Brewery: Baltika Brewery, St. Petersburg, Russia

Brewery Description: “A lager beer produced using select varieties of pale and caramel malts and the best quality hops. This beer variety has light and harmonious aroma, mild malt taste and fine, “pure” hops bitternesss.”

Brew Style: Golden Pale Ale, 5.3% ABV

Recommended Glass: Dimpled mug, English pint, Lager, Shaker, Stein

The Ugly Truth: I love beers from Baltika Brewery. My local import beer store has a nice selection of them, so expect to see more of these in the future. One of the things I love is that they don’t even bother to name the beers. Their beers are identified only by number, hence Baltika 5. This is Baltika’s golden ale, similiar to an American blonde or a German kolsch sytle beer. Baltika 5 had a nice color to it, foamy white head and poured nicely. While I am not a huge fan of this particular style of beer, this was an enjoyable drink. It was light, crisp to the taste and the bitterness was minimal. I was drinking a 22oz bottle of it, and I did notice that the taste got a little much for me by the time I hit the bottom. However, this may just be due to the fact that I’m not a constant drinker of this style of beer, rather than there being anything wrong with it. Or maybe because I was trying to chug the last quarter of it because my daughter was slipping out of my grasp and I needed both hands. Regardless, it was a good beer in the overall and I recommend giving it a try.

Verdict: “Baltika 5″ will henceforth be called “Baltika 5+2″ since it rates a 7 out of 10