Rio Gira
Lidl Lietuva

A thanks to the Czar of the Kvass kick, woodychandler, for this beer. Poured from a large, clear plastic bottle. Has an iced tea color with no head at all. Smell is mild, some cocoa powder. Taste is unusual, like Nestle Qwik powder added to water, a bit of malts. Feels light bodied in the mouth and overall, not terrible, but a strange take on the style, and one I will not need to drink again.

All of a sudden, the Kvass Kick is back up an running, Kamarades! There were three (3) of us who were hardcore for a while ( @TMoney , @NeroFiddled & @woodychandler ) until @UCLABrewN84 raised the question as to whether Kvass was worthy of or even merited inclusion. 8=( The wind left my sails as the debate protracted & I simply moved on. Time has borne me out & Kvass has a solid place on this site! Happy happy joy joy! Which brings me to my current, renewed interest. I took some Kvass to a monthly bottle share last Saturday & while it was not wildly received, it was still pooh-poohed by some attendees! 8={} I ALREADY fought in this battle & won! Now, I am simply drinking the fruits of my success in advance of tomorrow's visit from @tone77 who will get halvsies of everything from yesterday & today. Now, as I begin to close in on the end of this feat, the nomenclature changes as does the locale. This came from Lithuania (!), where Kvass is known as "Gira".

From the Bottle: "Rio Gira".

I unscrewed the plastic cap from the plastic bottle (!) 8=( & began a slow C-Line pour into my awaiting Saint-Petersburg souvenir glass, procured a few weeks ago at Otterbein Church's monthly Attic Treasures rummage sale. It was still another still Kvass, evincing no carbonation nor producing any head. Fine by me as I charged my glass up to the rim! More for me. Color was Brown to Dark Brown (SRM = > 22, < 27) with NE-quality clarity & ruby highlights. Pretty! Nose had the same sweetish quality as the previous Lithuanian Giro. Hmm. Bet I can guess what is coming … Mouthfeel was thin, but not watery. The taste was that same artificially flavored chocolate taffy flavor, just not as pronounced as in Chersi's example. Is this an example of the old Soviet bloc countries thumbing their nose at Mother Russia while still inspired by them? Interesting. Finish was semi-sweet, but all of the sugar is starting to add up. I'll be glad to finish up before @tone77 's arrival.