Ochakovo Lager
Ochakovo

Ochakovo LagerOchakovo Lager
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From:
Ochakovo
 
Russia
Style:
European Pale Lager
ABV:
4.5%
Score:
70
Avg:
2.73 | pDev: 17.95%
Reviews:
17
Ratings:
29
Status:
Active
Rated:
Jul 27, 2014
Added:
Mar 06, 2004
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  0
No description / notes.
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Ratings by Zorro:
Photo of Zorro
Reviewed by Zorro from California

3.13/5  rDev +14.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 3
Russian lager in a clear glass bottle, what could possibly go wrong?

Looking straight through the bottle this look like Coors. I pop the top and took a sniff, and despite my fears there isn't the slightest bit of skunk from the clear glass bottle. Poured in a Pilsener glass I get a clear yellow beer with a decent amount of white head.

The smell is sweet and decently malty and a little on the sweet side. Floral and faintly fruity scents are in this. Hop scent isn't that strong just lightly floral and grassy.

The taste begins sweet and decently clean, not noticeably bitter of off tasting. Decent lager taste and slightly sweet with a good amount of hop bitterness that gives a good floral and herbal hop flavor. Bitterness is about perfect, balanced so that sweet and bitter play tag between each sip to see which is a little stronger. Nice Euro lager that I like better than Heineken.

Mouthfeel is decidedly light.

A great deal better than I expected from looking at the bottle. A beer stored like this will be exceedingly vulnerable to mistreatment; my sample was treated well. Nice tasty lager that I could see drinking again. I really hope the maker switches to brown glass.
Mar 16, 2007
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3 by aoampm from Hawaii

Jul 27, 2014
 
Rated: 2.75 by yarnanimal from California

Jul 08, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by boxer0029 from Texas

Jun 19, 2014
 
Rated: 2.5 by Latarnik from New Jersey

May 25, 2014
 
Rated: 2.75 by beerhunter13 from Canada (ON)

Mar 26, 2014
 
Rated: 2.5 by ThinkAgain from Canada (ON)

Jul 18, 2013
 
Rated: 2.5 by TheBeeraholic from Canada (ON)

Jun 16, 2013
Photo of UCLABrewN84
Reviewed by UCLABrewN84 from California

2.63/5  rDev -3.7%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5
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, grain, and some very mild grassy aromas. Taste is much the same with a slightly sweet caramel 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 that isn't too bad for the style but not something I would go after again.
Oct 26, 2012
 
Rated: 2 by Molson2000 from Canada (ON)

Sep 20, 2012
Photo of tone77
Reviewed by tone77 from Pennsylvania

3.57/5  rDev +30.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Poured from a brown 16.9 oz. bottle. Has a light golden color with a 1/2 inch head. Smell is sweet, some malts. Taste is crisp, some malts and grains, slightly sweet. Feels medium bodied in the mouth and overall, while no one aspect stands out, everything works together to make an easy drinking and enjoyable beer.
Jun 17, 2012
 
Rated: 3.5 by NightINgale from Russian Federation

May 08, 2012
Photo of TheHammer
Reviewed by TheHammer from Canada (ON)

2.28/5  rDev -16.5%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5
Appearance: Brassy yellow body with ample visible carbonation. You would think that with the much carbonation in the body the head could sustain itself, but no. Two fingers of head quickly dissolved into a thin layer of bubbles that did not lace.

Smell: Very mild here, but I seem to be catching some skunking with a little bit of grain and farmers corn in the background. I think in this case the bottle is to blame, for while being brown, it's far lighter then I would expect. The odd cap might also be a contributing factor.

Taste: It starts with an almost foamy solvent taste that I would expect windex to taste like with corn notes in the background. The chemical taste doesn't really go away, as a more robust grain takes over and punctuated by some earthy hops.

Mouthfeel: Yeah...solvent is not a good feeling for my mouth and the carbonation seeming to be doing it's best to remind me of this fact. It doesn't leave much of an aftertaste, just an unpleasant foaming sensation on the back of the tongue.

Drinkability: Well it's light, but it's a struggle to get down, and the chemical aspect aren't doing it any favours. If you were thirsty sure, but that's about the only situation this would call for.

Final Thoughts: Well, file this one as another import lager that would likely be alright fresh, but over here just isn't enough bang for your buck. At least I didn't have to pay for this one, as it was a birthday present, but you'll want to pass on this.
Apr 08, 2012
 
Rated: 3 by RedAleMan from Canada (ON)

Feb 29, 2012
 
Rated: 3 by Gregwa from Massachusetts

Dec 27, 2011
 
Rated: 3 by sweatervest from New Jersey

Nov 18, 2011
Photo of thehyperduck
Reviewed by thehyperduck from Canada (ON)

2.86/5  rDev +4.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3
Fancy long-necked 500 mL bottle embossed with a coat-of-arms and 'Ochakovo' in Cyrillic text; packaged in April 2011. Finally I've gotten around to doing a Russian beer review - too bad it's not a more interesting style.

