San Miguel Dark Lager

Brewer: San Miguel Corporation
Style: Dark Lager
ABV: 5%
Country: Philippines

Pours dark, not totally opaque like a stout or a porter. One finger off-white head, leaves a thin lace and nice rings. Aroma is nice, smells like toasted caramel and honey. taste is sweet and bubbly, body is medium. Finishes dry with molasses making an appearance. Slight bitterness in the finish. Sweetness is a bit much and could use more bitterness to make a more balanced brew. The molasses finish is close to how the Baltika should have finished; less overpowering but still tasty. If this had the initial taste of the Baltika with the San Miguel finish, it would make an excellent beer. As is, this is pretty good but it would be hard to have several in one sitting. B-

Baltika #4 Dark Lager

Brewer: Pivzavod Baltika
Style: European Dark Lager
ABV: 5.6%
Country: Russia

Found this at Total Wine in the imports section. Came in an oddly shaped brown bottle with seal. Label with Cyrillic lettering. Hadn't seen one quite like this before so I'd figure I'd give it a try.

Poured a dark, coppery-tan. Looked murky and cloudy. Thin white head receded quickly leaving no lace. Didn't appear very appetizing.

The aroma was odd, plenty of molasses and honey. Some grain and sour notes were present as well. Not the most pleasant smell in the world. So far off to a bad start.

The first sip incredibly sweet and syrupy. The molasses shines through with hints of honey throughout, given the initial look and smell, the first sip was better than I expected. No bitterness to speak of. The finish was sticky and full of more molasses. Tasted like I was drinking a bottle of sour syrup. This aftertaste was total overkill for me and I couldn't bring myself to finish it. Too bad because the initial taste I rather enjoyed. F+