Beer Post #10

Merhaba! Apologies for being negligent regarding my December posts. No, Jeff, I haven't quit drinking; rather, I've been spending time on the road and am grateful to have the time now to report my findings.

Our trip to Istanbul offered me some opportunities to sample some new, if not diverse, gifts from Allah.

In Turkey, it's all Efes. This national brewery produces 71% of the beer sold in the country. While they are contract brewers for Becks, Miller, Warstiener and Fosters, these sales only account for about 10% of the beer consumed nationally. The remaining 90% of the market share that Efes enjoys are beers produced under their own label. These include a Pilsner style lager, a dark lager, a strong ale (7% abv), and a German wiezbier called, Gusta.

The Efes Pilsner tends to the sweet side for me. It has more body than you might expect, especially for the warmer climate that is its primary market. The head is light and thin. Regarding packaging, the bottle is best in terms of quality. The quality of the cans is inconsistent whereas the draft varies from horrible to shitty (this is most likely a result of dirty lines at the pubs I visited). Concerning the Pilsen, Fonefan at Rate beer said, "Bottle. Clear light yellow color with a small to average, fizzy, fair lacing, mostly diminishing, white to off-white head. Aroma is light malty, toasted, bread, moderate cardboard. Flavor is light to moderate sweet with a short to average duration. Body is light to medium, texture is watery, carbonation is soft."

Gusta, on the other hand, is a top fermented brew in the German hefeweizen style. At Ratebeer, one writer, RickGordon, described Gusta as, "Hazy pale yellow colour with moderate head. Dryish aroma with slight fresh sourishness and only light phenolic. Light bodied with bit acidity. Low wheat profile and very flawless. Lacking in esters and body, apart from that this is very German." I concur.

Try it at 7am at the airport, like I did, with next to no sleep. Chase it with borëk or su böreği ("a warm many layered noodle like pastry sandwich of white cheese and parsley" according to Lonely Planet Turkey).

Cost: YLT 2.85 ($2.44) for 12 oz.

Hoşçakal, Turkey! We'll miss you! (BTW, alerjim var ishali).

Beer Post #9

Number 9, number 9, number 9... Tonight's Friday, so I thought I'd have a couple of beers. The fraternal twins I'm doing tonight are: Chernigivske Bile & Chernigivske Bila Nich. In other words, White and White Night. They are brewed by Sun Interbrew Ukraine.

These beers have been a staple for me in Kharkiv. I particularly enjoy the White. It's an unfiltered witbier with medium body, a pleasant fruitiness of orange, peach, and a hint of coriander that you would expect from this beer style. However, the head is loose and unsustained. It doesn't hold its carbonation well at all, suggesting it is under carbonated. It's definitely tasty, but if you want the real deal, drink a Hoegaarden White Ale.

As for the White Night, it's a little thin for a dark unfiltered Dunkelweizen (Thanks for clarifying this Ernie in Moscow). It is an easy, unaggressive, uneventful-yet not unpleasant- lager. Surprisingly, it hints more of fruit than roasted malt. But it's lasting impression can be described best by Neil Young's quote: "it starts off kind of slow and then fizzles out altogether."

You should enjoy these twins with leftovers, because they're easy, too. Tee-hee-hee.

The cost is way affordable for the pleasures that they offer at H5.05 ($1.00) for 1 liter. I've never enjoyed a buck so much!

Beer Post #8

This evening, I thought I would critique a classic brew from the Czech Republic, which of course is famous as the home of the pilsner style of beer from the city, Plzeň.

I decided on Krušovice Imperial produced by Královský Pivovar Krušovice (the Royal Brewery of Krušovice). This lager is characterized by the brewery as a "premium", which I guess means that they're very proud of it.

At first glance, the hue is a light honey color, which is inviting.
In terms of taste, I notice that it's quite light and drinkable with a creamy texture. This is followed, however by a hop bitterness that is very sharp (most likely Saaz hops).

This beer is quite popular and common here in Kharkiv. For a 1/2 liter, it costs H7.30 ($1.45).

I had mine with a hot ham & cheese sandwich with a green olive garnish.

Beer Post #7

This popular Russian lager, Classic #3, has a mild initial palate that finishes with a hoppy bitterness that dominates. It is heavier than most American domestics, like Budweiser, but that is what it reminded me of. I would characterize this as a session beer for someone inclined to make an evening of it, but it wouldn't be my first choice.

This company, Baltika, has been around since Soviet times. It is a large manufacturer with plants scattered around Russia. They offer ten different beer styles
numbered 0-9. I'll update you later as I have a number 9 extra (ESB) in my frig.

I had my Classic #3 last night with homemade chicken noodle soup. Mmm...soup.

Cost: H3.15 ($0.62) for the 1/2 liter.

Beer Post #6

Tonight's offering is a delicious Belgian Blonde from the famous Abbaye de Leffe (now brewed by InBev) . This ale has been in production since 1240A.D.

This blonde is in the Belgian tripel style so you can expect it to be clean and lively but with substance. After the initial effervescent sensation, you taste caramel flavors that finish with a malty sweetness.

