Svyturys Ekstra

Brewed by Svyturys (Baltic Beverages Holding - Carlsberg)
Style: Dortmunder/Helles
Klaipeda, Lithuania

Not that great, but, not that bad. Nice malty sweetness upfront, but after a few more sips my palate got a little saturated with the evident metalic after taste. Still enjoyable when it’s cold though. I took off some points for the use of rice in the brewing process, that really annoys me in a beer.

Bottle, 5.2%. CLear pale yellow colour. Nice, big stable white head. Sewery flavour, not exactly dry. Sharp and sour bitterness. Not good.

From a 1pt. 9oz. bottle, coded freshness date on the back label, sampled in a lager glass. Poured a clear pale yellowish golden with rocky, bubbly topped white head, active carbonation, minimal amount of laced sticking. Aromas of lager yeast, white doughy, grainy, with a hint of lemon zest. A pleasant, smooth tasting Dortmunder Export with a crisp, dry, firm medium-light bodied mouthfeel, sweet pale maltiness, bread doughy, a touch of grain, lemon zesty, and a dry saltine-like finish with a nice spicy hop bitterness cleansing the palate. The active carbonation keeps the body firm and this has a nice hop acidity, overall, very refreshing on a hot July day.

Only pretty new to this beer tasting thing, and over the past few years have tried as many beers that i can get my hands on. This being my first beer rating i thought i would list one of my favourites, so there..i like it!!!

"Lithuania, my homeland, land of heroes!" So begins the national anthem of a proud, independent country that found itself too close to Russia to be proud and independent for long. Such is the lot of small nations with big neighbours. The collapse of Soviet communism and the arrival of independence in the early 1990s opened the floodgates to foreign capital, which had the unfortunate consequence of driving major local brewers into foreign hands. The result has been a loss of the distinctive Lithuanian character of the beers from the big producers. Svyturys ended up in bed with Baltic Beverages of Russia. Lithuanian beers were traditionally sweeter than overseas models, being less attenuated and retaining around 20% sugars, according to local brewing sources. This Dortumunder is certainly at the sweeter end of the scale. It looked pretty good, pouring with a spectacularly tall head that lasted well. However, the aroma was as dull as the national anthem, which piles patriotic cliche upon cliche (sample line: "Let the love of Lithuania burn in our hearts, and for the sake of our country let unity blossom".) It’s sugary sweet, with a hint of bubblegum competing for air with stale grains, rain-water and sherbet. Sugars dominate the taste without cloying. There are bready malts, rice starches and the faintest of bitter finishes. Quenching. The whole is complemented by a nice soft palate. Excess sugar can cover a lot of flaws, but it’s hard to be critical when it’s a key feature of local brewing tradition. (500ml bottle from Dan Murphys, Kingsford. BB 21/6/07)

Very nice, dortmunder, sweet taste, little bit of bitter, nothing so special, but so are the hits like carlsber and heinekein,, nice beer to drink for evenings with tv :)

Not really very nice. Standard Eastern Bloc lager really, a dirty mouthfull and nasty aftertaste. A pointless beer for a pointless tinpot Eastern European country - Where the hell is Lithuanian anyway?!?!

Bottle -- Clear pale yellow with champagne-like carbonation and a fair frothy head. Quite good retention and lacing. Not a lot of aroma (but did have a couple of APAs before it), but what there is, is malty and a bit bready. Palate is watery and thin. More slight maltiness and bread in the flavour. A bit more interesting than the average corn bread-tasting European pale lager but nothing to get too excited about. Re the commercial description, I love the idea of "thick scum of glaring whiteness"! Yummmmmmy!