Baltika 9 Krepkoe (Strong)

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

Light golden color, sweet alcoholic aroma and taste, light thin body, light thin alcholic finish. Sh*t

Pale yellow,huge 4 finger head that disappeared in a minute or so. Sweet,almost too sweet in a cheap way aroma but not too bad. Grainy,maybe wheat but I doubt there is wheat in here,crisp with a moderately sweet finish. Alcohol nicely masked. I’ll take the Polish and Russian Malt Liquors any day over the American versions (aside from Camo). I killed 3 of these bad boys whilst watching Little League Baseball. Update 10-04-08 Upon seeing this in a big 51 oz plastic bottle I grabbed 2 of them. Wow this stuff has changed. Or pehaps it’s the big plastic bottle. Either way it has an alcohol burn. Smells like fermented honey and diesel fuel. Cloyingly sweet. Still drinkable if in a pinch.

Yellow and fizzy. Head virtually runs away, perhaps it knows better. Aroma is almost sickly sweet. Taste is remarkably the same. Alcohol is not disguised at all. Some sort of bitter/astringency at the end, very sharp. Well, I have at least knocked off another beer style.

It pours a clear straw golden color with a decent white head that doesn’t last too long, musty grainy and flowery aromas. Bready and grainy flavors, medium bodied, nice crisp and carbonated mouthfeel, finishes sweet yet clean, a decent malt liquor, I had no problem finishing the bottle.

Smells of grain. Nice golden color. Tastes kind of sweet at first. I can taste some alcohol at the end, but not in a bad way. Tastes pretty smooth considering the strength. Really good for a malt.

Pour is a sickly yellow. Aroma is very malty. Flavor is just alcohol and lots of it! Nothing stands out in this brew other than it has lots of alcohol. I guess it will keep you warm on cold Russian nights.

Bottle in Tomsk, Siberia. This beer is terrible. It’s thin even for the amount of alcohol in it, pours a fizzy yellow, and tastes like a Bud with a shot of vodka added.

Pours like an American standard, pale yellow, fizzy and a thin white head. Aromas were not much better; filler corn, rice, mustiness and a syrupy sweetness. Some maltiness comes through in the palate, but outdone by the flavors of corn and sugar syrup. Like drinking carbonated, beer-flavored pancake syrup. Big disappointment compared to their porter.