Buket Chuvashii Svetloye
Bouquet Of Chuvashia (Cheboksarskaya Pivovariya)

Chuvashia considers itself the Bavaria of Russia, with the country's highest output of hops. And "Buket Chuvashia" is the biggest brewer in the Republic. And Svetloye is their flagship product. Fortunately for them, the beer delivers. Standard brown half-liter bottle with a pretty busy green and white label featuring a hop leaf. Rice and sugar are ingredients. Bottled on 9/12/03, it was delivered to me in Moscow by a colleague. I opened it on 9/27/03.

Good deep clear gold under a thin white head that fizzled quickly but left a decent film across the top and a healthy collar. Just a couple drops of lace, however. The nose is full of grassy hops. The mouth is fairly light and very carbonated. The taste is mostly grass, with a touch of sugar. Not much malt. The grassy tones turn to a nice hoppy bitterness in the finish, leaving a crisp aftertaste. There's a tinge of metal in there somewhere, but it doesn't disturb. This brew has quite a unique taste to it, and one that grows on you.