Ochakovo Premium Rubin
Ochakovo

A- Good pour with little head. Looks like brewed tea.

S- Smells like malty tea, almost sweet.

T- Whew, tastes like bitter tea mixed with beer. I feel like I need sugar.

M- Bitter on the tongue, I think it might go well on a super hot day.

D- Hot day beer would be good.

Coming in a clear, slim 500ml bottle, filtered, w/o showing freshness info. Served chilled in a straight imperial pint glass. The label reads "Opakobo"; I guess that has to do with "Ruby" or the sort?

A: the colour in the bottle looks pretty ruby, yet it pours into the glass a rather dark copper-ish hue; the beige fluffy beer head builds up slowly and retreats fast, on top of sporadic fizziness.
S: the caramely malt's sweet note comes in full force, but not unpleasant; underlined by some sour-sweet fruitiness like sweetened cherries and raisins, while the abundant supply of burned sugar smacks a bit of pasteurisation. Shallow, lack of form and body.
T: a flow of richly-flavoured sour-sweet dried fruits (a touch of Chinese licorice-prune), brown-sugar, and caramel prevail from the very first second on the palate, accompanied with milder hints of caramelised berry-fruits... a little sweet tea-ish undertone gradually develops and lingers, while the residual hoppiness and burned-sugar (as in a Munich Dunkel or Bock) both lend some chewy, and slghtly dryish-bitter, mouthfeel in the end. Quite clean in the finish, w/o much unpleasant sticky sugarness.
M&D: slightly fizzy upfront, but tolerable on the balance; the body remains medium and the sweet palate never gets OTT. Overall, this Vienna lager drinks pretty well, showing some hop profile in the aftertaste and thus balances off the malty body nicely. If it gets a fuller body and more colourful taste, it can be more a quaffable one.

This could be a red ale, rather than a lager. Doubt it though, as the brewery produces no other ales. Comes in a tall, clear half liter bottle with a red, gold, black and white label featuring the brewery's coat of arms above the name. Rubin means "ruby." Ingredients conform to the purity law. Best within 8 months of the 10/01/05 fill date, I opened it on 12/10/05.

Pours a clear ruby red under a one finger tan head that lingers long and leaves some nice lace strings. Slightly tangy, fruity nose hints of cherry and cinnamon. The mouth is light and very prickly. Smooth, slightly sweet fruity flavor, a bit syrupy but quite refreshing. The very little hops provide just a shadow of a bite buried deep under sweet fruity syrup. Although ultimately disappoint, as it never really develops a presence of its own, it has its strengths, and isn't a bad quaffer if nothing better is available.