{"id":2691,"date":"2020-12-14T11:48:49","date_gmt":"2020-12-14T11:48:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/expatkaliningrad.com\/?p=2691"},"modified":"2021-01-31T18:59:01","modified_gmt":"2021-01-31T18:59:01","slug":"soft-barley-beer-in-kaliningrad-russia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/expatkaliningrad.com\/ru\/soft-barley-beer-in-kaliningrad-russia\/","title":{"rendered":"Soft Barley beer in Kaliningrad Russia"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Mick Hart\u2019s totally biased review of bottled beers* in Kaliningrad (or how to live without British real ale!)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Article 10: Soft Barley beer<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Published: 14 December 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n

None of us want to be told that we are going soft, do we? But, unless you are one of these old-fashioned he-men who pumps weights, never cries and walk around as if their arms don\u2019t fit, there is nothing wrong with a little bit of mellowness, when the mood so takes you, which is not why I chose Soft Barley as the latest in a succession of bottled beers widely available through Kaliningrad supermarkets as an aid to my research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Previous articles in this series:<\/strong>
Bottled Beer in Kaliningrad<\/a>
Variety of Beer in Kaliningrad<\/a>
Cedar Wood Beer in Kaliningrad<\/a>
Gold Mine Beer in Kaliningrad<\/a>
Zhigulevskoye Beer Kaliningrad Russia<\/a>
Lidskae Aksamitnae Beer in Kaliningrad<\/a>
Baltika 3 in Kaliningrad<\/a>
Ostmark Beer in Kaliningrad<\/a>
Three Bears Crystal beer in Kaliningrad<\/a>

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the all-shapes-and-sizes 1.5 litre beer bottles that congregate enticingly on Kaliningrad\u2019s shop shelves, the ones that really stand out from the crowd are, in fact, the simplest. They are squat, fat, dumpy-looking things, shaped purposefully to resemble small beer barrels. They are to beer advertising what Body Shop is to shampoos and body lotions, their simple packaging and minimalist presentation emphasising good, natural, salt-of-the-earth products, free from artificial additives: Nature’s best at its best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When all’s said and done, that’s quite a gob full to live up to and, whilst the advertising works a treat, the question is does the product fulfil the promise?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soft Barley beer in Kaliningrad Russia<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Soft Barley has a soft natural label ~ note the ears of corn ~ and when you take the top off the bottle what do you get? Sniff! Sniff! Nothing really. Unless I am losing my sense of smell (no, let\u2019s rephrase that symptom quickly!) ~ unless my olfactory senses deceive me, there is no distinctive aroma other than, perhaps, a faintly discernible \u2018softness\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When poured, this underwhelming neutrality does not escape from the glass. The beer fizzes, an ephemeral head appears, retreats and then dissolves. This is only depressing if you like \u2018a big creamy \u2018ed on your pint\u2019, but I am not from Yorkshire, so I don\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless, from the first sip to the last the taste is consistently palatable. There are no sharp notes to undermine the \u2018soft\u2019, as in subtle, and almost any corn bitterness is reduced to a hint, playing second fiddle to the rounded buttery overtones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This beer is not, by Russian standards, a strong brew; if it was, I suppose they would have called it \u2018Strong Barley\u2019, but neither at 4.2% is it limp-wristed. It has just enough bottle, taste and flavour to make it the perfect complement to light snacks and \u2018bitings\u2019, an \u00e0 la carte beer which speaks to me of warm summer afternoons, picnic tables and straw hats, although, being a bit of a renegade, I can close my ears and carry on drinking it until the snow has melted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aficionados and advocates of seriously head-banging beers may well pour scorn upon your choice, but pour scorn is not poor corn and drinking Soft Barley does not mean that you are going soft, just that you have a soft spot for the finer beers in life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ABOUT THE BREWERY<\/strong>
The Trisosensky brewery has a proud and noble brewing history, its origins dating to 1888. Its name comes from the three great pine trees on the idyllic lakeside spot where it was founded by the merchant family Markov. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the first Russian breweries to produce beer using European technology, the quality of its products quickly established the company\u2019s reputation at home and facilitated expansion into the export market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The brewery\u2019s Black, Pilsen, Czech and Vienna beers were particularly held in high regard, so much so that in 1910 the brewery was honoured with the official title \u2018Supplier to the Court of His Imperial Majesty\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0Although the Ulyanovsk brewery was assimilated more recently into the company, its brewing history actually pre-dates that of Trisosensky, when Alexander Dmitrievich Sachkov, an honorary citizen of the city of Simbirsk, founded his honey brewery at Ulyanovsk in 1862.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, the Trisosensky brewery prides itself on the historic continuity of its classic brewing techniques, brewing traditional beers to traditional recipes using natural ingredients and talented brewers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its efforts have garnered it various prestigious awards including: the World Beer Awards; the International Beer Challenge; Gold Awards, the DLG Quality Test for Beer and Mixed Beer Beverages, Frankfurt am Main, 2016; Monde Selection 2017 awards; and awards in the \u2018International Tasting Competition\u2019, The Beer Awards 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soft Barley beer in Kaliningrad Russia
<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"Soft
Soft Barley beer in Kaliningrad Russia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\ud83d\ude01TRAINSPOTTING & ANORAKS<\/strong>
Name of Beer:<\/strong>\u00a0Soft Barley
Brewer:\u00a0<\/strong>Trisosensky brewery
Where it is brewed:<\/strong>\u00a0Ulyanovsk, Russia
Bottle capacity:<\/strong>\u00a01.5 litres
Strength:<\/strong>\u00a04.2%
Price:<\/strong>\u00a0It cost me about 127 rubles (\u00a31.31)
Appearance:<\/strong>\u00a0Pale golden
Aroma:<\/strong>\u00a0Very nearly silent
Taste:<\/strong>\u00a0Lightly bitter, mellow, buttery
Fizz amplitude:<\/strong>\u00a06\/10
Label\/Marketing:<\/strong>\u00a0Naturalistic
Would you buy it again?<\/strong>\u00a0I would and I have.
Marks out of 10:<\/strong> 8<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*Note that the beers that feature in this review series only include bottled beer types that are routinely sold through supermarket outlets and in no way reflect the variety of beer and\/or quality available in Kaliningrad from speciality outlets and\/or through bars and restaurants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Copyright \u00a9 2018-2021 Mick Hart. All rights reserved.<\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mick Hart\u2019s totally biased review of bottled beers* in Kaliningrad (or how to live without British real ale!) Article 10: Soft Barley beer Published: 14 December 2020 None of us want to be told that we are going soft, do we? But, unless you are one of these old-fashioned he-men who pumps weights, never cries and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2693,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[130],"tags":[480,598,499,498,479,483,545,482,1288,1317,500,497],"class_list":["post-2691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-life-in-kaliningrad","tag-beer-drinking-kaliningrad","tag-beer-guide-kaliningrad","tag-beer-is-a-popular-drink-in-russia","tag-beer-kaliningrad","tag-bottled-beer-in-kaliningrad","tag-englishman-beer-kaliningrad","tag-good-beer-kaliningrad","tag-mick-harts-guide-bottled-beers-kaliningrad","tag-mick-harts-review-of-beers-in-kaliningrad","tag-soft-barley-beer-in-kaliningrad-russia","tag-supermarket-beer-kaliningrad","tag-variety-of-beer-in-kaliningrad"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t