Podkovanske Dia Pivo
Pivovar Podkováň

Found in a Moscow kiosk, this beer comes in a Czech standard brown half liter bottle with a gold and white label featuring a happy farmer character holding a liter of beer below his snow white beard as he straddles a wooden keg. Label claims a "minimum percentage of sugar," yet only lists barley malt, hops and water as ingredients. Best before 4/6/06, I opened it on 8/13/05.

Pours a slightly pale clear gold under a very slight 1/2 finger dirty white head that fades too quickly, leaving no traces. The nose is very earthy, of grass or peat, reminiscent of certain single malt whiskeys. There's even just a trace of smokiness. The mouth is sticky and fairly prickly. There is a bit of candy sweetness mixed with the malt taste, followed by a bit of hops, both spicey and metallic. The sweetness lingers longest, but a touch of dry bitter reasserts itself well into the aftertaste. This beer is definitely different. Globetrotterette was not impressed, but I found it interesting and enjoyable.