Beer in the USSR Beer “Zhigulevskoe”: from “Viennese” recipes to USSR standards

History of brewing in the USSR

The official date of birth of Soviet (although more precisely the RSFSR, the USSR was created a little later) brewing can be considered the date of February 3, 1922, when the decree “On excise tax on beer, honey, kvass and fruit and artificial mineral waters" This time coincided with the deployment of the NEP, when some freedom was given to private enterprise, expressed in the fact that in addition to nationalized breweries There were quite a few leased houses, usually by former owners and brewers. What kind of beer was brewed at that time? The same varieties as before the revolution.

These are pro-German brands - “Bavarian”, dark “Munich”, “Kulmbach”, “Export”, strong “Bock”. These are Austrian and Czech stamps(Czech Republic, before the 1st World War was part of Austria-Hungary) - “Vienna” (on “Viennese” malt), “Bohemian”, classic “Pilsen” and its denser, “export” versions (“Extra-Pilsen” ).

In the traditions of English brewing, they brewed a dark, dense “Porter” and a light “Pelle Ale”. Very popular (most likely due to its low density, and therefore low cost) - “Stolovoe”, dark “Martovskoye” (developed under the influence of both Austrian and German brewing), some independent Russian brands have also survived (although they arose under the influence of Western European brewing) - “Cabinet”, “Double Golden Label”.

The only original Russian type of beer is “Chernoe” (as well as its version - “Chernoe-velvetnoe”). This type of beer was not completely fermented (just like traditional Russian kvass), it had a very low strength at high density and such beer was almost unknown in Europe.

By the end of the 20s, the NEP began to be curtailed, private traders were squeezed out of brewing production, the first OST for beer was introduced (OST 61-27), which was mandatory only for large state-owned factories (at the same time it did not prohibit the brewing of other varieties). According to this OST, it was proposed to produce 4 types of beer - “Light No. 1” - close to the Pilsner style, “Light No. 2” - close to the Viennese style, “Dark” - close to the Munich style and “Black” - traditionally Russian, fermented with top yeast (with density 13% had a strength of 1% alcohol, like kvass).

By the mid-30s, active work was underway on new OSTs; they wanted to expand the variety of varieties, moreover, towards Western European traditional brands (“Vienskoe”, “Pilsenskoe”, “Munichskoe”). By the way, the main thing in determining the style of beer was malt - for “Pilsner” beer they used light “Pilsner” malt, for “Vienna” - more roasted and therefore darker “Viennese”, for “Munich” - dark “Munich” malt.

The water was also taken into account - for the Pilsensky it had to be especially soft, for the Munich it had to be harder. But as a result, beer under other names was included in the OST, which is usually associated with a well-known legend - about the victory of the beer “Venskoye” of the Zhigulevsky plant at the beer competition at VDNKh and Mikoyan’s proposal, instead of the “bourgeois” name “Venskoye”, to use the name of the plant - “Zhigulevskoye” "

Be that as it may, both malt and beer were renamed. Malt began to be divided according to color into three types - “Russian” (formerly “Pilsner”), “Zhigulevsky” (formerly “Viennese”), Ukrainian (formerly “Munich”), and the beer was renamed accordingly - “Russkoe”, “Zhigulevskoe” ", "Ukrainian". The Extra Pilsen variety was renamed Moskovskoye. The names were given in honor of the largest state-owned plants - “Zhigulevskoye” - the Zhigulevsky plant in Kuibyshev (Samara), “Russkoye” - the Rostov-on-Don plant, “Moskovskoye” - the Moscow plants, “Ukrainskoye” - the factories in Odessa and Kharkov, “Leningradskoye” (dense variety in the style of side and even double side) - Leningrad factories. Other varieties were also included in OST 350-38, under their old name (since there was nothing “bourgeois” in their name) - these are “Porter”, “Martovskoye”, “Caramelnoe” (the successor to “Cherny”). These 8 varieties (with some changes) existed until the collapse of the USSR (and some survived it), so I will dwell on them in more detail.

“Zhigulevskoe” (11% density) - in the style of “Viennese” - more roasted malt gave a deep amber color, the taste was more malty than hop-like.

“Russkoe” (12%) - in the style of “Pilsner” - as light as possible, well hopped.

“Moskovskoe” (13%) - also made with “Pilsner” malt, but denser and even more hopped.

“Leningradskoe” (18%) - elite dense and strong light variety.

“Caramel” (11% density, 1.5% alcohol) - this dark, unfermented beer was recommended for consumption even by children and nursing mothers. It was not stable and had to be pasteurized.

"Martovskoye" (14.5%) - dark variety beer, and they could use both dark malts and specially roasted “Vienna”.

“Ukrainian” is a dark beer with a deep malt flavor.

"Porter" - fermented according to English tradition top-fermented, very dense, highly hopped beer with a wine and caramel taste.

By 1936, all factories switched to brewing precisely these types of beer. Although they also brewed “Velkhatnoye,” a dense dark type of beer, new varieties were also being developed, primarily “elite” ones.

By 1939, the Moscow premium" (18%),

“Stolichnoe” (19%) - this light variety became the strongest (and after the war, when the density value was increased to 23%, the densest) variety in the USSR.

"Kyiv" - a type of beer with wheat malt, albeit of bottom (lager) fermentation.

A variety in the style of ale was also developed, but the beginning of the Great Patriotic War stopped all work in this direction.

Already in 1944, after the liberation of Riga, the “Rizhskoe” variety was put into production, which duplicated “Russkoe” and in GOST 3478-46 replaced this variety (now Riga was not a “bourgeois” city and the name “Rizhskoe” can be was used).

