Baltika - #7 Export Lager

Baltika - #7 Export Lager

Purchased From: Beers of the World, Rochester, NY

Serving Type: 500mL bottle with a pull-tab cap, poured into a 1987 Bud Light pilsner glass.

Chosen because the #7 Export Lager was the only beer brewed by Pivzavod Baltika that came with the pull-tab cap, this lager was one of many available in the Russian section of Beers of the World in Rochester, NY. A veritable Mecca of beer shopping. 

The beer pours a crystal clear pale straw with light foam, no retention, and no lacing. On the nose the bitter character of Saaz noble hops are clearly present. The beer type, dortmunder, a German lager style, similar to a German pilsner (which is, in turn, a take on the Czech pilsner). The hop varietal, commonly found in these three styles, always reminds me of the bitterness of dandelions.

The initial taste is crisp and malty. The aroma of the hops is not as present in the actual beer, but their underlying bitterness works with the high carbonation in this beer to erase any significant flavor. The beer moves quickly from a malty foretaste, to a void of flavor, and finally, ends with a meek aftertaste.