Session Ale #40: Wood St. Kvass
East End Brewing Company

Beer Geek Stats
From:
East End Brewing Company
 
Pennsylvania, United States
Style:
Kvass
ABV:
3%
Score:
Needs more ratings
Avg:
4.24 | pDev: 3.54%
Reviews:
8
Ratings:
8
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Feb 05, 2011
Added:
Aug 07, 2010
Wants:
  4
Gots:
  0
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews.
Photo of BeerAndBourbon
Reviewed by BeerAndBourbon from Ohio

4.18/5  rDev -1.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
Reviewed from a six month old (still carbonated) growler.

A. Pours super cloudy yellow with a creamy white head.

S. Smells of lemon and rye with some saltiness.

T. Lots of rye with lemon/ lemonade and a decent amount of saltiness.

M. Fairly thin with a fairly high level of carbonation (especially for a six month old growler).

D. Very drinkable. Like a rye flavored lemonade.
Feb 05, 2011
Photo of Axic10
Reviewed by Axic10 from New Jersey

4.2/5  rDev -0.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Appearance: Thick hazy unfiltered apple juice.

Smell: Bready malt, rye bread, slight banana aroma.

Taste: Very much like liquid rye bread. Very bready malt taste with a nice spicy finish.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied and creamy.

Drinkability: I really with East End would brew this year round. Such an easy, yet complex drinker at 3%. Probably in my top 3 of my favorite East End beers.
Oct 12, 2010
Photo of thagr81us
Reviewed by thagr81us from South Carolina

4.45/5  rDev +5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5
Huge thanks to Davolebomb for grabbing me another growler of this after the first one was lost/broken in shipment! Served from growler into a Samuel Smith imperial pint. Poured hazy yellow orange similar to pulpy orange juice without the pulp obviously with a minimal white head. Maintained minimal lacing throughout the glass. The aroma was comprised of malt, citrus, spices, and wheat. The flavor was malt, cider, spices, earthy, and nutty notes. It was light on the palate with mild carbonation. Overall this was surprisingly nice to say the least. To be honest, I really wasn't expecting much at all from this one due to this ABV, but you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. To be honest, I sat on this growler for QUITE some time (one month+) prior to cracking it open. Even with that fact all of the aromas and flavors were quite excellent. In talking to Dave about the growler he said it had developed a slight sour flavor upon sitting as compared to fresh when he tried it. I did notice this in mine as well with the cider aspect, but I found it quite enjoyable. How enjoyable you might ask??? Well, I downed the entire growler in less than 1.5 hours. Yeah, it was that good. Nice job on this one East End!
Oct 04, 2010
Photo of Stigs
Reviewed by Stigs from Pennsylvania

4.07/5  rDev -4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
from growler, filled at the brewery about a week+ ago...standard pint glass

A - very thin flash of loose offwhite bubbles fizzles to nothing within 45 seconds. the beer is very murky, butterscotch/cider in color.

S - smells exactly like you would expect "bread beer" to be. crusty and doughy, lightly spiced rye bread with some subtle sour lemon and a small yeasty funk.

T - crunchy rye bread, like a pint glass full of crust (the good kind). slight fruity (apples and lemon) tartness, and rye spice.

M - suprisignly medium bodied and silky smooth...has the typical tight yet controlled EE carbonation going on.

D - so unique, awesome to have anyone (let alone a local brewer) making this style. nothing to compare it to, but quite its yummy. drinkable beyond belief with nice comforting flavors and a very manageable ABV. beers like this got me recently into homebrewing, will have to give this style a shot someday.
Sep 07, 2010
Photo of Deuane
Reviewed by Deuane from Pennsylvania

4.17/5  rDev -1.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 5
A fresh growler shared with some fine folks who were excited to try their first Kvass!

A-A sickly, murky, dirty, yellow cream with a thin white head that reduces to a thin ring and leaves spotty lace. Don't let the look scare you away!

S-Peppery, spicy rye notes with a HUGE backing of doughy bread and a rather sharp zing of lemon like sourness.

T-Rye bread spiciness with a pleasant zing of lemon zest sourness with an almost chewable doughy maltiness in the background.

M-Medium-light bodied and quite thin feeling. This isnt really a knock considering how low in ABV this beer is. Quite smooth with nicely lingering rye spiciness and sour zing.