The remaining varieties were preserved in GOST (only “Leningradskoye” became “heavier” to 20% density, and “Porter” began to be fermented by bottom fermentation). From that time on (with rare exceptions), all beer in the USSR was produced using bottom-fermentation technology (lagern

The restoration of the economy destroyed by the war began. During the 1930s, beer production in the USSR increased 3 times, but in 1946 it was less than half of the production in 1940. Most beer was sold by the glass (as before the war, although in Russian Empire everything was the other way around), they produced little bottled wine, the Baltic states were in the lead in this matter. The main volume of beer was the Zhigulevskoye variety; in some cases it accounted for up to 90% of the total volume of beer produced.

Serious changes occurred only during the Khrushchev “thaw”. At that time, various administrative and economic reassignments were carried out in the country; instead of GOST, republican standards for beer were introduced, which greatly increased the number of varieties of Soviet beer. Many large factories introduced their own VTU (temporary technical specifications) and began to brew “branded” varieties (unfortunately, this was not practiced for long). The quantitative diversity far exceeded a hundred varieties (except for the RSFSR, there were especially many varieties in the Ukrainian SSR, BSSR, and the Baltic republics; they usually bore the names of republics, historical regions, capitals and cities with brewing traditions). At the same time, unmalted materials began to be introduced to a very wide extent in brewing (which, by the way, made it possible to create different flavor profiles - barley, rice, corn, soybeans, wheat, various types sugar - became an integral part of the recipe of Soviet beer). In the late 50s and early 60s, factories for the production of enzyme preparations were opened (in Zaporozhye and Lvov), which made it possible to increase the amount of unmalted products used to 30-50% (primarily in Zhigulevsky). In the mid-60s, half of the Zhigulevsky beer in the Ukrainian SSR was produced with an amount of unmalted raw material from 30 to 50%.

I will dwell on the most interesting varieties that began to be produced at this time. “Taiga” and “Magadanskoe” were produced using pine needle extract, and Estonian “Kadaka” with juniper, “Pereyaslavskoe” and “Romenskoe festive” with honey, and “Lyubitelskoe” with 50% unmalted wheat. Some plants were real “generators” of new varieties. Under the leadership of G.P. Dyumler, the Isetskoe plant was created at the Isetsky plant (the German “bok” served as the prototype, although Soviet tradition this beer contains 30% unmalted products - rice and sugar), this variety is still brewed. “Uralskoe” is a dense, dark and winey type of beer. “Sverdlovskoe” is a highly fermented light beer - the forerunner of the types of beer that we drink now.

They tried to completely ferment beer in the USSR, but the technologies of that time (primarily the yeast races used) did not allow this to be done, so with the same initial density, Soviet beer varieties are always less strong than modern ones (and this is despite very significant periods of fermentation of Soviet beer, up to 100 days at Stolichny). In Moscow, they revived the pre-revolutionary “Double Gold Label” under the name “Double Gold”, a little later they began to brew dense light “Our Mark” and “Moskvoretskoye”, dense dark “Ostankinskoye”. In Khamovniki they brewed “Light” - at 14% density, 1.5% alcohol - beer in the traditional Russian style of unfermented kvass.

In Ukraine, the Lvov plant (with several versions of “Lvovsky”), the Kyiv factories (several versions of “Kievsky”) and some others stood out. The Baltic states remained the last island of pure malt beer, several varieties were brewed there (for example, the Senchu variety, which actually repeated the recipe of Zhigulevsky, but only from pure malt), throughout the entire Union, the only mass-produced pure malt variety was Rizhskoye. But closer to the 70s, “Slavyanskoe” began to be introduced to replace “Rizhsky”.

In the USSR, many varieties of both light and dark beer were brewed, the density varied from very light varieties (8-9% density) - “Stolovoe”, “Letneye”, “Svetloe” to beer with a density of 20% and higher - “Leningradskoe” , “Porter”, “Stolichnoe” (23%), “Dijalus” (21%), “Kishinevskoe”. Since the mid-60s, bottled beer had already begun to prevail over draft beer, beer was usually not pasteurized, its shelf life was around 7 days, but often did not reach 3 (breweries could afford this, beer did not sit on the shelves). From the latest GOST standards for malt, “Zhigulevsky” (“Viennese”) malt disappeared and “Zhigulevskoye” lost its “Viennese” character, and due to the significant amount of unmalted products and the reduction in fermentation time to 14 and even 11 days, the variety turned into the most unassuming .

In the 70s, such famous brands beer, many of which have survived to this day as “Admiralteyskoe”, “Don Cossack”, “Petrovskoe”, “ Barley ear", "Klinskoye". The “Lyubitelskoe” and “Stolichnoe” varieties (not to be confused with the varieties brewed in the 60s) continued the trend towards highly fermented modern varieties. In the 80s, new varieties continued to appear constantly (oddly enough, the anti-alcohol campaign of 1985 even stimulated their appearance, especially low-alcohol ones), especially in the 90s, although many of these varieties can already be attributed to the period of independence of the republics former USSR. At that time, such well-known brands as “Tverskoe”, “Bouquet of Chuvashia”, “Vityaz”, “Chernigovskoe” arose, but this needs a different conversation...

In total, during the existence of the USSR (from 1922 to 1991), approximately 350 types of beer were brewed

These are pro-German brands - “Bavarian”, dark “Munich”, “Kulmbach”, “Export”, strong “Bock”. These are Austrian and Czech brands (the Czech Republic was part of Austria-Hungary before the 1st World War) - “Vienna” (on “Viennese” malt), “Bohemian”, classic “Pilsner” and its denser, “export” versions ( "Extra-Pilsner").

