Zavodskoye
Norilskiy Pivovarinniy Zavod

Check your globes, boys and girls. This beer comes from the former Siberian penal colony, now nickle and cobalt mining city of Norilsk, just below the Arctic Circle and about as far from civilization as one can get on this earth. No roads, no trains and no boats make it here. You fly (four hours northeast from Moscow), or walk. Colleagues were there last week (the temperature reached a high of -28C or -18 F - nice place) and brought me back a bottle.

The beer comes in a standard shaped green bottle with a way cool green and gold label distinguished by the chemical symbols for nickle and cobalt surrounding the logo. The brewery's coat of arms features one big hops cluster hanging from the initials NP. Ingredients conform to the purity law. Best before 3/12/04, I opened it on 3/8/04.

This is supposedly a "live" (i.e. unpasteurized) brew. It poured a clear orangish-gold tone under a 1 finger white head that settled quickly to thick film, but then lasted almost all the way through the session, leaving some very nice lacing on the glass. The nose is mild and somewhat sweet, with just a hint of the sourmash smell so common in cheaper Russian beers. The mouth was prickly and medium-bodied. There's a mild sourmash malt flavor, with just the tiniest hint of hops in the finish. The aftertaste is clean, with just a hint of malt. Certainly not a great beer, but I was expecting horrible, so was pleasantly surprised.