagers.

This is a thin-bodied beer with a watery texture, light carbonation, and no trace of alcohol.

Sure, one can drink a bunch of these, but why? I'm not sure I'll finish the rest of this bottle, and I would question if it was brewed with reactor water from Chernobyl, but then that was a graphite cooled plant. I will be looking for a more appealing offering from the Ukraine.

Serving type: bottle

07-26-2009 02:12:46 | More by SLeffler27