In the traditions of English brewing, they brewed a dark, dense “Porter” and a light “Pelle Ale”. Very popular (most likely due to its low density, and therefore low cost) were “Stolovoe”, dark “Martovskoye” (developed under the influence of both Austrian and German brewing), some independent Russian brands have also survived (although they arose under the influence of Western European brewing) - “Cabinet”, “Double Golden Label”.

The only original Russian type of beer is “Chernoe” (as well as its version, “Chernoe-Velvet”). This type of beer was not completely fermented (just like traditional Russian kvass), it had a very low strength at high density and such beer was almost unknown in Europe.

By the end of the 20s, the NEP began to be curtailed, private traders were squeezed out of brewing production, the first OST for beer was introduced (OST 61-27), which was mandatory only for large state-owned factories (at the same time it did not prohibit the brewing of other varieties). According to this OST, it was proposed to produce 4 types of beer - "Light No. 1" - close to the Pilsner style, "Light No. 2" - close to the Viennese style, "Dark" - close to the Munich style and "Black" - traditionally Russian, fermented with top yeast (with density 13% had a strength of 1% alcohol, like kvass).

By the mid-30s, active work was underway on new OSTs; they wanted to expand the variety of varieties, moreover towards Western European traditional brands ("Vienskoe", "Pilsen", "Munich"). By the way, the main thing in determining the style of beer was malt - for “Pilsner” beer they used light “Pilsner” malt, for “Vienna” - more roasted and therefore darker “Viennese”, for “Munich” - dark “Munich” malt.

The water was also taken into account - for the Pilsensky it had to be especially soft, for the Munich it had to be harder. But as a result, beer under other names was included in the OST, which is usually associated with a well-known legend - about the victory of the beer "Venskoye" of the Zhigulevsky plant at the beer competition at VDNKh and Mikoyan's proposal to use the name of the plant - "Zhigulevskoye" instead of the "bourgeois" name "Venskoye" ".

Be that as it may, both malt and beer were renamed. Malt began to be divided according to color into three types - “Russian” (formerly “Pilsner”), “Zhigulevsky” (formerly “Vienna”), Ukrainian (formerly “Munich”), and the beer was renamed accordingly - “Russkoe”, “Zhigulevskoe” ", "Ukrainian". The variety "Extra Pilsen" was renamed "Moskovskoe". The names were given in honor of the largest state factories - "Zhigulevskoye" - the Zhigulevsky plant in Kuibyshev (Samara), "Russkoye" - the Rostov-on-Don plant, "Moskovskoye" - the Moscow factories, "Ukrainskoye" - the factories of Odessa and Kharkov, "Leningradskoye" (dense variety in the style of side and even double side) - Leningrad factories. Other varieties were also included in OST 350-38, under their old name (since there was nothing “bourgeois” in their name) - these are “Porter”, “Martovskoye”, “Caramelnoe” (the successor to “Chernoy”). These 8 varieties (with some changes) existed until the collapse of the USSR (and some survived it), so I will dwell on them in more detail.

“Zhigulevskoe” (11% density) - in the style of “Viennese” - more roasted malt gave a deep amber color, the taste was more malty than hop-like.

"Russian" (12%) - in the style of "Pilsner" - as light as possible, well hopped.

"Moskovskoe" (13%) - also made with "Pilsner" malt, but denser and even more hopped.

"Leningradskoye" (18%) is an elite dense and strong light variety.

"Caramel" (11% density, 1.5% alcohol) - this dark, unfermented beer was recommended for consumption even by children and nursing mothers. It was not stable and had to be pasteurized.

“Martovskoe” (14.5%) is a dark beer variety, which could use both dark malts and specially roasted “Viennese”.

"Ukrainian" is a dark beer with a deep malt flavor.

"Porter" - fermented according to the English tradition by top fermentation, a very dense, highly hopped type of beer with a wine and caramel taste.

By 1936, all factories switched to brewing precisely these types of beer. Although they also brewed “Velkhatnoe” - a dense dark type of beer, new varieties were also being developed, primarily “elite” ones.

By 1939, "Moscow premium grade" (18%) had been developed.

"Stolichnoe" (19%) - this light variety became the strongest (and after the war, when the density value was increased to 23%, the densest) variety in the USSR.

"Kyiv" is a type of beer with wheat malt, although bottom (lager) fermented.

They brewed “Soyuznoe” and “Polyarnoe” - which duplicated another variety “Moskovskoe”, so it was discontinued.

A variety in the style of ale was also developed, but the beginning of the Great Patriotic War stopped all work in this direction.

The remaining varieties were preserved in GOST (only “Leningradskoye” became “heavier” to 20% density, and “Porter” began to be fermented by bottom fermentation). Since that time (with rare exceptions), all beer in the USSR was produced using bottom fermentation technology (lager), and the wort was mashed in the Czech-German tradition using the decoction method.

The restoration of the economy destroyed by the war began. During the 1930s, beer production in the USSR increased 3 times, but in 1946 it was less than half of the production in 1940. Most beer was sold on tap (as before the war, although in the Russian Empire everything was the other way around), little bottled beer was produced, and the Baltic states were the leaders in this matter. The main volume of beer was the Zhigulevskoe variety; in some cases it accounted for up to 90% of the total volume of beer produced.

