Krushka & Bochka Kvass
Pivovarinniy Zavod Samko

 

 

 

 

Thanks Michael. Served in a snifter. Beer is brown and slightly hazy with no head and low carbonation.

Aroma is malt syrup and this odd finish. Slightly grainy but mostly caramelized sugar.

Beer is thin and sweet, still on the palate, finish is grainy and bitter. It is like flat soda with a grainy aftertaste. Not a repeat but not the worst kvas I've had.

Pours a dark brown. Reddish tint. A touch of wie hed on the rim of the glass. Looks decent. Smells oxidized and malty. Lots of raisony charcteristics. Tastes sweet and malty. Lote of dark fruits. A bit watery. Bt surprisingly carbonated. Overall not that exciting but solid.

Thanks to brad for this one

A - cola esque. No foam. Dark brown body with clarity

S - spicy onion and ketchup

T - raisiny. Kinda funky but not in the good way. Syrupy.

M - uhhh. Thin and unpleasant

O - I don't like it. It's just a weird thing. It's barely beer. I dont know. Not recommended

So, I used to work at a discount food store and one day a pallet of this stuff showed up. So I bought a plastic bottle of it for 75 cents and gave it a shot. Later I learned I should have bought more; it’s made in the same town my gf is from (Penza) and she loves it. Who knew? Crazy Russians. Anyway, out of the plastic bottle this ‘beer’ was brown like a Coca Cola with a short lived head that quickly fizzled out to nothing. Very little lacing was present. The aroma was sweet and malty with notes of molasses, brown sugar, rye bread and yeast. The flavors were similar to a soda with a pungent note of fermentation at the very end. Lot of rye, molasses, raisins and a bit of caramel followed by a sour yeasty finish. Pleasant, but more like a soda than a beer. The body was light, the carbonation light and the mouthfeel thin. Very odd, but I’m glad I finally know what she was talking about when she said they’d drink Kvass all summer…

Krushka & Bochka Kvass
500 ml plastic bottle
$2.49 @ Whole Foods, Union Square, NYC

Krushka & Bochka translates to "Mug & Barrel". It's brewed in Russia, but it's a creation of Coke's Venturing And Emerging Brands Group.

It has the appearance of a typical, traditional kvas with a slightly hazy deep-brown body beneath a short-lived head of off-white foam. Some tiny bubbles can be seen here and there adhering to the sides of the glass, but its carbonation is very limited.

The smell is reminiscent of warm rye bread and sweet molasses. It's clean and welcoming.

The flavor is more malty, and it's gently sweet. There's a bit of raisin-like fruitiness behind that, and it becomes much clearer in the finish. It lingers with what can only be compared to dark Ukranian or Russian bread. Quite nice.

Overall it's one of the cleaner and more balanced kvass I've tasted. That's good in that it's relatively accessible, but I personally prefer kvas that has a little more character.

Served in a pint glass..upon tasting it would have been fine in a plastic cup

Thanks to TMoney2591 (the undisputed kvass king) for his generous donation to me of a style he knows I despise, yet here we are again.

This "beer" glugs from its plastic bottle into the pint glass with a brown cola like appearance to it. Taupe foam is not long lasting in the slightest. The aroma smells like cracked wheat bread or perhaps pumpernickel, either way it smells like tasty bread. However...it's is disgustingly sweet to the taste. The bread comes through tasting like it was covered in corn syrup. For a kvass it's actually not all that bad. For a beer, its disgusting. I could have used some carbonation on this one to help out the mouthfeel and the super sticky sweetness. Overall this was an average kvass, nothing exceptional about it. I still don't like these beers, but I can tolerate them...when cut by water or ice cubes...whatever is on hand.

Served in a Gale Sayers shaker pint glass.

Thanks to baconsausage for this bottle!

After too long o' delay, the Original Kvass Kick returns to the Original Kvass-Land. I've been itchin' for a new kvass for a couple weeks now, so let's dive in. It pours a clear dark garnet with no real head to speak of. Even some effort in pouring didn't yield much more than a few sparse bubbles on the surface. Sad, really. The nose comprises rye crust, fennel, honey, cola, mild roasted malts, and some even milder, lighter, airier cocoa in the back. The taste follows this formula, emphasizing the fennel and cola over the others without smothering them out altogether. A slice of sourdough and lightly tart berry cuts in near the finish to round things out. The body is a weak medium, with a lightly fizzy carbonation and a limply syrupy feel. Overall, not a bad kvass, really. Things are just bready enough to not be confused with root beer, but the feel was a little on the sad side for me.

Poured from 500mL plastic bottle into 400mL Radeburger Seidel.

Appearance: Cola colored, though darker than beverages such as Coca-Cola or Pepsi. No real head, just a few bubbles at the top that go away quickly. Many bubbles inside of this beer- it looks like a soda.

Smell: Some sugary sweetness, with sour yeasty aromas and a soy sauce note.

Taste: Begins with sweet, soda-like sugariness, finishing still sweet along with a bit of a sour bread flavor, a hint of yeast, and a slight rye spice.

Mouthfeel: Somewhat syrupy with very light carbonation and a sticky, refreshing finish.

Drinkability: This is an interesting beverage. I'm really unsure as to whether I would even consider Kvass to be beer (though, admittedly, this is the only one I've tried), but it's still an enjoyable drink. This could make a good summer refresher, and is a good change of pace from typical colas (more refreshing, as well, as it doesn't leave you thirsty afterwards). A unique drink certainly worth trying once- personally, I doubt I'll have this much, but it can be good from time-to-time.