Bavaria Tyemnoye
Bavaria Brewery

I stumbled upon this in a small grocery store in Moscow, having failed to find it in its home town of St. Petersburg. Good looking tall brown half liter bottle with a long thin neck and a white, blue and copper colored label featuring the Bavarian flag, a shield featuring Munich's Bavaria status and the name in Russian (with the "i" replaced by the Bavaria statue) and German (in Fraktur). Ingredients conform to the purity law. Best before 4/11/05, I opened it the day I got it, 3/5/05.

Pours a nice clear dark copper hue under a one finger tan head with great retention but just a few spots of lace. The nose is mild, almost watery, with just a bit of caramel. The mouth is very prickly and light. The taste is good, starting with sweet caramel, neither too shy nor overly aggressive. The sweet is followed by a subdued but significant hoppy bitterness, lending very good balance to the whole deal. The aftertaste leans slightly towards the sweet. Very good rendition of the style.