Serious changes occurred only during the Khrushchev “thaw”. At that time, various administrative and economic reassignments were carried out in the country; instead of GOST, republican standards for beer were introduced, which greatly increased the number of varieties of Soviet beer. Many large factories introduced their own VTU (temporary technical specifications) and began to brew “branded” varieties (unfortunately, this was not practiced for long). The quantitative diversity far exceeded a hundred varieties (except for the RSFSR, there were especially many varieties in the Ukrainian SSR, BSSR, and the Baltic republics; they usually bore the names of republics, historical regions, capitals and cities with brewing traditions). At the same time, unmalted materials began to be introduced to a very wide extent in brewing (which, by the way, made it possible to create different flavor profiles - barley, rice, corn, soy, wheat, various types of sugar - became an integral part of the recipe of Soviet beer). In the late 50s and early 60s, factories for the production of enzyme preparations were opened (in Zaporozhye and Lvov), which made it possible to increase the amount of unmalted products used to 30-50% (primarily in Zhigulevsky). In the mid-60s, half of the Zhigulevsky beer in the Ukrainian SSR was produced with an amount of unmalted raw material from 30 to 50%.

I will dwell on the most interesting varieties that began to be produced at this time. “Taiga” and “Magadanskoe” were produced using pine needle extract, and the Estonian “Kadaka” with juniper, “Pereyaslavskoe” and “Romenskoe festive” with honey, and “Lyubitelskoe” with 50% unmalted wheat. Some plants were real “generators” of new varieties. Under the leadership of G.P. Dyumler, “Isetskoe” was created at the Isetsky plant (the prototype was the German “bock”, although according to Soviet tradition this beer contains 30% unmalted products - rice and sugar), this variety is still brewed. "Uralskoe" is a dense, dark and winey type of beer. "Sverdlovskoe" is a highly fermented light beer - the forerunner of the types of beer that we drink now.

They tried to completely ferment beer in the USSR, but the technologies of that time (primarily the yeast races used) did not allow this to be done, so with the same initial density, Soviet beer varieties are always less strong than modern ones (and this is despite very significant periods of fermentation of Soviet beer, up to 100 days at Stolichny). In Moscow, they revived the pre-revolutionary “Double Gold Label” under the name “Double Gold”, a little later they began to brew dense light “Our Mark” and “Moskvoretskoye”, dense dark “Ostankinskoye”. In Khamovniki they brewed “Light” - at 14% density, 1.5% alcohol - beer in the traditional Russian style of unfermented kvass.

In Ukraine, the Lvov plant (with several versions of “Lvovsky”), the Kyiv factories (several versions of “Kievsky”) and some others stood out. The Baltic states remained the last island of pure malt beer, several varieties were brewed there (for example, the Senchu variety, which actually repeated the recipe of Zhigulevsky, but only from pure malt), throughout the entire Union, the only mass-produced pure malt variety was Rizhskoye. But closer to the 70s, “Slavyanskoe” began to be introduced to replace “Rizhsky”.

In the USSR, many varieties of both light and dark beer were brewed, the density varied from very light varieties (8-9% density) - "Stolovoe", "Letneye", "Svetloe" to beer with a density of 20% and higher - "Leningradskoe" , "Porter", "Stolichnoe" (23%), "Dijalus" (21%), "Kishinevskoe". Since the mid-60s, bottled beer had already begun to prevail over draft beer, beer was usually not pasteurized, its shelf life was around 7 days, but often did not reach 3 (breweries could afford this, beer did not sit on the shelves). From the latest GOST standards for malt, “Zhigulevsky” (“Viennese”) malt disappeared and “Zhigulevskoye” lost its “Viennese” character, and due to the significant amount of unmalted products and the reduction in fermentation time to 14 and even 11 days, the variety turned into the most unassuming .

In the 70s, such well-known brands of beer were launched, many of which have survived to this day, such as “Admiralteyskoye”, “Donskoye Cossack”, “Petrovskoye”, “Barley Ear”, “Klinskoye”. The Lyubitelskoe and Stolichnoe varieties (not to be confused with the varieties brewed in the 60s) continued the trend towards highly fermented modern varieties. In the 80s, new varieties continued to appear constantly (oddly enough, the anti-alcohol campaign of 1985 even stimulated their appearance, especially low-alcohol ones), especially in the 90s, although many of these varieties can already be attributed to the period of independence of the republics former USSR. At that time, such well-known brands as “Tverskoe”, “Bouquet of Chuvashia”, “Vityaz”, “Chernigovskoe” arose, but this needs a different conversation...

In total, during the existence of the USSR (from 1922 to 1991), approximately 350 types of beer were brewed

Sources

Text taken from Pavel Egorov

Soviet beer... For some reason, one immediately thinks of “Zhigulevskoe” and only “Zhigulevskoe”, as if there was nothing else. But Soviet beer was by no means limited to this variety, and it did not immediately reach all the famous Zhiguli beer. I would like to open some pages of the history of beer in the USSR.
After the Civil War, factories and plants, including breweries, began to be restored, this happened especially rapidly during the NEP period, when many breweries were leased out. What types of beer were brewed at that time? In general, they are the same as before the revolution. If you look at the labels of those years (although bottled beer was produced then in very limited quantities), then these are “Vienskoe” (and “Vienskoe, tafelbier”), “Munichskoe”, “Pilsenskoe”, less often “Bohemskoe”, “Bavarian”, “Extra” -Pilsen" and "Pilsen Export", "Kulmbach" (named after their place of origin), as well as "Velvet" (and "Black-Velvet"), "Bok-Beer", "Double Gold Label", "Cabinet", “Amateur”, “March”, “Juniper”, “Experimental No. 2” (obviously there was also “Experimental No. 1”), “Porter” (and “Highest English Porter”), “Pel-el”, “Canteen” ( and "Dining No. 2"), "Light", "Black", "Export". Rarely, but beer was called by the place of production - "Pskovskoye", "Primorskoye" or by the name of the manufacturer's plant - "Severyanin", and beer with original name- "Ribis". What can you say about this beer? “Vienna” is a beer brewed with Vienna malt, lightly roasted, and therefore has an amber or even bronze color and malty taste. In Germany, this variety was brewed densely and aged longer, which is how the Oktorberfest variety appeared, which is drunk at the same name. beer festival in Munich. In the USSR, on the contrary, they brewed a lighter, table version (which could even be called “Vienna, tafelbier” - “table”, as can be seen from the above label), while the dense version of Vienna was brewed darker and called “Martovskoe”. "Munich" - brewed with dark Munich malt - is a fairly dense dark beer with a rich caramel flavor. "Pilsen" - the famous beer from the Czech Pilsen - light golden, filtered to shine, well hopped. "Export" - this style of beer was brewed thick and well-fermented so that it had good "strength" for transportation (for export). "Bock-bier" is a German variety with a long history, well-aged, with a very high density, and therefore strength. "Porter" is a famous English beer variety that dates back 300 years. Brewed from dark and roasted malts and roasted barley. Very dense, rich, rich and strong (in Russia and the USSR this variety was under strong influence Russian imperial stout - even denser and stronger, which means it was distinguished by greater density and strength in relation to the founders of this genre, the British, one of the porter variants was called “Extra Double Stout”). “Juniper” seems to be the prototype of “Taiga” and “Magadan” with pine needles. As you can see, not only bottom-fermented beer (lagers) was brewed, but also top-fermented beer, including Pel-el. As you can see, most varieties came to us from Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria and England. But “Black” in old encyclopedias is called a Russian variety.

