Ukrainian hops in Cape Town

One of my favourite things about the craft beer industry is its collaborative spirit. Brewers frequently put their heads together to launch creative, unique and sometimes just downright outlandish beers under a shared brand. They swap brewing tips and ingredients and knowledge, and regularly take inspiration from other industries – off the top of my head I can think of South African breweries that have collaborated with coffee roasters, bakers, musicians, artists, winemakers, surfboard shapers and restaurants to produce innovative new beers. And late last year I was lucky enough to be a part of a very cool international collab.

It began in June, with a WhatsApp from Ukrainian beer judge, writer, Certified Cicerone and friend, Lana Svitankova. Now based in Switzerland, Lana still works closely with Kiev’s Varvar Brew, and was in the process of setting up some global collaborations. “We have an idea of showcasing hops of the countries we are doing collabs with,” she wrote. “I am helping them to source hops from Japan and Brazil and sending Ukrainian hops over there, so it’s like two-way introduction to the cultures, focusing on countries people don’t usually suspect have a hop growing thing going on. So can we look at doing the same with South African hops?”

First sniff of Ukrainian hops!

And so, a few months later a colleague bound for Europe slipped 2kg of South African hops into her luggage and returned with a kilo of Zagrava and 500g of Zlato Polissya. The plan, to brew South Africa’s first Ukrainian Golden Ale (UGA). First brewed at Yuzivska Brewery in 2009, the UGA is an emerging style and one that Lana and her Ukrainian beer colleagues hope will make it into the BJCP guidelines at some point. Stronger, fuller bodied and sweeter than a British Golden Ale, it’s a well-balanced beer with a spicy, floral hop character, biscuit and caramel malt notes and sometimes a touch of spice either from a mildly phenolic yeast, or a gentle-handed addition of coriander.

Ukrainian hops aren’t essential for the style, but having a bag of hitherto unknown (locally) hops smuggled in someone’s suitcase really adds to the story of the beer. And if there’s one thing Charlie Murray loves (other than copious amounts of hops), it’s a beer with a good story. With his small-batch system and perpetual experimentation, Charlie was the perfect partner to work with on this once-off collab. A date was carefully chosen, and on 21 November – Ukraine’s Day of Dignity and Freedom – we mashed in on South Africa’s first Ukrainian Golden Ale. It’s important to mention at this point that this was not the first time the style has been commercially brewed in Africa. Rwanda’s Kweza Brewery released a distinctly local take on the UGA back in 2024, using malted sorghum alongside barley and adding the optional coriander seeds, but not the hard-to-find Ukrainian hops.

Varvar’s UGA brewed with South African hops

Charlie’s Zagrava Golden Ale hit the taps at his Noordhoek based brewpub on 3 January and was in grave danger of running out before I managed to taste any. Luckily I have a friend at the brewery who put a keg aside, so those of you who haven’t yet made it down there to taste will be pleased to know that there is one keg left and that cans are currently available (but don’t wait too long to go and grab some).

We tasted the beer together yesterday alongside Lana’s provisional BJCP description and felt it hit the spot, stylistically.  First up, there’s a slightly sweet caramel note, then the hop bitterness (23 IBUs, from locally grown Southern Star hops) balances out the malty sweetness, making for great drinkability. The Zagrava lends an earthy note akin to ginseng and a touch of spice on the finish.

Meanwhile in Kiev, Varvar released the first in the range Lana is thinking of as the Friendship Series – a UGA brewed with a kilo of Southern Sublime and a kilo of Southern Passion hops that were muled to Germany, driven to Switzerland and then couriered to Ukraine. It’s the first in a series that will include the house Ukrainian Golden Ale – Varvar’s biggest selling style – brewed with hops from Japan, Brazil, the Czech Republic and the UK.

And what of that other bag of Ukrainian hops? Well if you don’t manage to get your hands on any of Charlie’s Zagrava Golden Ale before it runs out, you might be in luck, because the 500g of Zlato Polissya is destined to be used in a small-batch UGA at Woodstock Brewery, perhaps to be paired with a night of Ukrainian metal at their Brewer’s Punk Night. Keep an eye on the blog and my Facebook or Instagram accounts for updates.

Here’s to many more epic craft beer collabs in 2026. Budmo!