Enjoy this with crème brulée or any desert that won't overpower its subtle goodness. Where available in Kharkiv, UA expect to spend H7.30 ($1.45) for 330ml. A damn fine bargain by western standards!

Find out more:
RateBeer
Beer Advocate

Beer Post #5

Now, that I've got your attention...

With Andrey and some buddies, I found this beer hall, Stargorod, in Kharkiv, Ukraine which is styled after a Czech beer garden. It has long, picnic-style tables so it is easy to bond with your neighbors. They had a traveling band comprised of guitar, accordion and violin playing polka music.

They brew their own beer in affiliation with a Czech brewery. They offer a light lager, a white ale, a Bavarian dark ale, and a wheat (which was not available when I visited). The dark was very nice. It had a flavorful nutty quality with hints of chocolate malt, but it wasn't too heavy.

While there, I enjoyed a champion's league soccer match on the big screen television between Ireland and Donetsk, Ukraine. It didn't turn out as the locals would have preferred because Ireland scored the winning goal with 2 seconds left in regulation time. Final score: 2-1.

Oh, yeah, and the servers uniforms, as you can see, give new meaning to the phrase business casual.

Beer Post #4

Tonights' beer post is in honor of Russian Imperial Stout, which I would be drinking if they had it here. I have discovered it is an English style beer that no one drinks here in Kharkiv, Ukraine. They've never heard of it!

At wikipedia, the Russian Imperial Stout is described as, "Imperial stout, also known as "Russian Imperial Stout" or "Imperial Russian Stout," is a strong dark beer or stout that was originally brewed by Thrale's brewery in London, England for export to the court of the Tsar of Russia as "Thrale's Entire Porter".^[5] It has a high alcohol content (nine or ten percent is common) intended to preserve it during long trips and to provide a more bracing drink against cold climates. The colour is very dark, almost always opaque black. Imperial stout exhibits enormously powerful malt flavours, hints of dark fruits, and is often quite rich, resembling a chocolate dessert."

Never heard of Russian Imperial Stout, learn the history and beer characteristics in Roger Protz's great article in All about Beer.

Beer Post #3

Stella Artois, What more needs to be said? But for the uninitiated, Stella Artois is the quinnessential Belgian export. It is drunk the world over for it's association with the great beers of Belgium; however, since it is a lager, it doesn't represent traditional Belgian beers to me. In its defense, it is a thirst-quenching, easy drink to mellow out with. That is when you don't want to drink your meal (like when you're drinking a mealy, substantial beer like a Guiness or La Trappe Quad). Check out its review at the Beer Advocate website. Cost: H3.65 ($0.66). I recommend it with a nice bit of fried cod and frites [fish and chips].

Update: I made some new friends at the Stella Artois blog. These guys have a cool blog devoted entirely to this brew. It is definitely worth a look. The Stella in my frig right now, I'll drink to you! Thanks, Jack & Neil!

Beer Post #2

I share tonight's brew with Sergey! We're enjoying a Ziberta beer, produced by Obolon, which is Ukraine's largest brewery. Ziberta is less commonly known around here than other Ukrainian beers, because it is a newly launched premium brand. The one that Sergey is holding is a traditional German heffe weissen called, Klasychne Nimetske Pshenychne. It's the best Ukrainian beer in this style that I have tried. Try it with sausage and pickles! It is a little more expensive than other Ukrainian beers, H3.60 ($0.72) per half liter. Yummy.

Here's an excerpt from Company News about the newly launched Ziberta brand, "Alcoholic Beverages Kyiv
based Obolon, one of Ukraine’s four largest beer manufacturers, launched a new beer under the trade
mark Kolektsyia Ziberta. The trademark includes three types of beer: Klasychne Nimetske Pshenychne, Klasychne Fla
mandske Bile and Klasychne Angliyske Porter. Obolon is positioning the new brand on the market as a premium brand. The company said that the launch of the new trademark was prompted by growth of the premium sector in Ukraine’s beer market. Obolon also plans to invest Hr 150 million ($30 million) into the construction of a malt
ing plant in Khmelnytskiy Region and launch its operation in autumn 2007. The capacity of the Ukrainian beer mar
ket is estimated at 145
150 million dec
aliters a year. Obolon increased beer production by almost 11%, to nearly 94 million deciliters, in 2006 compared with the year before." (sorry for the goofing squares, I can't get rid of them).

Thanks, Sergey, for having a brew with us tonight! You can meet Sergey Miroshnikov on Facebook. He's a very good babysitter, too! Thanks again, S.

Beer Post #1

Tonight, I am having a nice wheat beer from Ukraine. It's called...

ΠШЕНИЧИЕ ЕТАЛОН (Pshenychne Etalon). Manufactured by Etalon, it is a pleasant, unfiltered weissbier that lacks that unique German yeast found in the traditional style. This brewery also makes a filtered version called "krystall" that I can't be bothered to try, because filtration of a wheat beer is a sin.

You can read at Etalon's website about the history of wheat beers. Make sure you click in the upper right corner on EN for English! This is an informative website.

I would recommend Pshenychne Etalon for happy hour with light snacks (e.g., cheese board with grapes and bread). The cost for 1/2 a liter in Kharkiv, Ukraine: H2.80 ($0.55). Definitely worth the cost!