By the end of the 20s, the NEP began to be phased out, and the state became increasingly important in the economy. The first standards were introduced; for beer it was OST 61-27, which came into force on January 1, 1928. According to this all-Union standard, beer was brewed in 4 varieties:
"Light beer No. 1" (density 10.5%, strength 2.9% wt.) was characterized by a clearly expressed hop taste
"Light beer No. 2" (11% to 2.9%) - a combination of malt and hop flavors
“Dark beer” (12% to 3%) - clearly expressed malt taste (taste of dark malts, that is, caramel)
"Light beer" No. 1 and No. 2 differed, judging by the color of the malt used - No. 1 - light (Pilsner), No. 2 - darker (Viennese). "Dark" beer was brewed with dark "Munich" malt. “Black beer” - top-fermented (the previous ones were bottom-fermented, that is, lagers) - had a strength of only 1% at 13% density. “Black beer” was a kind of kvass and differed from it in the raw material (barley, not a mixture of barley and rye) and the absence of lactic acid fermentation. The fermentation itself lasted 3 days (and for lager varieties the minimum period of aging in the basement was 3 weeks), that is, like kvass. Beer in the OST was described as a fermented malt drink with hops; barley was proposed as the main raw material, although the use of wheat malt or milled rice (up to 25%) was temporarily allowed. It was allowed to brew special types of beer with a density of over 15%. The next OST 4778-32 did not introduce anything fundamentally new.

OST 61-27

Radical changes took place in 1936. There is a legend that the Vienskoye beer from the Zhigulevsky plant from Kuibyshev won at the agricultural exhibition in Moscow. And Anastas Mikoyan, who was in charge at that time food industry asked why your beer has such a “bourgeois” name? Let's rename it after your plant, Zhigulevskoye! (there is a variant of the story that Mikoyan was at the Zhigulevsky brewery and he really liked the beer “Venskoye” and he proposed to organize its production at other breweries under the name “Zhigulevskoye”). Both versions are somewhat doubtful, active work was carried out on expanding the assortment and a new OST and it was planned to expand it precisely at the expense of “bourgeois” varieties, but as a result, “Venskoe” really became “Zhigulevsky”, and at the same time other “bourgeois” varieties were renamed - “ Pilsen" became "Russian", Munich" - "Ukrainian" and "Extra-Pilsen" became "Moscow". The new names were probably chosen in honor of the state factories that were part of the People's Commissariat of Food Industry of the USSR at that time: "Leningradskoe" in honor of 3 breweries in the city Leningrad, "Moskovskoye" - the brewery in Moscow, "Zhigulevskoye" - the Zhigulevsky brewery in Kuibyshev, "Russkoye" - the Rostov Zarya brewery and "Ukrainskoye" in honor of the factories in Kharkov "New Bavaria" and Odessa. Probably these the renaming was included in OST NKPP 8391-238 (I still can’t find it, it’s not even in the Russian State Library) and finally enshrined in OST NKPP 350-38 Not only the beer was renamed, but also the malt - light Pilsner malt began to be called Russian ( there is an option where it is called Moscow), Vienna malt was renamed accordingly to Zhiguli malt, and dark Munich malt to Ukrainian. These names were included in OST NKPP 357-38 for malt.
According to OST NKPP 350-38 the following were brewed:
"Zhigulevskoe" - light, bottom-fermented, 11% density, strength not lower than 2.5% alc. (hereinafter - by mass, the value by volume that is used now is more by a quarter). "Zhiguli" ("Viennese") malt was used, which differed slightly more high temperature drying and therefore had more dark color. In addition to malt and hops, it was allowed to use up to 15% of unmalted raw materials (hulled barley, defatted corn, soft wheat, rice chaff) and the beer had to have a weakly expressed hop taste (like the successor to “Vienna”, the taste had to be more malty than hop-like) - 175 grams of hops were added per 1 hl. finished beer. Aging in the basement - at least 16 days.
The remaining light varieties were brewed from “Russian” (“Pilsner”) malt.
"Russkoe" - light, bottom-fermented, 12% density, 3.2% alc., aged in the basement - at least 30 days and should have a strongly pronounced hop taste (like the heir to "Pilsensky") - 260 grams of hops were added per 1 Ch.
"Moskovskoe" - light, bottom-fermented, 13% density, 3.3% alc., aged in the basement - at least 30 days and should have a strongly pronounced hop taste and aroma - hops 360-400 g. The recipe calls for the addition of 4.5 kg. chopped rice for 1 hl. beer. “Extra-pilsen” is probably a Czech version of the German beer “Export” - denser, stronger and hoppy (for “export” - that is, long-term transportation) and “Moskovskoe” received the same features.
"Leningradskoe" - light, bottom fermentation, 18% density, 5% alc., aged in the basement - at least 45 days, the composition should have been 3.3 kg. sugar for 1 hl. beer, and have a winey and strongly pronounced hop taste (450 g of hops per 1 hl). The prototype was probably the beer "Bock Beer" and even more likely a double bock like "Salvator" - dense, aged, strong (hence the wine) and quite hoppy.
“Ukrainian” - dark, bottom-fermented (brewed from “Ukrainian” (“Munich”) malt), 13% density, 3.2% alc., aged in the cellar for at least 30 days, and should have a clearly defined malt aroma (like “Munich” the tastes of dark malts should have been felt). 160 g of hops were added per 1 hl.
“Martovskoe” - dark, bottom fermentation, 14.5% density, 3.8% alc., aging in the cellar for at least 30 days, slightly sweet taste with a strong malt aroma (caramel - from dark malts), hops 200 g. The variety also belonged to the Viennese style, as it was brewed with Vienna (Zhiguli) malt, but with an even darker version. This and subsequent varieties did not have a “bourgeois” character in their names and were not renamed.
“Porter” - dark, top-fermented, 20% density, 5% alc., aged in the cellar for at least 60 days and another 10 days in bottles, should have a malt aroma and hop bitterness (450 g of hops were added per 1 hl .). Unlike modern porter, at that time they still used the traditional top-fermentation (ale) technology for this style. And according to tradition, the taste was distinguished by the rich aroma of dark malts, while the beer was well hopped.
"Caramel" - also dark and top-fermented, 11% density, not higher than 1.5% alc., aging in the basement - at least 3-4 days. Contains 4.5 kg. sugar and 0.1 kg. sugar color for 1 chapter beer, hops 100 g. Should have sweet taste, lack of wort taste and malt aroma. This is the heir to "Black" and a kind of barley kvass with sugar coloring.

