Gubernija Ekstra Castle Ale

Aroma: 3 | Appearance: 3 | Mouthfeel: 3 | Flavor: 3 | Overall: 3

Yellow colour, mediumsized white head. Aroma is cardboard and hay. Flavour is very much the samer along with some slight metallic notes. Not very good. Sold as "Gubernija Ekstra" in Europe.

Aroma: 3 | Appearance: 3 | Mouthfeel: 4 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 4

Appearance is not very aleish at all, light yellow color, not much foam. Tastes like water, smells really strange like boiled meat or something. Aftertaste has no character at all.

Aroma: 5 | Appearance: 4 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 4

In keeping with my last few beers, this is yet another beer that I picked up recently at one of the local Trader Joe's stores. A good source for some "interesting" beers (nod-nod, wink-wink). A place which I occasionally strike gold, beer-wise. But this beer? Fool's Gold, all the way....

To start with, I'll state the obvious -- this ain't no Ale. Not even is this labeled as an Ale to account for some obscure/arcane/back-water liquor laws that still exist in parts of the U.S. No, this is labeled an "ale" right at the brewery in Lithuania -- and couldn't be much farther from the true style of this beer.

Pale gold -- looks like pee when you're dehydrated -- with a head of foam that disappeared entirely too quickly -- leaving little behind but a miniscule ring of bubbles around the entire edge, where the beer meets the inner sides of the glass.

"Hi, I'm not here, leave a message".
*Beep*
"Um, hello, Mr. Aroma? This is the brewery calling again. Aren't you supposed to come into work today? Something about adding some sort of life and character to our beer? If you get this (and the other 10 messages I've left), please call me..."

Weird grassy/vegetal (celery? green beans?) character to the this beer's flavor profile. A decent amount of hops (Saaz or Lublin? You make the call!) save this beer from getting truly horrible marks from me -- but, at the same time, I can't jump up and shout and run-run about singing the merits of this beer either....

Hits the mouth decently at first. But then, when it hits the sides and the back of my mouth, things turn south rather quickly. Astrigent, and a little soapy too. Leaves a lingering dry funk in the backend that is not really welcome IMO.

As far as the drinkability goes, I never really felt the dire need to empty my gut of this beer..., nor did I feel the need to empty my glass of this down the kitchen sink. But really, did I relish drinking this? No, can't say that I did.

I seem to remember this brewery's "Gubernijos Ekstra" to be a little more interesting than this. Wonderful? Hardly. But less disturbing than this? Absolutely....

Music: Iron Maiden's "Powerslave".
//TB

Aroma: 4 | Appearance: 4 | Mouthfeel: 3 | Flavor: 4 | Overall: 4

After receiving this beer as a swap from my best friend, I was anxious to try this because my last experience with a Lithuanian beer wasn't very good. A nice size bottle offers a pour of pale-gold color, like dried corn stalks. A medium size white head and a grassy aroma, this beer really doesn't fit the classic ale description. More of a pilsner, not sure why they called it a Castle Ale. Light-medium bodied, a crisp finish with little aftertaste. An enjoyable beer being it free, but not sure if I'd actually pay for a 6-pack since there are better beers not mislabeled as an ale, which clearly it isn't.