Xirdalan

Xirdalan
Baltika-Baku

0,5l
4,8%

Well friends, Winter is coming, it is getting colder and thus the time for cheery sitting on the terrace with a brew in the sun is over... luckily as I hate the sun... :D
So today I bring you something special.... though I'd guess that it isn't special where it comes from...
My esteemed friend and Y Chromosome donor of my Godson Axel has brought me a brew back from his trip to Baku so that I can give you a (the?) beer from Azerbaijan. Wikipedia tells me that the Xirdalan is indeed the most common beer there (It even has a nifty customs/tax sticker thingy). The can informs me that the brewery is part of Carlsberg... seems one can't escape them.

The can is white and blue and reminded me of some Finnish designs... mainly because of the color pattern. I actually like the design.

For the glass, I chose an old handmade round stein that I found on a flea market together with its twin which has gone missing for now.

Do I dare to check RateBeer?  Well I did and the rating is rather low... who would have guessed...

It pours really light and made me wonder whether it's not water after all, alas, once in the glass it was surprising gold with nice foam that didn't dissipate too fast. It is nice and golden and filtered.

The aroma is surprisingly fruity but with some side tones of ash and alcohol. Slight honey and amber scents mix with something weird that I can best describe as cough candy dipped in cheap honey. It isn't unpleasant, just very weird and unexpected. Once in the glass for a while the aroma dissipates and there is not much left.

Wish me luck!

It does start honey-cough candy-ish, then blends into a rather okish lager taste. The alcohol can be found in the taste which isn't hyping me but this is far from bad. There are faint apple tones and next to none bitterness. The taste is definitely better than the aroma. The grainy taste is a bit weird but it grows on me. Not the worst thing I ever sampled!

Thanks, Akseli!

Prost!

DMW