REVIEW 169: BALTIKA #7 EXPORT

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  Russian Federation

BREWERY:  Baltika Breweries

STYLE:  Dortmunder

ABV:  5.4%

PURCHASE:  Six-pack of 11.2-oz. bottles, $13.99

SERVING:  11.2-oz. bottle, poured into pint glass. A standard pour yielded a two-inch initial head. Average retention, more or less. A slower pour took about half an inch off the crown.

APPEARANCE:  Straw-colored, see-through body, a bit darker than your typical adjunct or macrolager. Very bright white head. Steady bubbling and almost no lacing to speak of.

AROMA:  Bready, bready, and bready. Very little hop presence and maybe a touch of generic malt. Kind of smells like a Heineken.

TASTE:  Medium-thin mouthfeel with fairly prominent carbonation. No attention-grabber here; neutrality seems to be the theme. Bready taste, mostly, and never really wavers. A bit yeastier at the finish with a slightly malty and fusel-ish aftertaste. Makes for a smooth but unremarkable sipping experience.

MUSINGS AND METAPHORS:  This is supposed to be a Dortmunder, a decidedly German style of beer. It's got the bready quality down cold. (Dortmunders are known for that.) Malt? Check, albeit minimal. Something was off, though. It seemed overcarbonated, and over-alcoholic at the end of each sip. Tasted like it could have come from Anheuser-Busch.

Well, you could consider Baltika the Russian A-B. They're the largest brewery in that country, and the second largest in Europe. Established in 1990, they were taken over by Carlsberg in 2008, but production remains in St. Petersburg.

Baltika #7 is one of a series of "numbered" brews from the relatively young brewery. They have a non-alcoholic beer aptly named "#0." This one is called "#7 Export" presumably because Dortmunders are also known as "export lagers." It should be called "#7 Bleh."




GRADE:  C-

BONUS POINTS . . . for the distinguishable peel-off bottle caps. No bottle opener needed!