The U.S.-Ukraine Beer Bridge

Ukrainian beer has turned out to be a surprisingly strong connection between the two countries. We saw it in Lviv, where Veronika oversaw brewing with Americans who’ve adopted Ukrainian recipes.

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Pravda’s creative beer cans with political or social titles.

Beer: it’s the only U.S. aid that Ukraine can count on right now.

But this aid isn’t from the White House, or organized by the State Department, or blessed by the Pentagon.

As it turns out, American brewers have provided more reliable support than the U.S. government since Russia launched its full-scale invasion three years ago.

So somehow there’s more trust in people brewing beer that helpfully tells drinkers 'Putin is a D*ckhead’ than there is in the Trump administration.

Never in my life did I think I’d end up in western Ukraine in the middle of a war brewing and tasting beer with a group of Colorado brewers who have brought Ukrainian brewing traditions into the homes of ordinary Americans who may know nothing at all about Ukraine.

The Trump administration’s stance on the war in Ukraine has been erratic at best. After repeatedly accusing Kyiv of thwarting peace efforts, consistently making concessions to Russia, and blocking military aid and intelligence sharing, Washington has finally shown hints that they could change their tone about Ukraine.

But for obvious reasons, Ukraine still finds it difficult to trust what should be its most reliable partner.

Beer is the one thing that still connects the two countries. Two breweries — one in Lviv and the other in Denver — are showing the rest of the world how it’s done, sharing Ukrainian beer as a gesture of solidarity.

Whatever the stance of the day might be in the White House, ordinary people can still maintain a connection with Ukrainians, and more than that, they can promote help promote Ukrainian culture to the rest of the world.

After the paywall:

• The history of Ukrainian brewing which started back in 4,000–3,000 BC;

• How Molotov’s cocktails with a can ‘Putin is a D*ckhead’ initiated deep U.S.-Ukraine ties;

• How Veronika and American brewers got a hangover.