Permyakov Lyegkoye Pivo
Pivovariya Solenoukhov

This standard brown half-liter bottle looks great. The top is covered by parchment like orange and yellow paper with a string tied around the top and sealed with wax. The label itself is very impressive, featuring two black bears on their hind legs facing each other, with a keg end behind them. The back label features the other end of the keg, with what looks like two-by-fours connecting the two. Great label.

One must never judge a beer by its packaging. This stuff stinks from the moment you pop the cap then remove the rubber seal that sticks to the top of the bottle. It pours the color of pale tea under an awful light tan head that is also tea like in that it is very thin, not at all fizzy and full of huge bubbles. The bubbles stay, managing to literally make the stomach turn just by their appearance. The nose is powerful - swamp water and rotten watermelon. The mouth is very, very lightly carbonated and thin. The taste is awful - more bad watermelon, plus some bad prunes, all mixed with some sour mash that is months beyond its prime. There is no finish, no aftertaste, indeed no malt or hops. I tried desperately to find any redeeming qualities in this brew, but failed completely. If ever faced with this again, I'll beg for Bud Light.

For the record: ingredients list includes sugar. Best before 3/1/04, I opened it, much to my chagrin, on 2/20/04.