Bohemia
Pivovariya Ivana Taranova

I stumbled upon this new product in a central Moscow supermarket. Standard brown half liter bottle with yellow and gold label featuring a crowned lion sticking its tongue out under the name (in English) and the brewery's trademark biplane in a seal at the top. Ingredients conform to the purity law. Best before 1/16/06, I opened it on 9/3/05.

Pours clear gold under a 1 finger white head that fades reasonably slowly, leaving some decent lace strings down the glass. Nice malt and metallic hop nose. Light and very prickly mouth. This is a respectable rendition of the style, with good grainy malts to start and a significant hop presence backing it up. The hops are a bit on the metallic side, leaving a slightly rusty impression, but the malts are solid enough to overcome the rough edge, leaving a pretty satisfying brew. Easily the best pale brew this company has produced to date (which ain’t saying much).