Sergiyevo-Posadskoye #4
Ranova-Krasnaya

Comes in a standard brown half liter bottle with a gold, silver, red and black label lacking in distinction. Ingredients conform to the purity law. Best before 3/3/04, I opened it on 3/3/04. Good timing.

Very nice looking beer in the glass - deep clear gold under a two finger white head that lingers well, then settles to film and a healthy collar that deposits pretty extensive lacing down the glass. The nose is a bit off, perhaps due to age, but it has that sour watermelon smell that too many bad Russian beers have. Here, however, it is quite subdued. The mouth is quite prickly, and heavy with that same sour mash feel. While the taste features a bit of that sour-sweet malt, it is so refined as to be almost pleasant. There is also a fairly significant hoppy bite in the finish to clear the palate of that old watermelon. The aftertaste is bitter and malty, slightly metallic but not at all unpleasant. I expected this to be a drain pour, but I will not happily finish it!