Grand 9.5 Beer
Gubernija Brewery

Grand 9.5 BeerGrand 9.5 Beer
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From:
Gubernija Brewery
 
Lithuania
Style:
European Strong Lager
ABV:
9.5%
Score:
64
Avg:
2.49 | pDev: 26.91%
Reviews:
50
Ratings:
53
Status:
Active
Rated:
Mar 26, 2020
Added:
May 29, 2004
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  1
No description / notes.
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Ratings by goochpunch:
Photo of goochpunch
Reviewed by goochpunch from Texas

2/5  rDev -19.7%
look: 2 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2
Pours out looking like strong urine frmo a dehydrated person. There is no head and if I take the patience to stare at the beer, I'll get a rare bubble popping up every now and then. Smell is big on grain, alcohol, and a weird fruitiness. All of this is echoed in the flavor as well as a presence of artificial banana flavor and medicinal bitterness. Mouthfeel is thick, oily, sickly, and sticky. Not terribly drinkable.
Mar 02, 2007
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 1.21 by Robertas from Lithuania

Mar 26, 2020
Photo of kerouac
Reviewed by kerouac from California

2.3/5  rDev -7.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5
At first I was going to completely bash this beer, but the more my taste-buds get acclimated to this overly-sweet beer, the more I'm beginning to appreciate some of the finer aspects of this beer. Well, either that or the 9.5% ABV is really starting to kick in. I think it is well-rounded in every aspect except its sweetness. It is really sweet, so if you're not into that, try to avoid this beer. Go for something like a Steel Reserve (high ABV as well) or maybe a Colt 45.
Jul 29, 2017
Photo of connecticutpoet
Reviewed by connecticutpoet from Connecticut

2.01/5  rDev -19.3%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 1.75 | feel: 1.75 | overall: 1.75
On the pour I got a two and a half finger head over a clear yellow beer. Color did not impress but the head was impressive.

Aroma was sweet corn and some grains. Nothing else. Not too bad for a beer of this style but not stellar.

Taste was slightly sweet corn, but mostly bitter and thin. Alcohol was not noticeable.

Mouthfeel was waaaaaaaay too thin. From the head you'd think it would be a bit thicker and coat the tongue... but then again, a few drops of dishwashing detergent would give the same head and probably taste better.

Overall I would NOT get this one again and would be leery of anything else from the brewery in this style.
May 14, 2015
Photo of Pegasus
Reviewed by Pegasus from Texas

3.08/5  rDev +23.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3
Appearance: Medium golden in color, with a large white head, with soon fades to scattered archipelagos of foam. The carbonation is modest and slow-rising. Thin, fine-beaded lacing rings the glass walls, forming unbroken circlets.

Aroma: The strong alcohol (9.5% ABV) is not particularly notable in the aroma, there are notes of grain, cooked vegetables and earthy hops.

Taste: Opens rather sweet, with flavors of overripe apples and pears, with a lot of residual sweetness. The alcohol has a sweet, vinous, and warming characteristic as well. Can you spell "malt liquor"? Sure, I knew you could. Finishes with a lot of sugar, bitter apple rind, earthy hops, and, uh, what was it wait, oh, I remember - alcohol!

Mouth feel: Smooth, soft, full, pleasant.

Drinkability/notes: At something like $2.50 for a half-liter bottle, how can I complain?

Presentation: Packaged in a half-lite euro-style brown glass bottle with a pry-off crown, served in a New Belgium Brewing chalice.
Dec 24, 2014
 
Rated: 2.75 by TheBeeraholic from Canada (ON)

Jun 15, 2013
 
Rated: 2.25 by t0rin0 from California

Oct 09, 2012
Photo of brokensail
Reviewed by brokensail from California

2.19/5  rDev -12%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2
A: The beer pours a clear light amber color with a finger of white head.

S: Smells of apple cider and prunes with a fair amount of booze. There is a bit of peppermint aroma, strangely. It's cloyingly sweet and sugary.

T: Same sort of characteristics on the palate. Very sweet, quite sugary, and lots of prunes/prune juice. There is a pretty heavy dose of booze. A touch of malt to it, though.

M: Sort of syrupy for a malt liquor/strong lager. Medium carbonation.

O: The fine country of Lithuania has some work to do on this one.
Aug 12, 2011
Photo of akorsak
Reviewed by akorsak from Pennsylvania

3.28/5  rDev +31.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Thanks to woodychandler for this hangover in a can.

A: This extra forte biere is clear, a fortified yellow color. A few stray floaties on the first pour quickly settled to the bottom of the glass. An initial head, over three fingers, left lace behind but left town in a hurry.

S: A spicy nose, apple and cinnamon, quickly turns fusel. The strength can't hide behind any number of spices. Pale biscuity malts don't stand a chance.

T: The spices continue, a sharp edge that never softens. The booziness hits square between the eyes, a near blinding blast. The strength lends to the fruity spices, perhaps the big redeeming aspect of the lager. This is a bold, bad beer and caution is advisable.

