This post category is probably on my mind since Georgia or Armenia. In Kyrgyzstan, I finally managed to drink different beers and keep enough consciousness to describe the taste of Kyrgyz beer.
Наше Шахтерское – Nashe Shakhterskoe
The bottle design looks like it was still done in Soviet times. After opening the bottle, you find another pale yellow colored lager beer with a fast vanishing foam inside. Nashe does not have a very distinct smell. A light smoky, malty flavor is what enters your nose.
The first impression in your mouth is light and sweet and a bit on the sparkly side. What follows is surprisingly malty for the color, yet not sweet but with a quickly disappearing round hop bitterness. But do not let the sheer absence of flavors fool you. The alcohol content of 4.5% is comparably high.
Живое Светлое – Zhivoe Svetloe
The glass filled with the clear and a pale yellow colored liquid goes to your mouth and you smell the bitterness of the hops and some flavors of herbs. Fresh and mild is what hits your tongue, beware not to plummet the whole bottle. Then, the hoppy bitterness kicks in. It almost reminds more of a mild Pilsner, not a random lager beer and stays around for quite a while.
On the up side, this Kyrgyz beer never taste like chewing on a sack of flour. But “mild” is what describes this beer, from taste to fizziness and the alcohol content of 4%. But the aromas are well balanced, which makes this brew a good companion on hot summer days.
Арпа – Arpa
The bottle looks like there is a solid and traditional beer inside. And unlike the other two, this one does not spring from the Abdysh-Ata brewery in Kant, but is born in the capital’s Arpa brewery.
It is also way darker than the other two contestants, beautiful golden in color. Foam on the other hand, barely exists. As absent is a smell. Slight notes of sweet malt and caramel warn your nose that beer is about to enter your mouth.
The first impression is sweet, round and soft with flavors of grains. The zappiness feels just about right. As you wash it down, you get a slightly dry and harmonic finish that leaves some bitterness behind until you take the next sip. The alcohol content is the highest of the three with 4.6% and we liked its round taste the most.
