Ochakovo Klassicheskoe (Classic)

Aroma: 5 | Appearance: 4 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 5

Nothing really inherantly wrong with this beer, if you keep it in the context of a lawnmower beer (which was exaclty the case when drinking it). Aroma was slightly metallic, a little sweet, not muc skunk and a bit of chlorine. Appearance was dark gold in color, slightly hazy with a small sized head which dissapated quickly enough for me to pour my whole beer in my glass in one shot. Mouthfeel was light and crisp, not harsh by any stretch of the imagination, but it wasn't anything most lagers have. Flavor was a little sweet, also a little metallic but really not bad. It went down smoothly and quenched the thirst and I didn't wonder if I'd just drank a bottle of toxic waste like some Euro lagers I've had in the past.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 5

I had pretty-much nil hope for this one, to be honest. After the rather wretched "Ochakovo Premium" (aka "Ochakoff Lager"), I had already more-or-less written off this brewery.

But then I found a stamp on the back of this particular beer, reading "03 03 03". Is (1) the head brewmaster is a huge fan of Stone's Vertical Epic 03.03.03, or (2) is this the date that it was brewed, or (3) is this the date it's meant to be conusumed by? Tossing out Option #1, I can only assume that this was either brewed or meant to be consumed on March 3, 2003. And, as such, this beer is almost past it's due, eh? Ugh...

Just like the "Ochakoff Lager", this was originally labled as "Ochakovo Klassichiskoye", and then crudely re-labeled as "Ochakoff Classic" with a sticker over the original name.

With very few positive vibes coming from this beer, I soldiered on, for the good of mankind (or something like that). Poured with a "ok" amount of carbonation -- more than I expected from an old Euro Lager, really.

Not an unappealing aroma, either. Kinda has a "corny" thing going on, and kinda sweet.

And the flavor profile? Not completly horrible, surprisingly enough. Nothing that makes me want to jump and shout and run-run about, but..., at the same time, nothing makes me want to run to the kitchen sink to dump this out, either....

A standard East European, cheaply made Lager, that's been fancied up for the Export market. I'm betting that this wouldn't go for more than a buck or two for a plastic bottle (liter) in Russia -- and next time, I wouldn't pay more than that in the U.S., either.

Tongue-numbingly drab and Iron Curtain-ish....
//TB