Where My Obsessions Collide: Avery Brewing - The Czar (Colorado)

Wine enthusiasts often scoff at the sight of a catchy label or wine name. Even with my wine purchases at a minimum, the influence of sommelier relatives and friends with good taste has led me to stray far from bottles advertising adorable animals, movie stars, and the like.

Anyone who has had a beer in the past fifteen years knows that this is not the case with beer. Names like "Arrogant Bastard" (Oaked being my personal favorite), "Old Leghumper," and "The Edmund Fitzgerald" (either commemorating the shipwreck or that epic Gordon Lightfoot tune) prove that not only can names be out there, but so can the taste of the beer contained within.

This brings me to tonight's beer, "The Czar," courtesy of Avery Brewing Company. The name alone made me happy, let alone the bottle design: a backdrop of the double-headed eagle and the featured portraits of three Romanov Tsars. Not that I'm advocating tsardom, imperialism, or any of the like. But come on, what isn't awesome about 300 years of ruthless - or just plain oblivious in the case of Nicholas II - rule in possibly one of the most complex countries on planet earth? If you answered "nothing," then we clearly have to be friends.

Anyway, back to the beer. It's an Imperial Stout...go figure. For years, I had a bit of an aversion to stouts, primarily because all I had been introduced to was Guinness. People might hate me for this statement, but I just never really liked it all that much. Too much hype, too little substance. Then I began trying Imperial Stouts, Belgian Stouts, Coffee Stouts, etc. and suddenly the world changed. Stouts are a veritable meal among beers, consisting of roasting malt/barley and adding various ingredients until a dark, strong, typically thick beer is produced.

Imperial Stouts are a beer straight out of Russian history. Literally. They're also referred to as "Imperial Russian Stouts" for the simple reason that Catherine II (the Great) ordered an English brewery to produce them back in the late 1700s. In order to ship the delicious brew to the ever-frigid Russian Empire, the alcohol content was increased (from approximately 8% to around 11 or 12% ABV).

Opening up this beer, I was hit in the face with aroma automatically, which is always a good start. Imagine what the French or German Armies felt like when they first heard Russian winter was coming and their leaders had packed light. Surprising, right? I poured this into my handy Piraat glass and simply experienced darkness: the color of this beer is a blackish, murky brown with touches of crimson. The head was minimal, but that was a bit expected. The beer smells rich, complex, unforgiving - traits typically shared by the Russian monarchy. These guys either read their history books, or just brew intense beer. I'm guessing a combination of both.

The taste is sweet, a bit smoky, with dark fruits and the sense that there's some alcohol lurking in the shadows that will probably come and bite you later on. Frankly, having tasted it, I disagree that Nicholas II is pictured center stage; I'll go ahead and say this tastes like something Ivan IV (the Terrible) would take a swig of before bringing the pain on some unsuspecting boyars. Nicholas II just didn't have that sort of intensity. This Imperial Stout is hardly about to give up the throne without a fight.

So before I get too carried away, I'll conclude this review. I'm really enjoying this beer (I still have a large chunk of the bottle to work on) and highly recommend it, particularly for those of you who are Slavophilic history dorks like myself. Just be warned, this is a hefty beer, so enjoy with caution.

Avery Brewing - The Czar ****/***** (4 out of 5 stars)
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Tasties from the Motherland - Baltika (St. Petersburg, Russia)

The average person does not automatically equate the name "Russia" with "beer." Generally there are about one hundred other names that come to mind, normally along the lines of "vodka," "cold," "bears," "Commies," and "Putin." While there is certainly a great deal of validity to all of these stereotypes, I was convinced of several other self-evident truths about the Nazi-crushing, Napoleon-annihilating, and warmth-defying country in my year abroad which came to an end less than nine months ago.

Vodka is obviously king. Yet, apart from the shenanigans of various ex-patriots, drunks, and tourists, vodka is generally consumed on special occasions from what I witnessed. Although, as I say this, I can't help but think of the borderline absurd number of local and national holidays throughout the Russian calendar that by all means offer endless opportunities to enjoy the stereotypical national beverage. Interestingly, another beverage that is near and dear to the hearts of the Russian public is cognac, typically imported from Armenia. The French - adhering to the idea that only cognac from their country can be named as such - might disagree with me, but the Armenians aren't fooling around when it comes to this warm sweet liquor. Perhaps I'll review it sometime as a little digression.

Needless to say however, one doesn't simply walk around the Old Arbat in Moscow, or down St. Petersburg's Nevsky Prospekt, with an open bottle of Zelyenaya Marka vodka without expecting to get stopped by one of the several militsiya officers patrolling nearby (who would more than likely accept your bottle as a parting gift). Instead, there is beer. In fact, there is beer within 100 yards of about anything in Moscow and St. Petersburg, including revered monasteries, the Kremlin, and the inner-city estate of novelist Lev Tolstoy. People drink it constantly: I can't help but recall seeing a well-dressed business man walking to work at 8:00 am slugging down a Stella Artois. Hot weather, cold weather, snow, rain, sleet, holiday, holy day, etc. Not to mention it's cheap: you would typically pay anywhere from $1-2 USD for an ice cold half liter of the local brew, and $3-4 USD for some high quality Czech, Polish, and German beers. But, when it came down to it, there was one beer that was king: Baltika from St. Petersburg.

Baltika is a pretty unique brewing company when it comes down to it, and it's all a matter of simplicity. Apart from some clever recent beers such as Baltika "Kooler" (something akin to a Corona I've been told), the beers are named simply by the number, specifically 2-10. (There is also a "0" but it's a non-alcoholic which, unsurprisingly, rarely sells). These numbers are not terribly important; for instance, it does not indicate a grade of darkness or strength but simply a different style of beer. Here is the breakdown:
Baltika 2 - Pale beer
Baltika 3- Classic Pale Lager (4.8%)
Baltika 4- Original (Brown Lager) (5.6%)
Baltika 5- Gold Beer (5.0%)
Baltika 6 - Porter (7%)
Baltika 7 - Export Beer (Pale Lager) (5.4%)
Baltika 8 - Unfiltered Wheat Ale (5.0%)
Baltika 9 - Strong Lager (8%)
Baltika 10 - Jubilee (5.2%)

Of these, the only one I haven't had was Baltika 10. I'm not positive, but it may not even be produced regularly. Honestly, several of these beers taste pretty similar to one another (in particular 2, 3, and 7). Russians criticize Baltika 9 as being too sweet. But overall, I'm not too quick to hate on this line of beer. Sure, I'll admit that no one of them is mind-blowing, but Baltika is great with consistency. Each of these beers is very drinkable, even in the half-liter serving size. You don't fill up too quickly, and at the same time you're never left with an unpleasant aftertaste from any of them. Hell, Baltika 7 even tastes good from a can. Baltika 8 is a nice shot at a wheat beer, often enjoyed by those not so keen on German Heffeweissens (which, honestly, who isn't keen on those things?!). The porter holds its own as well. Overall, there is little room for disappointment with Baltika. Plus, for anyone who has made the trek to Russia, it holds a special place in their hearts always paired with a long series of great stories (I can't help but think of last Valentine's Day...).

So I'm going to give Baltika as a brewing company *** out of ***** (3 out of 5). It's a safe bet in my opinion, which admittedly, might be a bit biased due to my year abroad. But hey, when all else fails, there's always vodka...

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