OST NKPP 350-38

In addition to the above varieties, beer "Polyarnoye", "Soyuznoye", "Volzhskoye", "Stolichnoe" and "Moskovskoye, premium grade" was produced, indicating OST NKPP 350-38. There is no information about Soyuznoye, but Polyarnoye was a clone of Moskovsky and because of this it was discontinued before the war. "Stolichnoe" (at that time - density 19%) and "Moskovskoe, premium" (density 18%) began to be brewed in 1939.

After the war, the state all-Union standard for beer was adopted - GOST 3473-46. In fact, it repeated its predecessor, OST 350-38, but the following changes were made to the varieties: “Russkoe” was replaced with “Rizhskoe” (since Riga ceased to be a “bourgeois” city, this variety began to be brewed since 1944), and the density of Leningradsky increased from 18 to 20%. The aging time in the basement has also changed somewhat - for “Zhigulevsky” up to 21 days, for “Rizhsky” and “Moskovsky” up to 42 days, for “Leningradsky” up to 90 days. The mention of bottom and top fermentation has disappeared. Probably the widespread use of captured German equipment finally consolidated the production of exclusively lagers in the USSR (although later variety"Velvet", at some factories, was still fermented with top yeast).

GOST 3473-46

Next GOST 3473-53. The "Caramel" variety was replaced by "Velvet" - density 12%, strength not higher than 2.5% alc. by weight Sugar was also used in its production, as well as special yeast that does not ferment sucrose. The organoleptic characteristics of the varieties changed somewhat and became as follows:
"Zhigulevskoe" - pronounced hop taste
"Rizhskoe" - strong hop flavor
"Moskovskoe" - strongly pronounced hop flavor and aroma
"Leningradskoe" - wine flavor
"Ukrainian" - clearly expressed taste and aroma of dark malt
"Martovskoye" - slightly sweetish taste and clearly defined malt aroma
"Porter" - malty taste and wine flavor
"Velvet" - sweet taste and malt aroma.
Also, “Summer” meets this GOST.

