Ciuc Premium

Brewed by Heineken Romania
Style: Pale Lager
Miercurea Ciuc, Romania

Serve in Dimpled mug, Lager glass, Shaker

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500 ml can from LCBO. Pours a clear bright gold with good-sized white head. Aroma of grassy hops, bread and a light fruity sweetness. Flavour is mostly of wet cardboard with a little breadiness and some grassiness in the finish. Light to medium body; fairly fizzy carbonation. Pretty mediocre.

33cl screw-cap. As you open the bottle - sharp smell of herbal hops hits your nose. Pale golden (SRM 3) clear pour with thick, big head, that stays for almost a minute. Medium bitter pale lager, with slightly more hops than usual (close to bohemian pilsener). Slightly citric. Light bodied and rather thin. Actually quite dry. Average carbonation. Short bitter finish. This is a drinkable pale lager. Similar to Estonian Saku Originaal and A. Le Coq Alexander.

Canned (5% ABV) Clear golden yellow, creamy white head and lively carbonation. Low-keyed nose. Bready malt aroma escorted by shy grassy hops. Watery mouthfeel. Short, dry finish with grassy hops and some carboardish undertones. Drinkable.

Second brew from Romania at the LCBO. Can with a best before date written on its bottom: 07.05.2011. Pours a clean light gold colour with a white foamy head that dissipate quickly enough, leaving a bit of lace. The aromas are pretty mild with some grains and some sweetness that reminds me of apple juice. Crisp mouthfeel and medium-bodied. The grassy normal pils taste is found with some light malt. Again, nothing special here (and I think I prefer the Ursus Premium just a bit more).

Canned(500ml). -pale yellow, bitter and to sweet

Bottle in Cluj Napoca, Romania. Pretty similar to the last few i’ve rated. Typical grain fare, both nose and taste. This one had an added hint of some herbal spices. Not so bad.

Can from LCBO. Clear golden with a medium foamy white head with average retention. Aroma is grain, moderate alcohol and herbs. Flavor is malt, astringency, harsh flavor I can’t identify, metal, cardboard and a moderately bitter finish. Thin body with a watery mouthfeel.

While this one was the third of four differnt Romanian beers my friend "smuggled" back into the US for me, I was expecting more garbage like the first two. However this one suprised me, because it wasn’t actually bad compared to the first two. This was was very crisp, nicely hopped, no aftertaste of corn or formaldahyde. I was just a nice beer. I can see this one going down very nicely after a long walk (or run, depending on who you and where you are) thru the streets of Bucharest or Transylvania or perhaps Miklosvar. All in all, my favorite so far of the Romania brews. If stranded in Romania, get this one."

Bottle (5% ABV). A clear pale golden beer with an average sized, frothy/fizzy, mostly diminishing white head. The aroma is lightly malty and lightly hoppy, with notes of bread and grass. The flavor is lightly to moderately sweet, lightly acidic, lightly bitter. Light to medium body, watery texture, fizzy carbonation, dry finish with almost medium bitterness. Surprisingly not skunky, fairly clean instead, just useless and forgettable.

Sampled at Cellars Wine & Spirits in St Paul, MN with joebrew and brewfiend. Pours a clear golden pale brew with a fast dissolving white head that dissipates nearly clean with no film or ring. Aroma of sweet corn adjunct with a light citrus zest. Taste is light bodied, light carbonation with a sweet corn and grits flavor with some citrus hop character. Finish is sweet and a little gritty that quickly disappears with hardly no aftertaste. Not sure what to make of this brew except it is a sweet beverage with some stale citrus hop character.