One of the three dominant ‘macro’ beer brands in Lithuania (Carlsberg-owned in this case), with ‘Extra’, presented as a Dortmunder, being their biggest selling product; this is apparently – according to the label – the unpasteurized version. From a half litre bottle with neckfoil and (contrary to the pic shown here) front label. Snow white, uneven-bubbled but thickly mousy, cobweb-lacing head on a crystal clear, deep golden beer, a tad deeper and more ‘old gold’ than usual in industrial pale lager, with disparate sparkling rising up here and there; certainly filtered, and I sincerely doubt the claim that this is unpasteurized... Aroma of old cotton cloth, soggy chicken food, cold cooked rice, baking soda, straw, hint of rubber, sweet white bread dough, vague touch of dried flowers. Soft grainy onset with a clear cereally sweetishness to it, probably coming from the rice that was used (for economic reasons, obviously), some of that annoying ‘old’ grainy sourishness underneath but countered by this rounded rice sweetish element; medium carb, very slick and bit glueish body. Thinly cereally middle, somewhat metallic around the edge but less strongly so than feared based on some of the ratings below, minerally and eventually adorned with a touch of brief but clearly noticeable grassy and floral, ‘cheap’ but nevertheless welcoming hop bitterness. An unpleasant rubberiness or soapiness lingers in the background, feeling a bit chemical, and causing me to refrain from finishing the entire bottle. Simplistic, thin and industrial as expected, but I had worse in that segment, to be honest; the rice sweetness makes it feel almost like an Asian industrial pale lager, and the hop bitterness is a bit more pronounced than usual in the vast ocean of standard pale lagers the global brewing industry keeps churning out. Not as bad as expected, but I generally hate industrial pale lagers so I could not completely finish this either. As for that ‘Dortmunder’ characterization: I see what they mean, seen the strength and looks of this beer, but the rice obviously contravenes the Reinheitsgebot and one can wonder to what extent this ‘Dortmunder’ is a separate style category to begin with…

Sweet, caramel, malty, roast, corn