Baltika #5 Gold - Baltika Breweries

tempest

Pennsylvania

2.75/5  rDev -0.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Picked up a 500ml can from Euromart in Astoria. It smells of pale malts with a hint of honey and adjunct. The flavor is similarly sweet with an odd vegetal spice to it. Honestly, this beer reminds me of malt liquor more than anything. I'd avoid this one. Stick to the Baltika porter.

Serving type: can

03-07-2011 04:10:57 | More by tempest

ChainGangGuy

Georgia

3.1/5  rDev +11.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

I have an itch that only Baltika can scratch! Now, mind you, these are in a can; the only way to enjoy a Baltika brew.

Appearance: Pours a yellow body with a small, fizzy, white head.

Smell: Sweet-smelling cereal nose with light floral hints. You know, the usual.

Taste: Pale maltiness with a unabashed sweetness throughout -- like liquid breakfast time cereal! Hint of cooked veggies when you drink deep, so you might want to avoid that. Very skimpy on the hops, with only a very minor bitterness present. A touch watery on the finish, with a tiny touch of grain.

Mouthfeel: Medium-thin body. Medium-high carbonation.

Drinkability: Good? Heavens no! But it's not altogether terrible for being just a simple pale lager.

Serving type: can

09-02-2008 01:33:14 | More by ChainGangGuy

DrunkMcDermott

Illinois

2.78/5  rDev +0.4%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Not much to say about this one, because I’ve had so many standard lagers during my visit to Russia, each one as bland as the one before. This is pretty nice, but it’s pretty standard to-style stuff. Decenet pale straw color, light head, but the taste just says "I've been down this road before."

Serving type: can

02-25-2005 16:27:01 | More by DrunkMcDermott

Globetrotter

Virginia

2.65/5  rDev -4.3%
look: 3 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

The lady in the store said this only comes in cans. Guess that's for the domestic market, given the previous review of a bottled product. Oh well.

My canned version poured a nice golden color with a small head that lost no time in disappearing. Lace? Forget about it. Smell? Not really. The mouthfeel is fizz, with just a touch of malt. The taste is pretty neutral, maybe a touch of sweetness and a dab of fruit. A bit of hops comes out a little bit later, but only if you are trying real hard to find it. This is drinkable stuff if nothing else is around, but Baltika can and does do much better.

Serving type: can

05-24-2003 06:37:23 | More by Globetrotter

puboflyons

New Hampshire

3.08/5  rDev +11.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

From the 25 ounce clear bottle marked 03.09.12-01:34, 03.09 9.13 0-W. Sampled on March 31, 2013.

The color is pale yellow with a white fizzy head that disappears almost on contact. It looks the way it should.

The aroma is a multitude of grains and malts with a syrupy sugar feel and a clean, crisp hop background. Not offensive.

The body is light and the texture is creamy.

The taste brings out the barley malts a bit more with a standard clean lager hop finish. Drinkable but nothing that a hundred different pale lagers don't have.

Serving type: bottle

03-31-2013 15:30:34 | More by puboflyons

pkalix

California

2.88/5  rDev +4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

not even a straw yellow pour; looks and smells like a pathetic attempt of trying to emulate a corona (which is really going in the wrong direction, in my opinion).
taste is . . . . oh crap, do i have to drink this? oh well, here goes... is it corn? the OFFICIAL WEBSITE even leaves #5 OFF ITS WEBSITE!!! oh my horrid god. well, maybe it's not that bad...
overall, uh... dont bother. if you're trying new beers to sample- dont bother. if you're financially challenged, but some miller lite.

Serving type: bottle

12-14-2012 01:19:26 | More by pkalix

UCLABrewN84

California

2.73/5  rDev -1.4%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

Bottled 6/13/12. Best before 6/13/13.

Pours a slightly hazy yellow with a foamy white head that settles to a film on top of the beer. Tiny dots of lace form around the glass on the drink down. Smell is of malt and grain. Taste is much the same with a slight metallic flavor on the finish. There is a very mild bitterness on the palate with each sip. This beer has a lower level of carbonation with a slightly crisp mouthfeel. Overall, this is a pretty poor beer and I think it may have something to do with the clear bottle it comes in.

