Beer

The Ukraine. A big surprise, they brew their own Hefeweisse! And it is very popular, too. It's called "Bile Pivo" (white beer), and is often available on tap. Also in 1 litre bottles in supermarkets and corner stores! 
Very Yummy. 
There are also dark varieties of "bile pivo", but not as easy to find (picked up a can in a small supermarket), quite good that one too. 

Biggest brand/manufacturer is Obolon (which also exports a bit to neighbouring countries, seen Obolon brews on the shelves in at least Poland and Belarussia), which also has a big range of more normal lagers. My lager-drinking SO says they are ok, too. 

But Obolon isn't the only Ukrainian brewery. In Lviv we encountered several others, in particular a small one that called itself something like "First Private Brewery". Reportedly their "Stare Misto" lager is quite good, and I tasted (in Uszgorod, so it's not just a local Lviv-thing) another one of theirs that - on a hot day - might almost have converted a lager-hater, a very deep amber thing, almost red. 

It was actually weird to come from Ukraine to Slovakia - Slovakia (along with the Czech R) should be *the* beer mecca, but for a non-lager person it really isn't. 
And as Heineken and SAB now owns nearly every brewery in Czech&Slovakia, the variety is even more limited. Good luck with finding non-light/pale lagers in a normal, non-specialised, pub/café/restaurant. And finding anything that isn't a lager? Forget it. 

A normal Slovak place would have 1 or 2 lagers on tap, and an additional 3-5 in bottles. Usually 2 different brands, plus one "foreign" (license brewed Stella or Carlsberg). 
All but one light/blond/ "Svetle". BUT usually in different strengths (not alcohol - what is it called in English? Plato?). 
And of course at least one, not that seldom two, "ne-alko" beers. And the locals actually drink those! So they are probably not that bad. But since I a) don't drink lager, and b) don't drive, I saw no reason to try them. 

But in Slovakia, outside of specialized pubs or brew-pubs (there are a few, one in Kosice called "Golem" in particular is fun) finding anything but lager is just impossible. Luckily they produce wine, too.

I'll deal with the weird Poles in another post...