GOST 3473-53

Since the late 50s, republican technical conditions began to be used instead of GOST. The first in Russia was RTU RSFSR 197-57, then RTU RSFSR 197-61 - we will consider it, since the range of varieties has grown significantly. 8 varieties from the previous GOST were retained, and the following were added:
“Refreshing” (light, density not less than 8%, strength not less than 1.8% wt., aged for at least 14 days) - hop taste and weak hop aroma
"Kazanskoe" (light, 14%, 3.9%, 60) - hop taste and aroma - developed by a plant in Kazan
"Double Golden" (light, 15%, 4.2%, 60) - specific malt taste and hop aroma
"Nevskoe" (light, 15%, 4%, 60) - hop aroma, pleasant bitterness and mild wine flavor
"Isetskoe" (light, 16%, 5%, 50) - light wine flavor, hop taste and aroma - developed by the Isetsky plant in Sverdlovsk
"Stolichnoe" (light, 23%, 7%, 100) - sweetish taste with a wine aftertaste and hop aroma
“Light” (dark, 14%, no more than 2%, 16) - sweet malt taste and weak hop aroma
"Ostankino" (dark, 17%, 4.5%, 45) - soft taste and malt aroma - developed by the Ostankino plant in Moscow
"Samara" (light, 14.5%, 4.5%, 60) - pronounced hop taste and aroma with a slight wine tint
"Taiga" (dark, 12%, 3.2%, 20) - weakly expressed hop taste with a subtle aftertaste of pine extract
"Magadanskoe" - (dark, 13%, 3.5%, 16) weakly expressed hop taste with a subtle aftertaste and aroma of elfin needles.
The varieties “Rizhskoe original”, “Moskovskoe original”, “Leningradskoe original” were also added - they differed from the usual “Rizhskoe”, “Moskovskoe” and “Leningradskoe” by using only the highest quality raw materials, more hops and longer post-fermentation. To make beer, depending on the recipe, barley malt, colored barley malt and unmalted materials were used: barley flour, rice flour or milled rice, defatted corn flour; sugar (including glucose), hops and water. And for the varieties "Samarskoe" - soy flour, "Taiga" - pine extract, "Magadanskoe" - dwarf infusion.
I will dwell in more detail on some varieties, especially since I have already drunk some of them, although in much more modern versions. “Stolichnoe” - I often see in books that the strongest beer in the USSR was “Leningradskoe”. This is not so, the strongest (and densest) beer was Stolichnoe! Before the war it had a density of 19%, after the war - 23%. Perhaps its successor was the beer "Gubernatorskoe", which was brewed in Irkutsk in our time. At a strength of 9.4% vol. (this is only half a percent more than the 7% wt. of that “Stolichny”) the beer was easy to drink, had a wine-malt taste and quickly knocked you off your feet. Tasty and merciless :-) “Light” - how did you manage to get only 2% alcohol with a density of 14%? Thanks to a kind of “ice” technology, the fermentation temperature was lowered from 5-6 to 1 degree already on the 5th day of fermentation, kept for another 2 days, then the yeast was removed with a separator and sent for further fermentation. The alcohol did not have time to ferment under this regime. “Isetskoye” - developed at the Isetsky brewery, in what was then Sverdlovsk, the prototype was bock style beer. Some factories continue to brew it in our time. The taste is dense, malty, slightly winey, but moderately strong. "Double Gold" is an elite variety with pre-revolutionary roots. It also had a dense malt taste without the presence of alcohol. "Ostankino" is a dense dark beer developed at the Ostankino plant. In my time it had a caramel and wine taste. “Taiga” was supposed to have an interesting pine flavor, but the modern version I drank practically didn’t have it. The varieties "Kazanskoye", "Magadanskoye", "Samarskoye" were obviously named after the factories of the respective cities, while "Nevskoye" was developed at the Leningrad breweries. Non-alcoholic beer It was not released at that time, but it was replaced by the very light variety "Refreshing". In addition to "Isetskoe" (and a high-quality version - "Isetskoe, original"), the Sverdlovsk brewery developed recipes for "Sverdlovskoe" - 12% to 3.6% - light beer with a pronounced hop taste and aroma and high degree fermentation and “Uralskoe” - 18% to 6.5% - dark beer with a predominant malt flavor harmoniously associated with hop bitterness and the taste of wine (and a high-quality version - “Uralskoe, original”). These varieties are not listed in the RTU, although they may appear on labels. I note that the Yantarnoye variety, which had a density of 11% (and a high-quality version of Yantarnoye, original), was also brewed with the indication RTU 197. The Yurginsky plant brewed “Osoboe” and “Souvenirnoe” beer; the Rostov Zarya plant brewed “Lvovskoye”, popular in Ukraine. Branded varieties were also brewed at the Ardonsky brewery ("Pikantnoe"), Astrakhansky ("Astrakhanskoe" and "Astrakhanskoe, white"), Votkinsk ("Votkinskoe", Irkutsk ("Irkutskoe"), Krasnodar ("Kubanskoe"), Nalchik ("Vostok" ", "Queen of the Fields", "Original", Novosibirsk ("Novosibirskoye"), Ordzhonikidzovsky ("Osetinskoye"), Orenburgsky ("Orenburgskoe"), Partizanskoye ("Primorskoye"), Penza ("Penzenskoe"), Pskovsky (" Pskovskoe"), Saransk ("Mordovskoe"), Saratovsk ("Saratovskoe"), Sochi ("Sochinskoe, original"), Cheboksary No. 2 ("Chuvashskoe"), Ufa ("Ufimskoe"), Khabarovsk breweries ("Vostochnoe", "Khabarovskoye"), Sakhalin breweries ("Sakhalinskoye"), Bashkir breweries ("Bashkirskoye"), Stavropol breweries ("Caucasian", "Pyatigorskoye"). In addition to the "original" versions ("Zhigulevskoye, original" was also produced), there were also “anniversary” - “Zhigulevskoe, anniversary”, “Isetskoe, anniversary”, “Rizhskoe, anniversary”.

RTU RSFSR 197-61 and others.

