Rinkuškiai Uosto Stiprusis (Extra)

Brewed by Rinkuškiai
Style: European Strong Lager
Biržu raj., Lithuania

Light golden color with a moderate, fairly dense, light cream colored head. A very pleasant aroma, very much a fresh beer scent, not the big heavy scent, but the scent near a kegging line at a larger brewery. LIght sweet malt, hint of herbal hops and yes, even a touch of keg wash. A straight shootin’ brew. Light caramel and pale malt taken back by a rather sharp spicy finish which helps this one from getting to thick and syrupy. Not sure what makes this a traditional ale, I’ll need to do some research, but it is a respectable european strong/malt liquor. The spice seems to have had hit bottom and my stomach is warming significantly. An interesting quaff.

Lighter than most 8% alcoholic beers from eastern Europe, this is a good Lithuanian ale/stout. Seemed to have tasted better than I thought it would have since I am not too familiar with Rinkuskiai.

Light, clear orange body with a bubbling white head that transmutes into a halo almost instantly. It smells like a sweet Märzen, but just a little bit dusty, a little bit metallic. Rich bodied with sweet caramel malts, a hint of toffee, and a splash of mineral water. Finishes on a sweet, metallic note with trace elements of earthy hops. A repeater.

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500 ml bottle from Royal Liquors on State Street, Rockford IL (Dec 2005). Served a bit above cellar temperature, pint glass. It’s Lithuanian beer night, part 2! Clear pale gold, fairly still with no visible bubbling in the body, moderate white decaying head....corn/corn syrup, very light dry spice (oregano) in the simple, sweet nose....the body is actually rather pleasing, at least while cold, firmly malty and sweet but not sickening, very little metallic/mineralic hints that often make malt liquors (which this is in most ways close to) so hard to drink, a really nicely integrated alcoholic kick.....bit of pepper and a touch herbal towards the end, which dries out rather nicely....thick but not syrupy mouthfeel, just a touch of dry hop presence. Really much better than I expected, though I don’t know that I’d make an effort to find it again....

1.14.06 Basically this was a Lithuanian malt likkkka. Not as bad as our local varieties of malt liquor, but not a great brew. Kind of on the same par as Utenos. What’s up with U names.

Killearn Liquors, Tallahassee, Fl., 500 ml bottle. Light golden pour with a light, pithy white head. Grassy, slightly soapy aroma. Faint traces of cake mix sweetness and some underlying honey. Some Saaz hop notes show through. Mouthfeel is rather thin and the alcohol starts getting more prominent near the end. Pretty run of the mill, nothing offensive, typical strong Baltic beer.

Twangy vanilla/cardboard malt likka aroma. Good bottle and label, standard pale lager color, big white head that lasted for a long time. Something tells me that the Average appearance rating is going to be the best thing going for this beer. Sweet and alcoholic, musty malt, moderate hopping builds and becomes moderately astringent. Some vanilla towards the end, and green plum. Finish is metallic and makes you want to spit. This was a notch better than the Ousto Pale (aka Port Premium) but not by much -- a little more malty and boozy.

Pour is a orange with a very small white head. Aroma is malty and grainy. Flavor is super sweet and again grainy. Nothing really great about it.