Serving type: bottle

10-31-2012 03:31:34 | More by UCLABrewN84

AdamBear

Pennsylvania

2.73/5  rDev -1.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

A-hazy golden with a sticky white head

S-smells like an adjunct lager. Creamy grains, not too great.

T-comes in with a taste of clean adjunct grains. It's tastes much like any adjunct lager. It's creamy.

M-medium creamy almost watery carbonation. Matching finish

O-even for the style, it's pretty bad. So far from this brewery, this has been my least favorite by a long shot. It's just not even easy difficult to finish.

Serving type: bottle

09-22-2012 18:27:40 | More by AdamBear

alankwak

Florida

2.13/5  rDev -23.1%
look: 3 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 2

A: Light golden, clear lager. Low /medium head retention and lacing.

S: Little to none.

T: Tastes a bit like lager beer. Not much in the way of hop flavor at all but a grainy backbone is there. Weak overall.

M: None to speak of. Very thin.

O: Lame. And they would like to be part or Europe???!!! They obviously are still commies.

Serving type: bottle

09-08-2012 02:00:40 | More by alankwak

rangerred

Tennessee

3.48/5  rDev +25.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

500ml clear bottle into a pint glass.

Pours a crystal clear medium gold with a half finger head. Tons of carbonation bubbles rising through the beer help to hold the head for a long time. Really a pretty beer.

A very light skunkyness in the aroma but much less than what I was expecting with a clear bottle. Lots of grain and grassy hops and a slight hint of lemon.

A nice breadyness in the taste quickly followed by hay and grass from the hops. Bitterness is on the light side and really the taste kind of falls apart about halfway through. The crispness I was expecting just didn't come with the beer finishing up a little bit sweet.

Overall, this is very similar to Baltika #3. I haven't done a side by side tasting but the similarities are remarkable. This one may be a little less sweet but not much. Really it isn't a bad beer just completely unremarkable. I would pick up again, though.

Serving type: bottle

07-12-2012 01:02:44 | More by rangerred

chinchill

South Carolina

2.78/5  rDev +0.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Poured from a 16.9 oz clear bottle into a snifter.

A: a rather ordinary looking lager: Golden color; clear; largish, white soapy head. The head was surprisingly durable and capable of coating most of the glass with lacing on the way down.

Aroma: light malt and hops with hints of hay and white bread.

T: slightly sweet and floral, with low but balanced levels of hops and malt. Some corn and butter here too.

M: light and rather watery body; carbonation is good; smooth.

Overall: Despite clear glass, this sample showed no skunkiness or others signs of deterioration. It was quite drinkable but lacking in character, richness and complexity ... I.e., nothing to support a recommendation or lead me to buy it again.

Serving type: bottle

06-12-2012 03:05:41 | More by chinchill

thekevlarkid

Maryland

3.2/5  rDev +15.5%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Out of a bomber this beer was a straw gold color with one finger of head that was rather short lived and left very limited lacing consequently .The aroma was of the usual macro suspects: cereal grains and corn with some pilsner malt, a little bread and a hint of must. The flavors were better than the aroma in my opinion: I tasted sweet malt, cereal grains, a little bit of yeast and hay as well as a simple but not unpleasant note of hops on the finish. A marginal palate, but better than some of the other Baltika products. The mouthfeel, however, was average, the body medium/light and the carbonation on the lighter side.

Serving type: bottle

04-05-2012 22:33:59 | More by thekevlarkid

beerme343

Idaho

2.93/5  rDev +5.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Enjoyed a bottle of Baltika #5 poured into a standard pint glass.

A very large head formed that was composed of medium to large bubbles. The beer is bright and straw colored.

There is a lightly sweet smell to this beer but a less remarkable aroma than other Baltika pale lagers like the #2.

A little bit of malt flavor comes through and there is some minimal bitterness. No strong flavors, just a hint of honey on the finish.

Number 5 is very light overall, smooth and easy drinking.

Serving type: bottle

03-19-2012 07:40:52 | More by beerme343

GONZALOYANNA

Spain

2/5  rDev -27.8%
look: 2 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

500ml.Pokal glass.Enjoyed on mar´12.Pale straw.Clear appearance.White crown.Large bubbled froth quickly dissipated. Wet paper aroma shows oxidation signs.An slightly sweet malt aroma is felt eventhough.Sparkling & bitter upfront then moderate malty flavor.Watery in the middle.Light body, unbalanced carbonation.Quite bitter finish.Bland beer.

