Staraya Ratusha Tyemnoye
Sibirskoye Pivo

The name means "old bastion" - this is one in a series of four brews under the name. The bottle was a standard brown half liter, with a fairly stylish label. Ingredients complied with the purity law, this is an unpasteurized "live" beer with no conservatives. Nevertheless, the expiration date was about three weeks beyond the date I bought it.

Poured a decent reddish brown under a fairly thin off white head that managed to linger a while but left no lace. The nose was full of caramel and malt, while the mouth was sweet with medium body and average carbonation. The caramel flavors come out right from the start, but I waited in vain for the hoppy follow-up that would have made this a really good beer. Lacking a real finish, the aftertaste was sweet caramel. This brew has a lot of potential that went unfulfilled.