Romanovskoye Zolotoye
Romanovskiy Produkt

Found in Moscow's biggest discount grocer, this stubby brown 1/3 liter bottle features a bulge in the neck and a red and gold label featured a crowned horseman above the name. "Cold filtered" is etched on the glass. Ingredients conform to the purity law. Best before 7/3/06, I opened it on 5/8/06.

Pours a pale yellow gold under a 1 finger off-white head that disappears in an instance, leaving no trace at all either on the glass or on the liquid. The nose right on the pour was strong with bad watermelon, but once the head was gone, things settled down to a tastier malt and a touch of metallic hops. The mouth is very prickly and surprisingly heavy. The taste is pretty standard: Sweet grape and grain malt, followed by a mildly acidic metallic hops bitter. The bitter lingers and moderates a bit in the finish, leaving a decent, but hardly inspiring impression.