Ararat
Gyumri-Garejour LLC

 

 

A solid beer out of Armenia. Nothing too special, went down like a pilsner, nothing to write home about. A beer for a dive bar.

An Armenian brew? Ok, why not…? Poured from a green bottle with a screw off cap. Looks like a standard beer with average head and carbonation. Tastes like a generic pilsner (although classified as a European pale lager here on BA). Not a bad beer but really nothing memorable. If you were visiting Armenia and walked into a bar where this was sold, you could sit there all day drinking this stuff until you got thrown out of said bar like the obnoxious American tourist you are. Random foreign session beer at its unspectacular finest.

 

 

The pour is straw colored with a light amount of carbonation. The taste is green bottle skunk, grains, & mild hop bitterness. near the finish. Overall, it was good to try a beer from Armenia but this was one need some work. Cheers! C

 

 

 

I have NO idea how my local, in-person trader, @tone77 scores some of these beers, but when he makes a drop-off & pick-up, I am always excited to see what is new & really different. Armenian beer?!? GTFO! But it's true. 8=O I've personally never been to Armenia, but I am curious as to this beer, at least.

From the Bottle: "From the Lands of Original Armenian Beer"; "Bitter".

I anxiously Pop!ped off the cap, only to be confronted with the horrific realization that it was a screwed-up screw-off cap! 8=( No matter, since an aggro C-Line pour was then forthcoming. It did not do too badly, forming just over a finger of dense, foamy, rocky, bone-white head with decent retention, leaving modest lacing in its wake. Color was an oh-so-slightly-hazy Golden-Amber (SRM = > 5, < 7) & I could not tell if it was due to chill haze or low filtration rates. I can't really complain about either since that former may be my fault & I advocate for the latter. The nose was less vanilla & more butterscotch, which may be indicative of diacetyl. I usually cannot perceive it so you know that if I am remarking on it, there is a strong presence. Mouthfeel was medium, about par for the style. The taste was actually rather sweet, like honey-drizzled bread, but at the same time, there was an unabating presence of butterscotch. That's a no-no for the style, however, it did not render the beer undrinkable. I used to love & forgive Rolling Rock for its DMS until the A-B/InBev types decided to clean it up, making it taste just like so many others. This at least tasted like something & it was not really too bad, overall. Finish was kinda sweet, which is not really my bag, either. This is gonna be a tough one to rate. YMMV.

 

From the bottle, it pours a deep golden color with a lovely thick white head that stays around a bit. Some lacing as well.
Scent is clean and fresh, but not much else - could be my nose today. Taste is lightly malty and clean. Very light bitterness.

 

Poured from a green 16.9 oz. bottle. Has a golden color with a 1/2 inch head. Smell is of malts, hints of vanilla. Taste is malts, grains, light vanilla, highly refreshing. Feels medium/full bodied in the mouth and overall is a solid beer that exceeded my expectations.