Family Strong Beer Style Baltic Porter
Country Russia ABV 7.0%
Producer Carlsberg
Price $$ Packaging 16.9oz/500ml bottle
Characteristics Malty, strong

Overview There are 10 numbered beers produced by St. Petersburg’s Baltika brewery, the second-largest brewer in Europe, behind only Heineken. In North America, this porter is distributed more widely than any of the others, making it perhaps the best known of all Russian beers.

Flavors and aromas This strong, dark-colored beer defied expectations and split opinions. There’s little dark grain flavor here; we found no coffee or roast flavors, as you might expect from a porter. There are some dark spices, like cola, and modest but bubbly carbonation. There’s also a lot of sugar. In some ways, this seems more like root beer than a black beer. If you have a sweet tooth and a hard time with bitterness, this may be for you.