M: The mouthfeel is sweet upfront and fusel in the rear. It's a mouthful; damned Lietvak pale lagers. The spices are nices; the booze I can't use.
Jul 03, 2011
Photo of Redrover
Reviewed by Redrover from Wisconsin

1.81/5  rDev -27.3%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 1.5
16.9 oz can poured into my SA perfect pint glass. The beer is a hazy gold/orange with a quickly collapsing off-white head.

The nose is of apple juice (seriously) and a bit of cereal grains.

Crap this is bad, it is sweet with overpowering alcohol. Grainy and solvent like. This may be the worst beer I've had in the past couple of years. ..

The mouth is "enhanced" with very strong carbonation. There is nothing to recommend abut this beer. Sorry but it is a drain pour!
Jun 04, 2011
Photo of woodychandler
Reviewed by woodychandler from Pennsylvania

2.43/5  rDev -2.4%
look: 2 | smell: 4 | taste: 2 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 1
Here is a case of both the best deed with the best of intentions coupled with unwarranted input. It is well-known that The CANQuest (TM) is as unassuming, unbiased, and all-inclusive as it CAN possibly be. The idea is to taste as many CANned beers as possible and render a review as I/we see fit. I received multiple CANs of this beer and decided to pass them on to like-minded CANnisters as possible. I was pooh-poohed for doing so because it was deemed to be a lesser beer although all of us who had one simply wanted to try either it or a beer from Lithuania, regardless of its effects. Long live The CANQuest (TM)!

Following the Crack & Glug, I was looking at a finger of eggnog-colored head with very good retention. The beer's color was a hazy, orangish-amber. The nose was honey-sweet, actually very pleasant. I took a trepidatious first sip and was pleasantly surprised by its honey-like sweetness on the tongue. A greater mouthful resulted in a feeling of high heat on the palate, revealing its intensity and giving truth to its "Extra Strong Beer" label. Phew! Fusel was the word. This was the stuff that gives The CANQuest (TM) its legendary status - true questers do not DrainPour, although this was a worthy CANdidate. A clue as to its unpleasantness comes from its French verbiage "Biere Extra Forte". Fortified alcohol is the stuff of hangovers! Extra fortified = extra dry = extra-intense hangover. OMFG! The mouthfeel was medium but I just tasted sugar on the tongue. This was evil! I am sure that it topped out at 9.5 because they aborted the mission. It could have been much dryer and much higher in ABV. Oof. Finish was deadly sweet with a cloying sugary taste that cried out for a glass of water. I'm dyin'.
Oct 31, 2010
Photo of BuckeyeNation
Reviewed by BuckeyeNation from Iowa

2.46/5  rDev -1.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2
"The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention."

--proverb

Corn silk yellow with a light haziness and two fingers of bone colored foam that persists, but doesn't look very fetching while doing so. Not a bad look at all... considering.

The aroma isn't as alcoholic as expected, which is pretty much its only positive. It's pale grainy, musky hoppy and modestly metallic. Maybe the Lithuanians haven't yet figured out how to line their cans.

Surprise, surprise. Grand 95 actually tastes different than most Euro strong lagers. It has a surprising amount of fruitiness and a floral quality that might be due to hops. Yeah, it's a bit jet fuel-like, but it's decently drinkable jet fuel.

The flavor profile is akin to chunks of sugar-crusted pear macerated in poor quality pear eau de vie, with an interesting herbal vibe, a splash of sterno and some stainless steel. Basically, it's the European version of malt liquor, which we pretty much knew going in.

The mouthfeel is surprisingly thin for the amount of sweetness. It still has an underlying slick quality that keeps beer in contact with buds for longer than is desired. The bubbles are a bit lazy, which means that most of the tongue sting is ethanol-related.

Is Gubernija Grand 95 the same beer as Zhiguly Grand? Hard to say, but my scores are strikingly similar. This beer is only recommended if you have an unnatural affinity for boozy, high-octane Euro lagers. One more thing: keep away from open flames.
Oct 29, 2010
Photo of tone77
Reviewed by tone77 from Pennsylvania

3.18/5  rDev +27.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Thanks to resi for the trade.Poured from a 16.9 oz. can. Has a rich golden color with a 1/2 inch head. Smell is of malts and alcohol. Taste is like the smell, alcohol up front, some malts, a bit sweet. Feels light in the mouth and has average drinkability. Overall this is a pretty good beer.
Oct 23, 2010
Photo of jsh420
Reviewed by jsh420 from Illinois

3.47/5  rDev +39.4%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
pours semi hazy gold with a 1 finger head that fades fast and left no lacing

smells like candy carmel little hops and booze

taste is ok - very sweet malts and booze just like the nose - it reminds of some old ale

mouthfeel is medium with plenty of carbonation

drinkability is ok even though i did not finish the whole tall boy
Sep 24, 2010
Photo of drpimento
Reviewed by drpimento from Wisconsin

2.27/5  rDev -8.8%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 1.5
Poured with a nice, foamy, cream colored head that fades to soap bubbles then to almost none. No lace. Aroma is malt, caramel, grain, sweet. Flavor is like nose but very sweet. A little hop bitter in there plus a bit of tang from the CO2. Also solvents. Body is a full and heavy. Carbonation seems a bit fizzy. Finish is sweet and thankfully not too long. A few swallows is all I want, the rest to the drain.
Aug 14, 2010
Photo of Zorro
Reviewed by Zorro from California

2.96/5  rDev +18.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3
Can I picked up in Chicago, lots of love and hate about this beer.

