Nicola for Okroshka Kvass (Никола для Окрошка Квас)
Deka Brewery

 

My local, in-person trader, tone77, dropped off the remainder of a 2L bottle that he had scored somewhere and I was frankly surprised by it. I was an original member of The Kvass Kick (TM) a few years ago, then we came under attack by some who believed that it should not be characterized as beer. I grew tired of the battle and kind of fell out of love with it, but being that things have settled, I am happy to get back into a rare and different style.

From the bottle: Lots of Cyrillic lettering, but as NeroFiddled explained, this version of the style is meant for cooking a blend of garden vegetables, hence the radishes, onions and parsley on the label. It also accounts for tone77's V8 remark.

This was very flat on the pour, possibly from repeated openings, although I have had several versions of the style that were not terribly carbonated. Color was a deep dark-brown with little to no light penetration. Nose smelled more like chocolate fudge than vegetables. Mouthfeel was thin, watery, probably due to the lack of carbonation. The taste was definitely vegetal but with a chocolaty flavor also. I do not know quite how to quantify the taste, but it was like a chocolate carrot cake in that it mixed vegetables in with the sweetness. Bizarre! Finish was semi-sweet, refreshing and a little would go a long way.

Poured from a brown plastic 67.6 oz. bottle. Has a black color with a very small head. Smell is of rye and malts. Taste is not so good. a lot of veggies, some malt and rye, V8 juice meets Malta? Feels light in the mouth and overall, not terrible, but not really to my liking.

Okroshka is a cold Russian soup made with kvass and chopped up vegetables, hence the radishes, spring onions, and greens on the label. That said, this version is actually intended for cooking. It's less expensive than other versions; and upon tasting it I find it a little lighter than most of the other versions I've sampled. My guess would be that it's made with more sugar/syrup than the most. Like Okroshka, however, it's still quite refreshing. I decided to make some Okroshka with vegetables from my garden, and after a few minutes in the sun I was ready a cold, tall glass.

Served in a Gale Sayers shaker pint glass.

Don't ya just love when you stumble upon a pile o' new kvass bottles at your local international market? Especially when the Kvass Kick looked to be slightly stalled? I know I do. This one pours a clear deep ruby-brown topped by a couple fingers of somewhat short-lived fizzy ecru froth. Honestly, it's one of the better kvass heads I've seen lately. The nose comprises rye bread, sourdough, pumpernickel, and light maple syrup. The taste is where this variety really deviates from the usual Nicola. The normal notes of watery root beer, fennel, and sourdough are joined and slightly o'ershadowed by a strange vegetable melange (kinda like the salad depicted on the label, actually). It's really off-putting, especially when juxtaposed with the usual flavors. Some cherry tomatoes linger in the aftertaste lounge. The body is a light medium, with a lightly fizzy carbonation and a watery/syrupy feel. Overall, not quite my favorite from the Kick, though it's leaning close to the bottom.