Try?
Poor Russia. Or,
should I say, pour Russia. After all, the purpose of this essay is to visit
Russia vicariously through a beer bottle, so wouldn’t that be pouring a
little bit of the Motherland into your glass? But I digress, and I'll get
back to the point I started with. I promise.
Poor Russia. Russia is not exactly a country known for the prowess of its beer industry. Indeed, when I went to add this beer to the database, I discovered that Russia is not listed as one of the countries beers can be listed under. A shame, since although Russians are known to consume more vodka than beer, they can claim to brew some decent suds all the same.
Baltika is Russia's largest brewery, although it is owned by a partnership of the brewing concerns Carlsberg and Scottish Newcastle. The company brews a number of beers, each of them with a corresponding number. My favorite of these is number 6, Baltika Porter.
The Baltika brewery is headquartered in St. Petersburg, Russia's "window on the west", not far from the Baltics which give the company its name. Baltika Porter is a Baltic Porter in style, a dark and subtly roasty bottom-fermented brew (and thus a variation from classic porters, which are ales).
Baltic porters classically came from the Baltic area and were perhaps influenced by the Imperial stouts that England was supplying to Russia during the nineteenth century. See Carnegie Porter as an example (some are still floating around), and domestically, Heavyweight Perkuno’s Hammer .
Baltika Porter pours to a very deep brownish black color with a thick
creamy tan head and a chocolate banana nose. The palate is medium bodied but
slightly creamy and rather smooth. This is not an immensely roasty beer but
there are subtle roasty notes of coffee here, along with licorice, chocolate
and a hint of molasses.
The finish is lightly warming but surprisingly just a tad thin, at least for what I'm expecting from the style. There are fruity esters that add hints of banana that, while subtle, become more pronounced as the beer warms. There's a light touch of prune here too. All in all, lots of flavors going on in this delightful little brew. In the finish, a noticeable alcohol burn pleasantly warms the mouth, though the beer is only slightly higher than most beers at 7% alcohol by volume.
This is a wonderful Baltic porter, and really, a bit of Russia in a bottle. Great beers can be found in Russia if you look hard enough, and for about $2 for a half liter bottle, it’s a real steal too.
Poor Russia. Russia is not exactly a country known for the prowess of its beer industry. Indeed, when I went to add this beer to the database, I discovered that Russia is not listed as one of the countries beers can be listed under. A shame, since although Russians are known to consume more vodka than beer, they can claim to brew some decent suds all the same.
Baltika is Russia's largest brewery, although it is owned by a partnership of the brewing concerns Carlsberg and Scottish Newcastle. The company brews a number of beers, each of them with a corresponding number. My favorite of these is number 6, Baltika Porter.
The Baltika brewery is headquartered in St. Petersburg, Russia's "window on the west", not far from the Baltics which give the company its name. Baltika Porter is a Baltic Porter in style, a dark and subtly roasty bottom-fermented brew (and thus a variation from classic porters, which are ales).
Baltic porters classically came from the Baltic area and were perhaps influenced by the Imperial stouts that England was supplying to Russia during the nineteenth century. See Carnegie Porter as an example (some are still floating around), and domestically, Heavyweight Perkuno’s Hammer .
Baltika Porter pours to a very deep brownish black color with a thick
creamy tan head and a chocolate banana nose. The palate is medium bodied but
slightly creamy and rather smooth. This is not an immensely roasty beer but
there are subtle roasty notes of coffee here, along with licorice, chocolate
and a hint of molasses. The finish is lightly warming but surprisingly just a tad thin, at least for what I'm expecting from the style. There are fruity esters that add hints of banana that, while subtle, become more pronounced as the beer warms. There's a light touch of prune here too. All in all, lots of flavors going on in this delightful little brew. In the finish, a noticeable alcohol burn pleasantly warms the mouth, though the beer is only slightly higher than most beers at 7% alcohol by volume.
This is a wonderful Baltic porter, and really, a bit of Russia in a bottle. Great beers can be found in Russia if you look hard enough, and for about $2 for a half liter bottle, it’s a real steal too.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled
(D)=Draft