Serving type: bottle

03-08-2012 20:52:09 | More by GONZALOYANNA

woodychandler

Pennsylvania

2.53/5  rDev -8.7%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

If you are reading this review and notice that it remains on my "Gots", please understand that I am the creator of The CANQuest (TM) and as such, I still desirous of getting this beer in a CAN.

I have been on a Russian kick for a couple of years now, starting with Kvass and expanding to the language, the history, the literature, the women ... Well, as to that last, I have known that the Russkies are generating some drop-dead knockouts for some time. Hell, I remember this one towering honey-honey from Kiev that I hung out with for several days in Haifa, Israel during an inport period that left everybody's tongues lolling. I called her "Svetlana" and she would have answered to anything as long as this AmeriCAN sailor's money held up. What a giantess! She was nearly twice as tall as me and we made a great pair strolling around town. Ah, yes.

An aggro pour generated just over a finger of fizzy, foamy bone-white head that lasted about as long as a career sailor's inport relationship. Bye! Color was a pale yellow with NE-plus quality clarity. I could see right through it, through the neighbor's walls, and into the future. Nose had a certain je ne sais quois - it did not smell like the usual adjunct suspects, but at the same time, it had an unpleasant underlying mustiness. Label check: Bottled 25 March 11 Best by 25 March 12, so I was in the window and it had probably been pasteurized, given its clear bottle, so what was the problem? Mouthfeel was on the thin side and it had a slightly minty flavor on the tongue along with a mild lager sweetness. This was quickly shaping up to be a whole buncha nothin'! Finish was relatively bland and I REALLY wished that I had scored another bottle of the #4, which actually was enjoyable. This was not unpleasant, but instead lacking anything that would make me want to open another.

Serving type: bottle

01-06-2012 01:38:42 | More by woodychandler

Nerudamann

Arizona

3.25/5  rDev +17.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Poured from a bottle into a pint glass.
Look – very pale golden color, clear, with heavy carbonation and about two-and-a-half fingers’ worth of frothy off-white colored foam that dissipates somewhat quickly.

Smell – typical of any pale lager, bright and crisp but with an almost cereal grain type of smell.

Taste – also typical of a pale lager type of brew, but there’s an odd hint of something else in the background. Maybe there’s a little more hop added in, because there’s just a bit of a bite that gets cut off almost as soon as it hits.

Mouthfeel – typical of this type of brew. It leans more on the watery side of texture.

Overall – Not a bad tasting brew, but not interesting at all.

Serving type: bottle

11-28-2011 02:34:11 | More by Nerudamann

mjurney

Texas

3.18/5  rDev +14.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Appearance:
Golden color, clear. Lots of carabonation. Bright white soapy head.

Aroma:
Musty grains, hay, a little touch of herbal.

Taste:
Sweet grainy up front along with dry grape skin towards the end. Very grainy character, sweet cereal with butter and toffee mix together.

Body:
Medium-light bodied. Carbonation is light.

Finish:
Smooth finish, but it's not crisp like most lagers.

Serving type: bottle

11-19-2011 23:03:28 | More by mjurney

kilustration

Illinois

2.68/5  rDev -3.2%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Wife picked up a pint+ bottle for me, have to admit I was not expecting it to be very good.
Turns out its I was correct, but its not bad either.
Yellow color, pours with nice head yet disappears quick.
Smells grainy like an adjunct.
Taste an mouth feel is somewhat creamy and smooth, going down with out a grimace.
Would not actively seek out, but could have again.

Serving type: bottle

11-05-2011 03:01:30 | More by kilustration

Bookseeb

Washington

3.03/5  rDev +9.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Appearance has a golden straw color with a fair head that dissipates thin but steady leaving spotty lace. Smell of different grain adjuncts with a yeast note background. Taste of the adjuncts having a buttery note leaving a fairly clean finish. mouthfeel is light with good carbonation. a simple easy drinking pale Russian lager.

Serving type: bottle

10-26-2011 01:37:04 | More by Bookseeb

bluHatter

Michigan

2.98/5  rDev +7.6%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

A: Pours golden yellow. Looks a lot like Miller or similar light lagers. No head which quickly disappears, leaving little to look at.

S: Grainy, malty, wheat

T: Buttery malt beer.

