Chechskiy Standart Klassicheskoye
Krasny Vostok

 

Brilliant yellow-gold with a sparse cloud of wispy floaters. The toasted ecru cap is the most attractive part of the appearance. It's large, semi-creamy and decently sticky. Unfortunately, very little lace finds its way to the glass. In the end, I'm not that impressed.

The nose is classic Euro pale lager, only less noble hoppy. It's hard to say whether a lack of musty, borderline skunky hops in a beer of this style is a net positive or a net negative. In any case, the aroma doesn't make me want to take a swig.

I didn't think it was possible to taste alcohol in a beer with an ABV less than 5.0%. The flavor profile consists of a lackluster pale maltiness along with a lackluster noble hoppiness... and alcohol. CSK tastes like a Euro strong lager more than a Euro pale lager. It's much more bitter than sweet, only not in a good way. This is not good beer by any stretch of the imagination.

The mouthfeel is decent in that it doesn't collapse into a watery puddle as soon as beer enters mouth. It still doesn't achieve averageness, even when average is considered in the context of the average EPL.

Chechskiy Standart Klassicheskoye (Czech Standard as my label reads) is yet another crapilicious beer from Krasniy Vostok. I wish there was some sort of dating on the label because this bottle may have seen better days. Still, I could find any number of ways to better spend $2.19. Steer clear if you know what's good for you.

Pours a four-finger white head that goes slowly leaving some lace. Clear pale amber color. Good carbonation and medium bodied. Grassy, sweet nose. Starts malty, good hop/malt finish, better than I was expecting - decent pale not nearly as hoppy as APA. $2.45 for a 500ml bottle from Blanchard's Allston, Ma.

What a pleasant surprise! Pours a deep clear golden hue under a white head just a tad on the bubbly side. The head lingers long, but leaves surprisingly little lace. The nose is full of malt and flowery hops, while the mouth is heavy with malt. The taste is great - nice malty start, chased by a good hoppy finish with just enough sweetness. The aftertaste is a healthy hop bitterness. Good stuff!