Baltika #9

Ahhhh, Baltika, the stuff of terrible memories when I lived in St. Petersburg, home to Baltika Brewery. I was handed one of these at some party I attended, and I nearly choked. Then again, the brewery was relatively new (apparently a mere 3 years old when I lived there), and has since branched out quite a bit since that time. My palate was also relatively unrefined, having been an college student and accustomed to cheap American piss-water during those early days, before the craft beer scene started taking off in the US (although, unsurprisingly, I did have quite the palate for vodka then... hmmmm... let it be noted that Russian Stoli is better than it is here. It was present at every family function, all parties, and the occasional family dinner).

This particular brew is #9 in the Baltika brews, an extra lager, weighing in at a hefty 8% ABV. It's one of a dozen or so brews made by Baltika, which was bought in 2008 by Carlsberg. 

Yes, St. Petersburg, founded in 1703 by Peter the Great. A truly beautiful and remarkable city, it's also quite large and often considered the gateway to western Europe. At the same time, it's uniquely Russian. The people are wonderful, the architecture is awe-inspiring, and the history of the city is both tragic and triumphant. And yes, the Hermitage is at least as amazing as you think it might be. There are so many landmarks and so much to do there, I know my four months/one semester were much too short. I still want to move back there, even though my Russian has mostly rusted away from lack of use.

Anyway, while I delve into a leisurely trip down memory lane, I looked over and saw my beer sitting there, warming up, the head fading away. Let's delve back into memory, for comparison: what I remember is a darker beer, about the color of a brown ale, that tasted as if you had licked the concrete walls of your neighborhood sauna after a 300-pound sixty-year-old vodka addict had just sweat out the remains of the prior night. With his six best friends. It was a rather unpleasant experience. Let's hope this is much improved.

What keeps pulling me back to present is the golden straw color of this (trust me, that's a good sign), with a fluffy white head that is quickly dissipating into a thin layer of thick foam. The aroma is strongly malt-forward bready notes (man, now I'm craving some Russian black bread), with a lightly floral and almost metallic note to the nose. It might be the water from the Neva, I'm guessing, as it smells almost like river water. Taking a sip, I'm pleasantly surprised, this is not the beer I had in Russia. Whew!!!!! Once the relief fades, I take another sip to diagram the flavors and notes within it. I am picking up a lot of cereal and bread notes at the front, which fade into the faint floral that was in the nose and then gives over to an earthy note. It's a solid lager. It's strong, but you don't really notice any alcohol bite in the beer. It feels very soft and round up front, almost like a wheat beer. I'm very glad the metallic note doesn't come through in the flavor. That might be because we purchased this in can form.

This is way better than I remember. Then again, looking at the various beers the brewery offers, I'm pretty sure I had the Original. I have no idea where the brewery is located in St. Petersburg, but I wouldn't mind collaborating with them on a brew. I also wouldn't mind taking a six-pack or so of this to a reunion of friends from Russia who live in the Columbus. It's a solid lager, and I'm thoroughly relieved that it's nothing of what my memory stored. It makes me yearn for the Rodina, the Motherland. It also may become my drink of choice when "The Americans" returns to FX in February, which seems like eons from now, on what has become known as Commie Pinko Wednesday, in a lovely tribute to the Cold War.

4/5 caps

-Jennie

Damn babe... Hell of a description. How does one follow anything up with that except now my beer has warmed up some, so let's see if there are different notes in the flavor and aroma. Bready, earthy, floral and faint citrus take over the nose, this smells damn good for a lager. The flavor on this is light but mostly the same notes that were picked up in the nose. There is an astringent feel and slight medicinal flavor in the backend of this that I can't quite place. It might be because this has warmed, as it's coming our more and more with each sip.

Not a bad beer, one of the better lagers I've had.

3.9/5 caps (just because of the astringent back end)

-Nathan-