Arsenalnoe Zakalennoye

Brewed by Baltika Brewery (Baltic Beverages Holding - Carlsberg)
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
St. Petersburg, Russia

Russian chilli malt likka??? Hellz yeah1!!11! Actually this stuff was surprisingly good. First of all the can’s design is fantastic - any beer with flames and guns (and I’m sure there was a cannon on there too) on the can must be awesome. Anyway there’s a definite feel of quality malt character about this one. It’s a bit sweet, but loaded with starchy, uncooked spaghetti-type Eastern European maltiness. No weird off flavours like you’d expect, just clean maltiness and a very subtle bit of chilli flavour (not heat) at the end to round it out. Hops are basically absent, but whilst it’s a bit thick and sweet I wouldn’t say it’s out of balance. Didn’t notice the alcohol either. Stunningly enjoyable. Drinking this beer made me smile. Thanks for forcing me to take it, Linc!

Can on 11/28/2008 in the Great Butters Tasting of 2008. Clear golden yellow body with a large rocky white head. Honey, corn, and light spice aroma with hints of skunk. Sweet caramel, honey, light malt, a bit of spice. Medium body with moderate carbonation.

(Sample Date: 11/28/2008 Source:Other) Russian chili beer…oh boy. Can courtesy of Butters. Spicy peppery with hint of alcohol in the aroma. Very clear light straw colored with small white head. Flavor is sweet/tart and peppers. Quite interesting. Has that eastern European twang. Chili pepper flavor is subdued. Finish is quite sweet with residual pepper heat coming through. Can was all Russian with a paper sticker applied for American import!

TN tasting at maniac’s. Spiciness in the nose. No real chili flavor, maybe I pick up some in the heating effect. Either that or it’s the alcohol warming. Kinda sweet honey flavor. Not as bad as I expected, but that’s still not saying terribly much.

500ml can. pours honey gold hue, head is bountiful and digresses to a relaxed layer of foam atop the lager. aromas of spicy honey, distinct yeast, and chili’s. alcohol is noticable, and the chili peppers really shine through on the finish. good after-work brew. kick back a couple and catch prime-time tv. that’s what it’s good for. high drinkability, not the greatest beer.

pours cold nice fizz white head,high carbonation,malty nose,slight pepper zing,you can taste the sweetnes from the maltose syrup,and a slight pepper finish on the lips.Interesting....Ok beer.

I had no idea what I was getting into when I picked this up. Bought it on a whim, I suppose I gave in to the packaging. Aroma is malty with some spice and a little apple. Pours golden with a large frothy white head. Flavor is syrupy sweet with honey, sweet corn, and alcohol, the pepper doesn’t show up until the aftertaste. Kind of at a loss for words on this one. Interesting.

The aroma was malty and sweet with a strong presence of candy and caramel. Clean lager aroma without any esters, but with plenty of malt. The beer poured into the glass crystal clear golden straw with a white head which lasted but an instant and which left no traces on the glass. The flavor was malty with an underlying sweetness and just a hint of a pepper presence, but without any heat. The flavor was mostly caramel and candy and without any real bittering except for a hint of grassy hop flavor. The finish was eventually dry with a very slight pepper flavor in the aftertaste. The body was medium and the carbonation was nearly nonexistent. Nothing to seek out, but fun to try a canned beer with some pepper nonetheless. 16.9 ounce can (just like the picture). Has a stick on label which says Arsenalnoe Special Extra Ale.