Afanasy Zolotistoye - Afanasy Pivo (Brau Service)

IronDjinn

Alberta (Canada)

2.25/5  rDev -14.4%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2

Big thanks to Globetrotter's descriptions of labels in his reviews so I could actually figure out what I had here.

So one day I walk into one of my regular haunts, and they have some new beer on the shelf I've never seen before. Russian beer! I am intrigued (and a little wary). Then I spot the price tag. Whoa, I could practically buy a case of Big Rock Trad for what this 6 was going for. I contemplate to myself though--"But it's Russian beer! When the hell are you ever going to get over to Russia any time soon, especially at the rate you're paying your student loan off, bubba?". It doesn't work though, and I walk away.

A week ago I'm in another regular beer store haunt, and see the same beer sitting on their shelf, in the cooler no less, and it's a few dollars cheaper. Whoa. The same internal conversation takes place ("But it's Russian beer! When the hell....). Beer wins out that time and I pick it up, in the name of beer hunting and trying something new. Still wary though.

Green label on it, the very same red and gold clad viking biting his thumb, a viking ship in the background to his right. Says Tver Beer under the Afanasy logo, not sure what that means. Thermo-sign on the back label of a viking ship to let me know it's cold enough to drink. Really cool triangular and geometrically bevelled brown 11.2 oz bottle, I can't help but think what a great little cudgel it would make if one were ever to get caught in a nasty bar fight.

Pours out a hazed golden hue, fizzy white head that recedes quickly. Smells of ripe grain with some metallic notes behind it, as well as a boozy sugary sweetness. Malt possesses an old bread flavour to it, a sickly sweet middle, with a coppery finish. I check the back of the label again. The given numbers there to mark off the best before date are CLEARLY not checked off whatsoever.

Mouthfeel is smooth enough though, although now I'm picking up a sour astringency in the aftertaste too. In all honesty it's not the most pleasant beer to consume, given what my other options are, and price differences. However it will be very easy to pass on the remainder of my bottles to friends to sample, they'll grab for them just for the cool bottle shape and the fact that it's Russian. Never underestimate the novelty factor. Actually, scratch that idea, I just noticed that these aren't twist off bottles. Hell, in that case it was worth the price to get some cool bottles to put my own homebrew in. Ah, the life of a beer hunter, always an adventure.

Serving type: bottle

02-21-2004 18:06:00 | More by IronDjinn

Globetrotter

Virginia

3/5  rDev +14.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Standard brown half-liter bottle with a green and gold label featuring a viking-like sailor biting his thumb, with a sailing ship in the background. Sugar is an ingredient. Best before 4/3/04, I opened it on Christmas Eve.

Pours a very standard clear gold under a standard 1.5 fingered white head that lingers a little while but eventually disappears completely. The nose is mild, with a hint of metallic hops mixed with the barley. The mouth is prickly and medium-bodied. The taste opens with sweet grain, followed by a fairly significant hoppy bite. The bitter lingers into the aftertaste, but it is quite mild by then. This is a perfectly good, but quite unremarkable beer.

Serving type: bottle

12-24-2003 19:27:09 | More by Globetrotter