Barrel (Бочковой) Kvass
Afanasy
NO SCORE
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Remember the taste of real kvass! Remember how on a hot July day we gathered with cans near a big yellow barrel with a large inscription “KBACH"? How greedily we took a big sip of a cool fresh drink. Without queuing and cans, the bottle is only opened for us at the present barrel!
Recent ratings and reviews.
Reviewed by tone77 from Pennsylvania
3.24/5 rDev -10.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
3.24/5 rDev -10.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
A thanks to the Czar of the Kvass kick, woodychandler, for this beer. Poured from a large, brown plastic bottle. Has a very dark brown color with no head at all. Smell is full of dark breads. Taste is surprisingly tart, lots of bready malts, a bit of prunes. Feels medium/light bodied in the mouth and overall is decent, but one is enough.
Mar 06, 2019
Reviewed by woodychandler from Pennsylvania
3.67/5 rDev +1.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
3.67/5 rDev +1.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | 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: "Бочковой 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. Color was Dark Brown to Very Dark Brown (SRM = > 27, < 34), which I am coming to think is the standard for the style. It had NE-quality clarity, allowing me to take in its cola highlights. Nose had a definite sourness like proofing sourbread dough. If bread is the basis for Kvass, then this one was right there! Mouthfeel was thin, but not as watery as some. The taste was both sour and tart, puckering initially and then catching me in the hinges of my jaw! The tartness was almost lemon-like, but I was still tasting the usual prune/raisin combination. Just when I thought that I had experienced everything that this style has to offer, this one really blindsided me. I actually relished its challenging nature since a curiosity about it was what drew me to the style in the first place. I would guess that this is the most authentic one yet. Finish was dry, tart, highly refreshing. That is the point - to be a thirst quencher on summer days & this succeeded. I have to admit that I was getting fatigued until this one. Many of the others tended to be sweet, too sweet for my taste, but not this one! Good thing that I took my acid reflux pill earlier. Phew.
Feb 23, 2019From the Bottle: "Бочковой 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. Color was Dark Brown to Very Dark Brown (SRM = > 27, < 34), which I am coming to think is the standard for the style. It had NE-quality clarity, allowing me to take in its cola highlights. Nose had a definite sourness like proofing sourbread dough. If bread is the basis for Kvass, then this one was right there! Mouthfeel was thin, but not as watery as some. The taste was both sour and tart, puckering initially and then catching me in the hinges of my jaw! The tartness was almost lemon-like, but I was still tasting the usual prune/raisin combination. Just when I thought that I had experienced everything that this style has to offer, this one really blindsided me. I actually relished its challenging nature since a curiosity about it was what drew me to the style in the first place. I would guess that this is the most authentic one yet. Finish was dry, tart, highly refreshing. That is the point - to be a thirst quencher on summer days & this succeeded. I have to admit that I was getting fatigued until this one. Many of the others tended to be sweet, too sweet for my taste, but not this one! Good thing that I took my acid reflux pill earlier. Phew.
Reviewed by NeroFiddled from Pennsylvania
3.92/5 rDev +8.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
3.92/5 rDev +8.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Afanasy's Bockovoj Kas pours the typically dark brown, almost cola-like body that's expected of the style with very little head, and none that really lasts.
In the nose it's caramelish, and perhaps even a touch molasses-like, with some dark fruit skins in the background.
The flavor is similar with an added note of tartness; and the dark fruit opens up with lots of dark raisin. It's malty, bready, and fairly flavorful without being overtly sweet as some can be - there's actually a really nice balance going on between the mild tartness and the caramel character. Not surprisingly, it also finishes dryer than most, with just a little bit of malty stickiness lingering.
The mouthfeel, not unlike the appearance, is fairly typical. It's light-medium in body, but it also has a bit of a syrupy edge to it. A very moderate carbonation rounds it out.
Overall it's one of the better kvass that I've tasted flavor-wise; and it's also very clean and well balanced. Worth trying.
Jun 01, 2011In the nose it's caramelish, and perhaps even a touch molasses-like, with some dark fruit skins in the background.
The flavor is similar with an added note of tartness; and the dark fruit opens up with lots of dark raisin. It's malty, bready, and fairly flavorful without being overtly sweet as some can be - there's actually a really nice balance going on between the mild tartness and the caramel character. Not surprisingly, it also finishes dryer than most, with just a little bit of malty stickiness lingering.
The mouthfeel, not unlike the appearance, is fairly typical. It's light-medium in body, but it also has a bit of a syrupy edge to it. A very moderate carbonation rounds it out.
Overall it's one of the better kvass that I've tasted flavor-wise; and it's also very clean and well balanced. Worth trying.
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