Gold Pulsar
Samarqand 1-Son Pivo Zavodi “Pulsar”

Standard brown half-liter bottle with gold label featuring a winged white leopard with front paws perched on a beer keg.. Purity law – I think, if I read the Uzbek language ingredient list correctly. Best before 1/29/04, I opened it on 11/16/03.

Deep clear gold under a very thin two-fingered head with lots of big bubbles. Off-white head gone in no time, leaving just a thin patchy film and a bit of a sickly collar. Slightly sour fruity nose is almost medicinal. Very prickly, fairly heavy and sour mouth. Taste opens with sour citrus, but not because it’s bad – this is what it is designed to taste like. There’s a substantial hoppy bitterness in the finish that is only slightly metallic. The aftertaste is both bitter and sour. I expected to hate this after the sight and the smell, but it wasn’t really that bad. Or that good.