{"id":3403,"date":"2021-03-29T17:23:21","date_gmt":"2021-03-29T17:23:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/expatkaliningrad.com\/?p=3403"},"modified":"2021-03-29T17:23:41","modified_gmt":"2021-03-29T17:23:41","slug":"lifting-the-bridge-on-leningradskoe-beer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/expatkaliningrad.com\/ru\/lifting-the-bridge-on-leningradskoe-beer\/","title":{"rendered":"Lifting the bridge on Leningradskoe beer"},"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 12: Leningradskoe<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Published: 29 March 2021 ~ Lifting the bridge on Leningradskoe beer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the past few weeks, I have been playing it safe. Whenever I have had \u2018the \u2018ankerings\u2019, as my old East London friend used to call the acute desire for beer, I have gone for something tried, tested and approved, which in my case has been Lidskae and Ostmark. But what\u2019s life without a bit of diversity (not too much, mind; look what it’s done to the UK!)?<\/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>
Soft Barley Beer in Kaliningrad<\/a>
Oak & Hoop Beer in Kaliningrad<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lifting the bridge on Leningradskoe beer<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

You don\u2019t drink the label but, as with all that we consume, appearance and packaging is everything. The same rule applies whether you are shopping in the supermarket for pasta or shopping in your local nightclub.  Being a lover of the past, it is not surprising that I usually go for beers the bottles of which are labelled as though they belong in the archives of a library\u2019s historic records section or carry a typeface and\/or image that speaks of the quality of things that were and which can never be again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On this drinking occasion, a few weeks ago, I chose something that on first consideration might seem to go against the selective criteria grain, inasmuch as the branding has a stark, cold, metallic-feel about it, but, if you look again, you will see that the purchase compulsion was inspired in much the same way as it was when I chose Gold Mine<\/a> beer. In fact, if you compare the labels of the two products the dissimilarities are insignificant. Both incorporate cool blue, white and gold colours and both favour cityscape skylines, silhouettes picked out by a mystical luminosity, somewhere between the aegis of dusk and dawn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then I was talking about Gold Mine beer; here I am referring to the beer Leningradskoe. In the case of the latter, the imagery concerns itself with Leniningrad, an open river bridge set against the domes and spires of St Petersburg (formerly Leningrad, after it was St Petersburg ~ if you know what I mean?). So, although it is not a million years ago, the historical connection still holds true. I suppose the attraction lies in the disequilibrium, the nearness and distance evoked by the reversing memory of the Soviet Union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lifting the bridge on Leningradskoe beer<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"Lifting<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So, purchase compulsion explained, let\u2019s get down to the drinking of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The initial aroma is one of strong corn, in other words it is grainy rather than anything else. It arrives in the glass looking like Gold Mine\u2019s long, lost brother ~ bright and golden. The head fizzes, rises to an inch but dissolves rather smartishly, leaving just a trace ~ a little bit like a lifting draw bridge: up one minute and down the next. The beer\u2019s carbonation does not, from its appearance within the glass, have an overwhelming disposition, but there is sufficient of it to ensure that it holds up the relatively low flavour, rather like a pair of 1940s\u2019 braces. In fact, I suspect that it is the carbonation that keeps the body of the beer afloat, the cunning adjunct that delivers the touch-of-bitter taste which sets it apart from bog-standard lager.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The aftertaste is not strong, but it is palatable, becoming more so after the initial twang has died. To my mind, and tastebuds, it is this feature, two pints later, that most distinguishes and recommends it. In the last analysis, it is a kind of half-way house, occupying a surprising place somewhere between keg bitter and lager, and because in its earlier stages it is clear and crisp, although I was drinking it on the outskirts of winter, in the midst of a nice summer\u2019s day, whilst sitting back in the garden watching your wife do the weeding, I anticipate that it would be cool ~ as cool as the label suggests ~ and also rather refreshing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, whilst you are buying your wife a trowel in preparation for summer, don’t forget to treat yourself to a bottle of Leningradskoe. You know, if nobody else does, that you deserve it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\ud83d\ude01TRAINSPOTTING & ANORAKS<\/strong>
Name of Beer:<\/strong> Leningradskoe
Brewer: <\/strong>Baltika Breweries
Where it is brewed:<\/strong> St Petersburg
Bottle capacity:<\/strong> 1.5 litres
Strength:<\/strong> 4.7%
Price:<\/strong> It cost me about 137 rubles (\u00a31.32)
Appearance:<\/strong> Pale golden
Aroma:<\/strong> Strong corn
Taste:<\/strong> Hybrid lager & keg bitter with satisfying after taste
Fizz amplitude:<\/strong> 5\/10
Label\/Marketing:<\/strong> Soviet
Would you buy it again?<\/strong> Would do
Marks out of 10:<\/strong> 6<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Copyright \u00a9 2018-2021 Mick Hart. All rights reserved.<\/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 12: Leningradskoe Published: 29 March 2021 ~ Lifting the bridge on Leningradskoe beer Over the past few weeks, I have been playing it safe. Whenever I have had \u2018the \u2018ankerings\u2019, as my old East London friend […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3405,"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":[1449,480,598,498,479,1447,1448,530,194,482,1288],"class_list":["post-3403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-life-in-kaliningrad","tag-an-englishman-in-russia","tag-beer-drinking-kaliningrad","tag-beer-guide-kaliningrad","tag-beer-kaliningrad","tag-bottled-beer-in-kaliningrad","tag-leningradskoe-beer","tag-lifting-the-bridge-on-leningradskoe-beer","tag-mick-hart-beer","tag-mick-hart-russia","tag-mick-harts-guide-bottled-beers-kaliningrad","tag-mick-harts-review-of-beers-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