Russian Gift Kvass (Русский Дар Квас)
Deka Brewery
- From:
- Deka Brewery
- Russia
- Style:
- Kvass
- ABV:
- 1.2%
- Score:
- +4 ratings needed
- Avg:
- 3.52 | pDev: 5.4%
- Ratings:
- | reviews: 5
- Status:
- Active
- Rated:
- Jul 04, 2021
- Added:
- Mar 28, 2011
- Wants:
- 0
- Gots:
- 0
NO SCORE
-
-
Produced at Deka but owned by PepsiCo.
Recent ratings and reviews.
Reviewed by emerge077 from Illinois
3.72/5 rDev +5.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.72/5 rDev +5.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Dark brown with reddish highlights. A finger of tan foam that stays when poured in a dry glass, and breaks to a patchy skim after a few sips.
Smells faintly of raisin bread toast, and tastes a lot more like it. Sweet with a little tartness, well carbed like soda. Dark rye bread crust aftertaste. Light bodied and thin. Overall ok for a commercial kvass, about what you’d expect. No great shakes. Zero English on the label, all I could figure out was “4%” and “1918”. From Eurostyle Deli in Skokie, IL.
Kvass #42
Jul 04, 2021Smells faintly of raisin bread toast, and tastes a lot more like it. Sweet with a little tartness, well carbed like soda. Dark rye bread crust aftertaste. Light bodied and thin. Overall ok for a commercial kvass, about what you’d expect. No great shakes. Zero English on the label, all I could figure out was “4%” and “1918”. From Eurostyle Deli in Skokie, IL.
Kvass #42
Reviewed by tone77 from Pennsylvania
3.28/5 rDev -6.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
3.28/5 rDev -6.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
A thanks to the Czar of the Kvass kick, woodychandler, for this beer. Poured from a brown plastic bottle, looks like maybe a pint in size. Has a black color with no head at all. Smell is mild, bready. Taste is sweet, bready, molasses. Feels medium/light bodied in the mouth and overall is decent, but a bit to sweet for my liking.
Feb 27, 2019
Reviewed by woodychandler from Pennsylvania
3.57/5 rDev +1.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
3.57/5 rDev +1.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
All of a sudden, the Kvass Kick is back up an running, Kamarades! There were three (3) of us who were hardcore for a while ( @TMoney , @NeroFiddled & @woodychandler ) until @UCLABrewN84 raised the question as to whether Kvass was worthy of or even merited inclusion. 8=( The wind left my sails as the debate protracted & I simply moved on. Time has borne me out & Kvass has a solid place on this site! Happy happy joy joy! Which brings me to my current, renewed interest. I took some Kvass to a monthly bottle share last Saturday & while it was not wildly received, it was still pooh-poohed by some attendees! 8={} I ALREADY fought in this battle & won! Now, I am simply drinking the fruits of my success in advance of tomorrow's visit from @tone77 who will get halvsies of everything today & tomorrow.
From the Bottle: "Русский Дар Квас".
I unscrewed the plastic cap from the plastic bottle (!) 8=( & began a slow C-Line pour into my awaiting Saint-Petersburg souvenir glass, procured a few weeks ago at Otterbein Church's monthly Attic Treasures rummage sale. It was still another still Kvass, evincing no carbonation nor producing any head. Fine by me as I charged my glass up to the rim! More for me. The color was back to Dark Brown to Very Dark Brown (SRM = > 27, < 34) with cola highlights, evincing the idea that color varies widely within this style. Nose was much more like what I expect in & of this style - slightly sour dried, dark fruits, especially prunes & raisins, accompanied by a mild breadiness. Speaking of the former, it is starting to feel as though today's adventure may be taking hold. Mouthfeel was less thin & watery than usual, which may seem like damning with faint praise, but it was actually a step up from the norm. The taste was actually rather pronounced in terms of its sour sharpness. I would counter that such is to be expected from fermented rye bread, but YMMV. This was not as sharp as Moskvas Classic(al), but it was way sharper than most of the Nikola entries. Phew. Finish was semi-dry & highly refreshing, which is its intended purpose.
Feb 23, 2019From the Bottle: "Русский Дар Квас".