The brew pours a pale straw yellow, and generates a puffy, bright white foamy head about two fingers in width. Decent retention for the style; the head sticks around for a few minutes before thinning out to a nice, soapy cap on the surface while leaving lots of lacing on the sides. The skunky stank from this stuff was noticeable as soon as I pulled the weird tab-cap off - not surprising, given the packaging date I guess; this stuff must be near the end of its shelf life. Other than this, the aroma is pretty inoffensive and plain - light grainy malts with some lemon citrus and grassy hay.

I don't think this stuff is really 'past its prime' as it tastes alright for the style. Very typical grainy taste with light cracker-like malts. More grassy hay notes toward the finish, which is slightly spicy, along with some lemon zest. Pretty clean-tasting with a slightly dry, grassy finish. Nice light body, with moderate carbonation that seems a bit too sparse for the style. Smooth, easy to drink, and reasonably refreshing. For a 4.5% brew, the flavour intensity is fairly solid.

A drinkable but thoroughly unremarkable lager. A fair substitute for various lighter Polish/Eastern Euro lagers, but unless you're from the Motherland and have a nostalgic affinity for the stuff I can't think of any compelling reasons to pick this specifically. I doubt I'll purchase this again, but it's serviceable enough.
Nov 18, 2011
Photo of biegaman
Reviewed by biegaman from Canada (ON)

2.73/5  rDev 0%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5
Ochakovo may be an odd sounding beer but it's extremely familiar looking: straw-yellow with thick adorning bubbles that compile a substantial (albeit imperfect) head that is considerably effective in marking up the glass, even despite its holes. No exaggerating, if this beer were any paler and thinner it would belong in 'mineral water' category.

The aroma stinks of over-cooked microwaved canned cream corn - to keep smelling it, you’d have to tie me down to a chair. It seems Ochakovo and I have gotten off on the wrong foot; with warmth, to be fair, it more closely starts to resemble the clean, unadulterated lagers of Germany. Still, however, it never quite shakes that industrial chemical taint.

Off-putting, corn-spattered adjuncts are terrible things with which to disguise my favourite drug - for those of us who actually do drink, not for the alcohol, but because we enjoy the taste of beer, this brand should be avoided like the flu. Bad enough that it tastes cheap and diluted, but its cereal, corn syrup-like texture hardly even resembles that of a real beer.

The word "premium" should always be a warning flag. Like the term "low-fat" on a box of ice-cream sandwiches, it's not a claim you can readily just take at face value. Ask yourself: "premium" what? In this case, premium price and not much else. The ingredients taste chemical-y and far from wholesome. It's drinkable, but not enjoyably so.

Every cloud has a silver lining: if you were unfortunate enough to be duped into buying Ochakovo at least now you know what a lager *shouldn't* taste like. While this Russian lager is better than many, it still has no business in the fridge of any self-respecting beer drinker. Not to beat a dead horse but diluting a beer with cheap adjuncts is never the right way to go.
Jul 01, 2011
Photo of spinrsx
Reviewed by spinrsx from Canada (ON)

2.58/5  rDev -5.5%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 3
500ml bottle poured into a pint glass

Appearance - pours a golden pale yellow with a huge foamy/fizzy white head. I can't see a whole lot of carbonation. There appears to be a slight amount of web like lacing. Head stuck around for a little while.

Smell - slight skunk, but also a very fresh crisp smell, lemon zest, hops, grassy notes

Taste & Mouth - low amount of carbonation, a very light nice taste. Not a huge amount of taste going on.. definitely not full bodied. A little watery. Hops at first, and a nice refreshing dry finish.

Drink - Not a terrible beer.. just nothing special.
Aug 16, 2010
Photo of JohnnyBarman
Reviewed by JohnnyBarman from Canada (ON)

2.24/5  rDev -17.9%
look: 2 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2
I ask for so little in my beer drinking, namely, that I can open the damned thing. This, however, was too much for Ochakovo, as I spent a good ten minutes trying to figure out how to unlock the beery goodness after snapping off the ring.

After opening, Ochakovo lager poured an aggressively boring light golden, with about a 1/2 inch of head that died almost on impact. Poor retention, no lacing. Hardly any visible carbonation.

The nose isn't bad for a Euro lager: malty and hoppy, with notes of lemon, biscuits and spice.

Hoppy and biscuity, with that lemon zing kicking around near the back, but overlaid with a skunky, watery taste. Drinkable, but only just.

Mouthfeel is watery, and the carbonation is quite low.

Bland, hard to open, skunky and undercarbonated. Pass.
Apr 17, 2010
Ochakovo Lager from Ochakovo
Beer rating: 70 out of 100 with 29 ratings