Yarpivo Crystal Wheat (Kristalnoye Pshenichnoye)
Baltika Breweries

Standard brown half liter bottle with a silver label featuring the name in English and Russian, but not images at all, just lettering. Ingredients conform to the purity law. Best before 1/3/04, i opened it on 12/5/03.

Wheat, huh? Pours a clear gold under a thin white head that displays no retention. Sure, just like a wheat. The nose is almost non-existent, just like with most wheats. The mouth is prickly and slightly heavy. The taste opens with sweet malt, lacking any of the spice a wheat needs. There is just the tiniest hint of wheat taste here - if I didn't know this was supposed to be a wheat, I never would guess. Don't even ask about the hops. This is an uninspired lager, but an absolutely awful wheat beer. Run away!