Yellow Barrel Kvass (Желтая Бочка - Zheltaya Bochka)
OOO Zavod Trehsosenskiy (Завод Трехсосенский)

15.21 Fl. Oz can
Served in a stemless wine glass

This beer pours dark brown with some ruby highlights. It is topped with a fleeting head that leaves spotty lacing.

Sweet aroma. Gingerbread. Molasses cookie.

Sweet, Molasses cookie.

Thin bodied with a watery mouthfeel

Kinda desserty with the whole molasses cookie vibe.

 

Poured from .5 liter can into nonic pint glass. It resembles iced tea with a large, fluffy, light khaki head and thin film of lacing. It smells of bready malts with caramel and a whiff of molasses. It tastes as though rye bread were dipped in cola. It's quite sweet with a base of rye bread and subtle spicing. I like the hint of molasses. There is little bitterness. The mouth feel is thicker than soda with fairly lively carbonation. The 1.2% ABV is barely noticeable. Overall, it's hard to think of Kvass as "beer" but I appreciate it as a soft drink.

2/25/24 Poured from a 500ml can purchased from the Kiev International Market in Pittsburgh, Pa.

Head quickly disappeared and no lacing.

Bready, yeasty, sweet malty, cracker, sugar syrup on the nose.

Carbonation not strong.

Sweeter than expected, but we consider American soda dead sweet. This by comparison is much less sweet. Thin in body.

Taste is very close to carbonated apple juice with tea added (like an apple flavored sweet tea!) Very little aftertaste.

Found this to be refreshing and if traveling abroad in eastern Europe/Asia, this would be something i would seek out.

Poured into a pint glass. Color is a dark, rich amber or copper brown. Transparent. Lacing had little retention.

Aroma: cinnamon, caramel, candied apples, dark bread, prunes, vanilla, roasted barley.

Taste: Really tasting the brown bread, cinnamon, and candied apples. Both a little acidic and sweet, a delightful mixture. Body feels crisp and well-carbonated, medium.

Pours with vigorous foam that disappears instantly. Hints of candied apple and cinnamon stick barely come through on the nose. The sip follows, with a gentle effervescence.

Pours a clear dark amber, brief cola head, no retention or lacing. Nose is sour brown bread, prunes, cola, light vanilla, roasted barley. Taste is not as sour as the nose, with mild lemon sourness matched by a medicinal, stewed fruit flavor with light sweetness. What I imagine Dr. Pepper with 90% less sugar would taste light. Mouthfeel is crisp and clean like a soda, though with smaller and pricklier carbonation. A pretty good beverage!

Pours a clear dark amber with modest foam. Quite spritzy on the tongue and somewhat tangy. Taste is so much like Coca Cola, but less complex. Quite a caramel and roasted grain taste. Plenty sweet but not unpleasantly so. Interesting that it's not quite alcohol free, but not noticeable in sipping. It's a better than average Kvass. I like the Russian spelling-- Желтая бочка. From the 500 ml can purchased at an Eastern Europe deli on the West Coast. Dated 26.01.2022.

Full transparency up front: This is my first kvass, so this review is based on my best guess based on reading about the kvass style, and my overall opinion based on this single sampling.

A: Dark copper-brown, and transparent. A small head forms with pouring into the glass then fades quickly (much like a soft drink would). There is no lacing once it's gone.

S: Black bread. That's it.

T: A bit more interesting and pleasant than the nose, but still not complex. Brown bread flavors are huge. It's slightly sweet, but by no means cloying. It has a slightly acidic note late that fades to leave a faintly sweet, bready flavor that lingers long into the finish.

M: Nicely carbonated, but thinner than all but the lightest of beers.

O: Certainly not something I'll be reaching for on a daily or even weekly basis. But it made for a nice change of pace, and I can see really enjoying this on a hot day when the low ABV won't threaten me with dehydration.