D-Odd?, sure. Ugly?, sure. Tasty? Hell Yea! Drinkable? Almost endless! At 3% and a boatload of flavour considering this homemade, peasants brew is one easy drinking concoction! Well done Scott for bringing this old world style to the thirsty masses of Da' Burgh!
Aug 25, 2010
Photo of TMoney2591
Reviewed by TMoney2591 from Illinois

4.2/5  rDev -0.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 5
Served in a Devil's Backbone willibecher.

Big thanks to DavoleBomb for this growler!

I somehow didn't think my first kvass would be an American one, much less outta ol' PA. So it goes. It pours a thickly hazy pale-y orange topped by a half-finger at best of white foam. The nose initially seems identical to pulpy orange juice (kinda how it looks, too), but right behind that comes a rush of toasted pumpernickel and, behind that, a dirty earthiness, not unlike the background of a rustic saison. What the hell is this liquid? The taste pretty much mirrors the nose exactly, with a heavy orange-y citrus up front, backed by some darkly toasted rye bread and buttery pumpernickel, which is then followed by a mixture of nutmeg, pepper, dirt, and yeast. What a strange brew this be. The body is a heavy-ish light, with a moderate carbonation and a sandy, creamy feel. Once you get over the initial oddity of the brew itself (I mean, how many kvasses do you come across, right?), this beer is extremely drinkable. Thanks to the very low ABV, you can do as I am and relax, knocking back a half-gallon growler without a thought. I want more of these, now.

Edit from the future (almost exactly 3 months, to be exact): As good as this beer is, it barely resembles other kvass examples, particularly those from Russia, Ukraine, and Lithuania. Just an FYI, "The More You Know" kinda note.
Aug 13, 2010
Photo of Hojaminbag
Reviewed by Hojaminbag from Colorado

4.1/5  rDev -3.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
First of all, I think I should mention that the ABV for this beer is somewhere between 2-3%, so it isn't a heavy hitter by any means.

Wood St. Kvass pours with and extremely hazy, yellow-orange body. The white head is foamy and looks sticky, but doesn't leave much lacing despite decent retention.

The aroma is basically rye bread. Very spicy.

Like the original session Kvass brewed at East End, this one has a bite of sourness in the front end. I had the original batch aged a year or two and it became absurdly sour, so I would guess this one might follow the same path. After the initial sourness, the flavors mirror those of rye bread; lightly doughy with a ton of spiciness. After a glass or two the spice was so intense I probably could have been convinced that there was some kind of pepper added, although I know there was not. Just a whole lot of bread.

The carbonation is a bit tame, and the body is slight heavier than I would expect for the ABV, but it seems to fit with the beer.

With such a low ABV, Wood St. Kvass is a true session ale. I have tried a bunch of the imported examples of Kvass, and I have tried the ones brewed by East End. Trust me, if you want to try a Kvass, go to East End to do it.
Aug 08, 2010
Photo of DavoleBomb
Reviewed by DavoleBomb from Pennsylvania

4.52/5  rDev +6.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 5
Poured into my "WE BE JAZZIN'" pint glass from New Orleans. In case you were wondering, I be jazzin' as well. This is my first encounter with the style.

4.0 A: Murky yellowish brown. One finger of frothy white head that dies down rather quickly and leaves no lacing.

4.5 S: Not surprisingly, this is bready, with plenty of rye earthy spiciness coming through. The bread yeast contribution is interesting for sure and comes off as a doughy funkiness. In a lot of ways, this smells like what it is: a beer made from bread.

4.5 T: Dominant flavor is rye bread, which again isn't surprising. Good balance of bitterness and breadiness stemming from earthy rye. A touch of sourness on the front end, with a "dirty" doughiness on the back.

4.0 M: Medium body and slightly chewy. Super smooth throughout. This could use a bit more carbonation, but for all I know it could be perfectly to style. Still, if I made it, I'd give it another 0.5 ppm.

5.0 D: I had a hard time figuring out the scores for this brew. I like it quite a bit, but I have absolutely nothing to compare it too. Based on the other kvasses found on this site and the reviews I've read, I'd have to venture that this one is tops for the style. In any case, I might go through this whole growler in one sitting, that's how smooth and drinkable this is.
Aug 07, 2010
Session Ale #40: Wood St. Kvass from East End Brewing Company
Beer rating: 4.24 out of 5 with 8 ratings