Hamovnicheskoye
Pivzavod AO Hamovnikov /Gaven v Khamovnikakh

Pours a one finger white head that fades to a thin layer leaving a good lace. Almost clear, light amber color. Light carbonation and light-medium bodied. Sweet honey nose. Starts sweet honey like, not cloying, more hops at finish; wierd rusty water aftertaste. Fortunately did not find any of the dark brown flakes that BuckeyeNation found. $1.89 for a 500ml bottle from Lina's Beverages Painesville, OH.

Murky lemon-amber containing some disturbing floaters in the form of dark brown flakes and small slivers of what look like wood pulp. I can't believe that I'm actually going to ingest this stuff. The head is dirty white with an intensely pocked surface and a reasonable degree of tackiness. My score will have to find some middle ground between the respectable head and the scary looking beer beneath.

The aroma doesn't make me recoil in horror, but neither is it anything that I'd care to smell again unless forced. It smells stale, artificial and ever so slightly beer-like. I might be smelling some mutant variety of hop, but then again, I might not be.

Nasty, no question about it. This stuff resembles beer only in the most superficial sense. It tastes like diseased grain and chemicals to which a small amount of actual beer has been added so that those four little letters on the label (b..e..e..r) are not a lie. The harsh metallic character, which usually detracts from the flavor, might actually be an improvement here. Thin, lifeless body.

I have searched long and hard to find something positive to say about Hamovnicheskoye and have settled on this, 'I have a strong gag reflex, yet this beer did not quite trigger it'. I didn't get too far into the bottle, partly because of the flavor, but also because I was afraid of the identity of those unidentified floaters. Don't even think about buying this beer if you have any BA self respect whatsoever.

Just got finished with a 500 ml bottle which will make a nice collectible. The beer, however, is a different story. The beer poured somewhat murky, almost unfiltered. The head was thin and quickly dissipated with absolutely no lacing. There was very little aroma to this beer which probably is a highlight since the beer itself tasted tinny and had the mouthfeel of dirty water. I think I have found the beer I don't like.

This was kind of a mess. A nice 500ml bottle poured out some soapy, golden looking brew, with a thin, white head of foam. The aromas were of metal, grass, and some other unmentionables. The taste is quite soapy, metallic, and bitter, with some really nasty funk in there as well. The mouthfeel is thin and soapy and the drinkability is crap. Avoid this one.

From a half liter brown bottle, with a smiling bar maid on the label. A very vigorous pour leaves little head, and what there was a mostly big soapy bubbles. Golden yellow, with a slight haze. No aroma to speak of.

Taste: YUCK! Grass and burnt oak wood leaps to mind when a take a sip. It leaves a long lasting/nasty taste. The label says that it is an experimental brewery and they appear to be experimenting on unpleasant tastes.

Reviewed for you so you don't have to: pass it by!

The bottled version is a disaster. Pours a pale gold with a very thin head that disappears immediately. The smell is sickly sweet and sour. The smell is like bad lime soda. The taste is about the same. There are some hops in the finish, but they fight the sweetness to be noticed. A look at the label reveals rice and corn as major ingredients. Yuck!

The label on the bottle has what looks like some stoner guy on LSD with a keg strapped around his neck and he’s hoisting up a mug of beer. This one poured a slightly hazy pale yellow color and had a thin white head. The aroma reminded me of cooked vegetables – especially asparagus – and dare I say, urine?? Metallic taste overwhelmed the grainy character and any maltiness this beer had. Almost seems like this one has been in the bottle too long. (I mean it came all the way from Russia!) Not good. I would avoid this beer in the future.

From the State Factory "Experimental Drinks Factory in Khamovniki" - ...harkening back to a time when Gorbachev's drive against alcohol forced breweries into mothballs or turned them into soft drink factories. Thankfully, they are brewing beer again!

It pours a slightly hazy golden body that's topped by a full and frothy bright-white head that holds fairly well, nd then drops to a thin surface covering and leaves some very nice lace throughout the glass. The nose expresses sweet malt with some light wine-like fruitiness up-front, a bit of alcohol, and some delicate floral and grassy hops in the background. The medium/light body is accentuated by it's exceptionally fine and moderate carbonation, leaving it smooth and creamy in the mouth. The flavor starts with a fruity, sweetish, and grainy malt but reveals some herbal hop flavor as it crosses the palate. It finishes only semi-dry with a lingering sweet malt note that eventually erodes to reveal the mild bitterness underneath. An interesting beer with a unique character. It's certainly much more flavorful than many Euro-lagers, although it does fall toward the sweet side of the scale. Still, it's worthy of note for its uniqueness.