Clear gold to amber colored beer with basically no head at all.

Smells sweet with a strong cooked vegetable aroma. There is a little herb and grassy hop here, but it does smell like malt liquor.

Starts out sweet and malty with a bread flavor. Quite warming in the chest so not so effective in hiding alcohol. There is a bit of a hop bite here but it is fairly sweet. Not great but not awful either.

Mouthfeel is heavy.

Not bad in drinkability it is better than the average American macro brewed lager out of a can. That said I'm not looking to trade for it either. If this was classified as a Malt Liquor this would rate way up there, as it is it is a pretty OK European Strong Lager.

Out of a can this is at least OK.
Dec 03, 2009
Photo of bheilman
Reviewed by bheilman from Indiana

3.13/5  rDev +25.7%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3
Pleased with this beer. Found it in a liquor store near O'Hare that must have been run by some people from Eastern Europe because they had lots of polish, czech, lithuanian beers. Golden to orange in color, probably the orangest beer I've ever seen. Corn groats and hop extract are new ingredients to me. Pretty flavorful, I had no idea Lithuania made such a product; similar to a tripel in flavor but priced much more economically and not really up to Belgian standards. Definitely my go to Lithuanian beer, and although it seems like it is just styled to produce high alcohol, it does have a unique taste. Not much after taste but not much of an alcohol presence either.
Jun 28, 2009
Photo of ChrisCage
Reviewed by ChrisCage from Canada (AB)

2.57/5  rDev +3.2%
look: 1.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3
A- Didn't realize that there was supposed to be a decimal in the name of the brew....just one of those things I guess. This pours a hazy golden color, much like how unfiltered apple cider looks, with an initial foamy white head that disappears into nothing. It also looks kind of flat. There is really no lacing and yeah not much else to say about the looks of this one.

S- Well the alcohol is definitely not hidden in this one. The smell is different. Herbal and medicinal would best describe this beer. It has a somewhat spicy aroma as well, but in a raw sort of way...I smell some cinnamon, which is about the best thing I notice here.

T- Again, the alcohol is noticeable and there seems to be a medicine/chemical/mineral flavor that comes through here. Underneath these initial flavors, there is some malty sweetness, and little hop presence. There is also some of the same spiciness that was present in the aroma.

M- This has some decent body. The carbonation is fairly low, and there is a creamy character. I would put this in the medium to medium-full category. The best part about this beer.

D- If you're wanting to drink something with the full intention of getting drunk, this will do it...I'm starting to feel it already! The more I drink this, the more it grows on me...however, after one can, I'd be more than happy to be done with this one. I doubt I'll buy this again, but it's not the absolute worst beer I've had, but it's by far not amongst the best!
Mar 06, 2009
Photo of GodOfBeer
Reviewed by GodOfBeer from Canada (ON)

2.48/5  rDev -0.4%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2
Had a thick gold colour with a thin white head and lots of carbonation.

Aroma of alchohol, medicine, some grainy malts and syrupy sweetness.

Tasted like it smelled, pretty harsh, the alchohol is not hidden at all. I started drinking these out of the can after a while just so I could get drunk so it would tast better. Stay away from this beer!
Feb 13, 2009
Photo of pmcadamis
Reviewed by pmcadamis from Illinois

2.52/5  rDev +1.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 2 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 2
A - This came is a big can that reminds me of Boddingtons with the yellow and black theme. This pours clear and vibrant "BluBlocker lens" yellow, and puts up a nice two finger fluffy white head. Big sheets of white lace slide down the glass, and a quick swirl brings the head back up to two fingers. Pretty good looking for the style.

S - Fruity, crisp, and cidery. This smells wonderfully fresh and airy for a high octane brew... notes of melon, tropical flowers, and salty sea air bring my thoughts to a springtime garden drenched in rain. Some very gentle caramel and crackers malt notes are there, and the fruity notes are tropical and mild. Nice.

T - Sweet caramel and bread sopped in molasses. This is super-malty and sweet with a hint of saaz hop spice and a good deal of salt. Its odd how the nose is so light, fresh, and floral while the flavor has a heavy (almost oppressive) sweetness and solid malt thickness. This reminds me of some sort of dessert that I've had before...some sort of treacle or something.

M - Full bodied, sweet, and thick as hell with an oddly dry finish. A booze-breath stank comes up from my stomach after drinking this Lithuanian malt liquor.

D - I think that what this is is essentially malt liquor for the ghettos of Lithuania and the Baltic nations. This is boozy, heavy, sugary sweet, and hopped like a Czech pils. This is a pretty dag-nasty brew that I'd never buy again.
Dec 09, 2008
Grand 9.5 Beer from Gubernija Brewery
Beer rating: 64 out of 100 with 53 ratings