Baltika 2 Svetloe

Brewed by Baltika Brewery (Baltic Beverages Holding - Carlsberg)
Style: Pale Lager
St. Petersburg, Russia

12-Feb-08 (12-oz bottle, expiration date of 08-Aug-07: Purchased 12-Feb-08 for $1.99 at BevMo in La Jolla, CA) When beer is delivered by the wholesaler five months past expiration, what is one to do? This pale lager is like so many others: bready and somewhat sweet at first, but finishing with a strong cardboard aftertaste. Likewise, the sweet and cardboardy nose smells like most mass-produced pale lagers. Light in body and medium in carbonation, but the stale, cardboard flavor and total lack of hops makes for a very tired palate after only a few ounces. Crystal clear in appearance, the pale golden body is enhanced by the steady supply of carbonation bubbles rising through the beer. Nearly an inch in height after the pour, the white head subsides to and holds a thin layer while depositing a fair amount of dense, patchy lacing on the glass. Just not an enjoyable lager, but sadly, some of the other Baltika beers are even worse, though all these pale-colored lagers are tough to distinguish. A side-by-side blind tasting could show some differentiation, but I’m not up for that kind of self-inflicted torture.

Golden color, large white head, some lacing and retention. Aroma is bread, pale malt, light grain and grass. Lighter bodied, somewhat sweet, quite drinkable.

This is a pretty "laid back" lager for an import. The hops in it are not nearly bitter enough for my tastes. There was a background nutty taste and finish. Overall it isn’t a bad beer but is a little too "pacifist" for me.

Bad. I mean, not like you would expect anything else from a big green bottle from Russia. But yeah, in case you thought this one would be different, it’s bad. (Thanks Snee for picking this one up for me!)

Bottle, green glass. Big grassy nose with very sweet citrus (lemon), corn and soft water. Touches of honey and straw. Pours off-golden with a soapy, lacing white head. Very crisp, tiny-bubbled, overly sweet and corn syrupy taste. Light malt and cereal, especially into the aftertaste. Some interesting notes here - not easy to tell if it’s dirty water or German lager spice. Medium body. Adjuncty but not too bad!

Bottle: So far not really caring for anything this company makes. Everything so far is weak and lacks anything that would separate it from anything mass marketed. Golden brown color with a thick head that quickly disappeared. Hops scent with very little skunk scent like the rest so far. Leaves little to be desired..

In the 0.5 L bottle from HyVee CB. Pours a medium gold color with a large white poofy head. Initial aroma is skunked, but not nasty-ass Heineken skunked. The flavor is a bit perfumey and finishes dry. Not horible, but not my favorite of the Baltika family.

Bottle in trade from Snojerk321- poured into a shaker- poured dark golden, white bubbly head went away in a minute flat, low carbonation. Aroma of lightly sweetened malt, with notes of grassy hops. Hits the mouth with a thin body, it sort of tastes like Budweiser for some reason, some sweet notes on the tail end, finish is watery. I’ve had worse, but I’ve had better too...