This is the sort of drink I started these beer reviews for! An obscure imported beer, I bought this Estonian import from Tesco. Visually, the nine sided cone like bottle means you can’t very easily miss it. Yes, I know one mustn’t judge things (or people) by their outward appearance, but I’d be lying if I said I chose this beer without being impressed by the way it looked. I’ve had a go at including an image with this post, so with any luck, you’ll be able to judge it for yourself, too.
Other semi-interesting things about the bottle are that it has a screw top that looks like a normal bottle top. And that the bottle top and small wrap around label feature three lions, the significance of which I have no idea. If you do, then leave a comment!
Poured into a half-pint glass, the colour is light yellow or even golden in colour. To tell the truth, it’s hard to tell from behind all the bubbles. Head was almost non-existent. And the smell was nothing remarkable. At 5% volume, maybe this was to be expected.
Finally we arrive at the taste. Which was somewhat largery in it’s bitterness which came as a bit of a surprise. It didn’t taste too cheap, and was very drinkable. The entire contents of the bottle disappeared very quickly. After an all too brief drink, my main complaint was that there wasn’t more of it.
To sum this up then, I would have to say try it if you can find it. It was very reasonably priced and an excellent little known beer. I’ll try this one again, and hopefully, in a larger quantity.
Rating: 4
Hywel's Big Log 
31 December, 2007 at 2:41 am |
Hi there, I just wanted to clarify couple of things:
1. the bottle has eight facets which makes it – “octahedral”;
2. three lions that you mentioned have nothing to do with British lions, but represent three lions that form part of the Estonian Coat of arms (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estonia ). Our new label and the forthcoming cap design changes will see lions to dissapear unfortunately (www.virubeer.com)
As far as the beer is concerned we did try to make it as easy to drink as possible and are happy that you had a pleasant experience with Viru. Next time you have a Viru or two do not forget to say “Terviseks!” – translated as “To (your) health!” 🙂
31 December, 2007 at 4:33 am |
Yeah, the bottle looks cool. I’d buy it for that reason. In fact, the last beer I bought for review was based largely on packaging: Jacobsen’s Dark Lager.
18 November, 2010 at 12:03 am |
Gents (and beer fan ladies). I tried this beer at a basement 5* hotel bar yesterday. I’m back today for the same reason, to have more again. The hotel’s bar upstairs where I waited for a seat downstairs served the beer with the bottle instead of it being poured in an amazingly frozen glass and I must say it made it an even more rewarding drink to enjoy. It’s light, enjoyable but it’s ‘flat’ when it comes headwise. I like the tingling gassy feeling with a good beer, something Quilmes would have to offer. It’s good, try it excessively cold or have a coke instead!
17 December, 2010 at 11:25 am |
Hi all
This fascinated me a beer. Can you tell me how Viru is located in a supermarket, and how many in the pub? Do not know what it takes to deliver the beer in the Czech Republic?