M: Moderate carbonation, feels very light. Very easy to drink. Is this even alcoholic?

O: A descent average easy to drink beer. Nothing really interesting or stand out, but it's enjoyable. Heck, it's beer.

Serving type: bottle

09-15-2011 00:57:41 | More by bluHatter

kojevergas

California

1.8/5  rDev -35%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

Why the clear bottle? That's a classic hallmark of amateur brewmastery. FAIL. The bottle was poured into a Williams Bros pint glass in low altitude Galway, Ireland. Bottle acquired in an off-license in Ennis, Ireland.

A: Pours a four finger head, quite thin, with a bit of cream. Retention is actually quite nice. Colour is a clear yellow without any bubbles at all.

Sm: Slightly musty barley with assorted tones of light cream and maybe vanilla. A moderately light smell.

T: Blandish barley body with undertones of cream and malt. Very simple and not at all great. Poorly built. The bittering hops destroy the balane and feel unnatural.

Mf: Very wet and rather coarse, even for the style. Doesn't suit the flavours of the body.

Dr: A bland beer not worth trying unless you're an obsessive fanatic of the style. It's not particularly easy to down, being more thick than it ought to be, and the ABV isn't that high, so it's not really even a good option for getting bollocksed. Move along, lads. Get yourself a more worthy beer for less money (especially if you're here in Ireland).

Serving type: bottle

05-19-2011 22:44:15 | More by kojevergas

sommersb

Tennessee

3.1/5  rDev +11.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Picked up at the local Russian market. 500ml clear glass bottle with a drink by date of 11-09-11.

Bright and clear beer has a light yellow color. Two fingers of white head with little lacing and retention. Lots of bubbles coming up from the bottom of the glass.

Aroma is on the weak side with light malty smells and some floral hop character. Slight sweet fruity smell as well.

Taste is crisp, but not overly flavorful. Bitterness is low and some malty sweetness makes for a nice balance. I do notice the vegetable taste that other reviewers mentioned.

Mouthfeel is on the thin side, with high carbonation. Aftertaste is lightly dry. Overall this is an OK lager as a no frills warm-weather refreshment.

Serving type: bottle

05-10-2011 01:43:38 | More by sommersb

SandstormPaul

Arizona

3.4/5  rDev +22.7%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4.5

Golden color with white head that fades quickly. Very light smell a little grainy. Taste is sweet, grainy, mildly bitter. Decent carbonation, light in the mouth, slight butter-like quality. Despite being in a clear bottle no skunkiness detected. Nothing altogether exceptional, but nothing really unlikable. Very easy to drink, might even try this one again.

Serving type: bottle

03-03-2011 04:56:39 | More by SandstormPaul

RoyalT

Ohio

2.23/5  rDev -19.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2

Appearance - This is a nice, straw-colored yellow in color with a wonderful head that was pure white and showed above-average retention.

Smell - The singular grain has a nice crispness to it although this is not a high-quality nose.

Taste - This beer falls to pieces at the taste. The grain is stale, almost rotten, with some cheap sugar at the finish.

Mouthfeel - This light-bodied lager had some nice carbonation and a touch of leafy bitterness.

Sinkability - I couldn't get past that rotten grain flavor to save my life. This was the hardest of the series for me to find and unfortunately the most disappointing.

PS: This beer was all over the place. I think this is only the second time in almost 2,000 reviews that I have five scores in which no two are the same.

Serving type: bottle

02-22-2011 04:07:28 | More by RoyalT

38rakia

California

2.38/5  rDev -14.1%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5

My mom found this in a bottle in a gift pack which included the 6 and the 7, with a spiffy glass.

It pours a melted buttery yellow and smells like a lager should but very faintly. It wasn't very bubbly so it didn't produce a head of any kind when I poured it.

I'm not an expert and I don't have an experts palate but it was very light on lager taste, if any of that makes sense. I had the no 9 not to long ago and I didn't like that one either, but I'd drink this over the 9.

I'm not raving crazy mad over this beer but I'm not really disappointed either. It's just sort of an average lager, although I wasn't expecting it to be so watered down. The #9 is 8% alcohol, so I was hoping maybe the #5 would be too but it tasted like beer flavored water really.

Serving type: bottle

02-22-2011 01:57:53 | More by 38rakia