Aldaris Zelta

Brewed by Aldaris (Baltic Beverages Holding - Carlsberg)
Style: Pale Lager
Riga, Latvia

I really liked this. It has a unique taste--sweet and lingering (as one reviewer wrote). It has an acquired taste. Being proud of my Baltic heritage I excitedly tried this Latvian beer and I was not disappointed. Yes, it has traits that purists may find disconcerting-- an almost complete lack of hopping, pretty sweet, but no hint of wheatiness--but it is fun to drink. I was deeply saddened when my local beer distributor quit carrying it. To tell you the truth, if you like a fruity beer,get this. It does lace well, and it tempers well, from the coolness of a fridge to drinking it slightly warm, I didn’t find it skunky at all.

Pale gold color, with a mostly diminishing head. Some lace. Gentle malt aroma, and a woody initial taste. Malt/bread finish, with a slight bitterness. Good carbonation. Too bad I can’t get this really fresh.

Bright yellow color, with a grainy pale malt nose, faint floral hops note, in the aroma follows through on a medium-bodied palate with a crisp corny pale malt character, subtle flowery hops, honeyish note, leading towards a sweet malty, weak bitterness finish.

Pale, with a awful corn aroma. Medium body with a oily consistency. Finish is a bit lingering.

Light amber colored body (for a Lager) with a decent white, foamy head of one finger and very good lacing. Has a weak, hoppy aroma that leads you to a very unexpected and inviting sweet honey, hops, malted barley flavor that is brilliantly smokey. Some more complex flavors are present in the aftertaste. Very good finish in this one... Consistency is a little watery, but not boring. A definitively different Lager. This one’s underated if you ask me and a doubly excellent tasting Lager.

Bottle: Pours a pale straw yellow color, nice carbonation and a relatively nice head and lots of lacing. The nose is dusty with a light rice vinegar note, fermented mango peel and plastic. The flavor is a bit sweet and malty with some lingering vague background bitterness making as much a fuss as a white painted room. Vague grainy rotten cucumber texture in the mouthfeel. Finishes sharp, chalky, acidic. Not that great.

Poured the color of a typical macro..but more head. Sadly, it disappeared quickly again looking like a macro with zero lacing. Almost no aroma but I got a weird hint of mustard. Slight fruity malt taste. Not much going on here. Only slightly better than an American macro.

Bottle: Poured a bright golden color lager with a medium white bubbly head with average retention. Aroma is pretty weak with some malt and no discernable hops. Taste is also quite weak and watery with some semi-sweet malt and no bitterness in the aftertaste. Overall, this is quite bland but not bad and quite refreshing for those hot summer days.