So this beer was launched a month after my last visit to St. Petersburg, huh? Probably for the best, because this is not the sort of brew you’d sip at a cafe on Nevsky Prospekt while ogling the gorgeous, braless women. I’m actually rather amazed this is a newish brand, because it is very much a throwback to the days of yore...and Brezhnev.

It has the dull, light orangey-brown colour of a bottled tan overdose. I do love me some Soviet Lager...one of those beer styles the Amero-centric style writers have totally blanked on.

OK, the wholly unappetizing appearance was as much a statement of intent as the opening chords on the first Black Sabbath album. So now I’m approaching this with a fair bit of trepidation, because I know Soviet Lager well. Oh my fuck. This smells like regurgitated Golden Glow with diacetyl. Either that or El Jimador Reposado. I can’t decide if it has a certain je ne sais quoi or a certain you’ve got to be fucking kidding me. One sip tells me it’s the latter. Awesome! I’m listening to Katatonia right now and just got the line in Omerta "What is it I have been drinking? I do not understand." I don’t know if I can say it any better than that.

I’ve had lots of Soviet Lager before, but even by that style’s eclectic, unpredictable, and quite frankly Satanic standards this brew goes above and beyond. Masochistic memories of massive Muscovite hangovers. This piece of shit is moving me to poetry. And yet I keep drinking. Damn. A half-litre of Leningradskoe Krepkoe takes me on a longer journey than a forty of mere mortal American malt liquors. For something that is as flavourful as Neva water (that’s not a good thing, folks) it’s strangely addictive. I think one of my testicles just shrivelled.

Had this in St Petersburg May 05. Warm golden colour, thick white head this is a particularly strong lager that wasn’t really up to much, some sweet maltiness but but otherwise lacking considerably in most areas, drank this in my hotel room couldn’t wait too finish it if truth be known.

Darker clear golden beer with fluffy, thick yellowish head leaving some lace. Creamy nose, getting into slightly sourish aroma - souring grass? Alcoholdry-sweet, unrefined onslaught. Lots of sweetish toasted malts (and adjuncts), vaguely honey, expressly alcohol. Burning MF, alcohol obvious leaving an empty finish and body. Typical unrefined strong lager.