Ochakovskiy Kvass

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 6

Pours into my 25cl tulip glass with a thin, 1/2-finger thick, lightly browned, tan colored head. It is a dark brown color with amber highlights, but shows a brilliantly clear, ruby color when held up to the light. The aroma is sweet and smells quite strongly of a dark, dense, traditional bread that I had while in northern Germany. Earthy, lightly fruity, a dark-bread crustiness and with a spicy grain character. An interesting, hearty nose that is certainly an experience.

Not nearly as thick or rich as I was expecting, it does have a crisp sweetness to it, but only has a light body. This has an almost smoky character to it that joins the earthy grain notes and the spicy rye character. The sweetness accents flavors of raisins in addition to mimicking the flavors of unfermented, un-hopped wort. In the finish, once the sweetness as diminished enough to notice it, there is a rich, chewy, dark rye / bread flavor that is quite nice.

With its sweetness it reminds me of German Malzbier, but it is not nearly as thick and syrupy as that. Refreshing and interesting, if a bit sweet, this is definitely a style I want to explore more; I would love to find a traditional example. I'll definitely try the other examples that are at the local eastern European market.