I unscrewed the plastic cap from the plastic bottle (!) 8=( & began a slow C-Line pour into my awaiting Saint-Petersburg souvenir glass, procured a few weeks ago at Otterbein Church's monthly Attic Treasures rummage sale. It was still another still Kvass, evincing no carbonation nor producing any head. Fine by me as I charged my glass up to the rim! More for me. The color was back to Dark Brown to Very Dark Brown (SRM = > 27, < 34) with cola highlights, evincing the idea that color varies widely within this style. Nose was much more like what I expect in & of this style - slightly sour dried, dark fruits, especially prunes & raisins, accompanied by a mild breadiness. Speaking of the former, it is starting to feel as though today's adventure may be taking hold. Mouthfeel was less thin & watery than usual, which may seem like damning with faint praise, but it was actually a step up from the norm. The taste was actually rather pronounced in terms of its sour sharpness. I would counter that such is to be expected from fermented rye bread, but YMMV. This was not as sharp as Moskvas Classic(al), but it was way sharper than most of the Nikola entries. Phew. Finish was semi-dry & highly refreshing, which is its intended purpose.
Reviewed by Oleg85 from Russian Federation
3.25/5 rDev -7.7%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 3.25
3.25/5 rDev -7.7%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 3.25
Pours dark brown color with thin decteasing head. Smells caramel and rye bread crust. Very sweet. Tasted sugar. Faint taste of crust. Perfect carbonation. Too sweet, not enough fermentation.
Jan 14, 2016
Reviewed by NeroFiddled from Pennsylvania
3.73/5 rDev +6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
3.73/5 rDev +6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Deka's Russkiy Dar ("Russian gift") Natural Kvas pours a very dark, almost black mahogany-brown body with clear, deep russett brown highlights beneath a bubbly tan head that barely rises before it's gone. Once it's dropped, however, a pretty full surface covering of big bubbles are left behind. It looks like a glass of cola, and like a cola, the bubbles soon fade to just a collar.
The aroma is malty (very much like "Malta" or unfermented wort) and fruity, displaying dark-skinned fruits wrapped in almost-burnt sugar. A hint of mintiness is present as well.
In the mouth it's medium-light bodied with a very restrained carbonation. It's very soft, and more like the traditional flat kvas than most other commercial examples.
The flavor displays the same caramel and fruit blend that the nose suggests. It's initially caramelish with a light dusting of cocoa, but that quickly changes as the fruit comes forward. It's just slightly tart, and more like cherry than anything else. It quickly fades at the swallow, unlike most versions that tend to linger stickily; and it's quite clean and smooth without any astringency. It lingers shortly with notes of malt that display golden caramel and toffee; and a bit of "cola" character.
Overall, this is a really nicely done kvas. It's nicely balanced and rounded from start to finish, but it also offers some complexity, and a refreshing bit of light acidity. The cola flavor isn't exactly traditional (although Birch sap, mint, and other herbs do have a history in the style), but seeing as how this is a Pepsi product (contract brewed by Deka), that seems to make a whole lot of sense.
Mar 28, 2011The aroma is malty (very much like "Malta" or unfermented wort) and fruity, displaying dark-skinned fruits wrapped in almost-burnt sugar. A hint of mintiness is present as well.
In the mouth it's medium-light bodied with a very restrained carbonation. It's very soft, and more like the traditional flat kvas than most other commercial examples.
The flavor displays the same caramel and fruit blend that the nose suggests. It's initially caramelish with a light dusting of cocoa, but that quickly changes as the fruit comes forward. It's just slightly tart, and more like cherry than anything else. It quickly fades at the swallow, unlike most versions that tend to linger stickily; and it's quite clean and smooth without any astringency. It lingers shortly with notes of malt that display golden caramel and toffee; and a bit of "cola" character.
Overall, this is a really nicely done kvas. It's nicely balanced and rounded from start to finish, but it also offers some complexity, and a refreshing bit of light acidity. The cola flavor isn't exactly traditional (although Birch sap, mint, and other herbs do have a history in the style), but seeing as how this is a Pepsi product (contract brewed by Deka), that seems to make a whole lot of sense.
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