At the end of the 60s, GOST 3473-69 was re-adopted. The beer varieties in it correspond to GOST 53 - these are “Zhigulevskoe”, “Rizhskoe”, “Moskovskoe”, “Leningradskoe”, “Ukrainskoe”, “Martovskoe”, “Porter”, “Velkhatnoe”. In GOST 3473-78 the list of varieties has not been changed. A much more extensive range of varieties is given in the Russian Republican Standard. So, in particular, the RST RSFSR 230-84 lists the following varieties (for new ones I give their characteristics and for all the features inherent in this variety): light beer:
"Rossiyskoe" (10%, 2.7%) - with a hop taste and aroma with a pleasant hop bitterness
"Slavyanskoe" (12%, 3.6%, developed at the Moscow brewery) - with hop taste and aroma combined with hop bitterness
"Admiralteyskoe" (12%, 3.5%) - with a pronounced hop flavor, with a pleasant hop bitterness and hop aroma
"Don Cossack" (14%, 3.9%) - with pleasant hop bitterness and hop aroma
“Nizhegorodskoe” (16%, 4.8%, developed at the Gorky Volga brewery) - with a hop flavor with a hint of caramel in the aroma
“Our brand” (18%, 5.3%, developed at the Badaev brewery for the 50th anniversary of Soviet power) - with a pronounced hop aroma and wine flavor
"Norilskoe" (10%, 2.7%) - with hop taste and aroma
"Klinskoe" (11%, 3%, developed at the Klin brewery) - with a taste with a pleasant hop bitterness
“Petrovskoe” (14%, 3.6%) - with a pronounced taste and aroma of hops.
Light original beer:
"Riga original" - with hop taste, pleasant hop bitterness and hop aroma
"Moscow original" - with a strong hop flavor and hop aroma
"Leningradskoe original" - with a hop taste and aroma with a wine aftertaste.
Light specialty beer:
"Kazanskoe" - with hop taste and aroma
"Samarskoye" - with a pronounced hop taste and aroma, with a slight wine tint
"Nevskoe" - with a hop aroma, pleasant bitterness and a faint wine aftertaste
"Double Golden" - with a specific malt taste and hop aroma
"Isetskoe" - with a hop taste and aroma, with a slight wine aftertaste
“Prazdnichnoe” (17%, 5.5%) - with hop flavor, pleasant hop bitterness
"Yubileinoe" (17%, 5.3%) - with a hop taste, pleasant bitterness and wine aftertaste
“Moskvoretskoye” (17%, 5%, developed at the Moskvoretskoye brewery) - with a hop taste, pleasant bitterness combined with a wine aftertaste.
Dark beer:
"Ostankinskoye" - mild taste and malt aroma
"Ladozhskoe" (14%, 3.8%) - taste and aroma of hops with a hint of caramel malt
"Novgorodskoye" (16%, 4.2%) - with a hop flavor with a hint of caramel malt in the aroma
Ossetian "Iriston" (18%, 3%) - with a mild taste of fermented malt drink, with a pleasant hop taste, with a hint of caramel in the aroma.
I have already drunk most of these varieties (though later, in the mid-late 80s, and mainly in the early-mid 90s). I would especially like to note “Admiralteyskoe” and “Slavyanskoe” - classic varieties light beer Pilsner-type, with noticeable hop bitterness. “Petrovskoye”, “Donskoye Cossack” - quite dense (with a density almost like the sides), but not at all strong varieties beer (with a strength like a Pilsner) - in my opinion, a very successful combination, giving the power of taste while being easy to drink, varieties like these are still my favorite light beers. “Moskvoretskoye”, “Our Mark” - dense, rich, malty and slightly winey with an acceptable level of alcohol. "Russian" is a very light and watery beer to quench your thirst in the heat. “Klinskoe” is a variation on the theme of “Zhigulevskoe”, but with rice, giving a special softness of taste. Of the “original” varieties, I drank only “Moscow, original” and it made an indelible impression precisely because of its highest quality, which makes it stand out from the mass varieties. The low-alcohol variety "Svetloye" (9%) was brewed according to RST RSFSR 230-71 (and later) and had a hop flavor and pleasant hop bitterness. At the same time, the variety "Barley Ear" (11%) became popular - cheap beer with big amount unmalted barley (brewed according to TU 18-6-15-79), and in Moscow - “Stolichnoe” (12%, TU 18-6-10-78 - not to be confused with the old “Stolichnye”). It was brewed mainly by the new Moscow brewery (now Ochakovo) and it was already distinguished by its quality pure taste. "Amateur" (12%, TU 18-6-12-79) - "low-carbohydrate" - that is, well-fermented. The first Soviet canned beer was brewed for the Moscow Olympics "80" Golden ring".

We have already written about the labels of modern craft beer. Now we decided to look at this issue from the other side and talk about the design of Soviet beer bottles. We asked the author of the website nuBO.ru and collector of beer paraphernalia Pavel Egorov to understand the issue.

1920s

The official date of birth of Soviet (although, more precisely, beer of the RSFSR - the USSR was created a little later) brewing can be considered the date of February 3, 1922, when the decree “On excise tax on beer, honey, kvass and fruit and artificial mineral waters” was signed. This time coincided with the deployment of the New Economic Policy, when some freedom was given to private enterprise, which was expressed in the fact that in addition to nationalized breweries, many leased ones emerged - usually by former owners and brewers.

What kind of beer was brewed at that time? The same varieties as before the revolution. These are pro-German brands: “Bavarian”, dark “Munich”, “Kulmbach”, “Export”, strong “Bok”; Austrian and Czech stamps (the Czech Republic was part of Austria-Hungary before the First World War): “Viennese”, “Bohemian”, classic “Pilsen” and its denser, “export” versions (“Extra-Pilsen”). In the traditions of English brewing, dark thick porter and light pale ale were brewed. “Stolovoe” and dark “Martovskoe” were very popular (most likely due to its low density, and therefore low cost), and some independent Russian brands also survived, although they also arose under the influence of Western European brewing: “Kabinetnoye”, “ Double gold label." The only original Russian type of beer is “Black”, as well as its version “Black Velvet”. This type of beer was not fully fermented, just like traditional Russian kvass. Despite its high density, it had a very low strength and was almost unknown in Europe.

By the end of the 1920s, the NEP began to be curtailed, private traders were squeezed out of brewing production, the first OST for beer was introduced (OST 61-27), which was mandatory only for large state-owned factories (at the same time it did not prohibit the brewing of other varieties). According to this OST, it was proposed to produce four types of beer: “Light No. 1” - close to the Pilsner style, “Light No. 2” - close to the Viennese style, “Dark” - close to the Munich style and “Black” - traditionally Russian, fermented with top yeast and having strength is 1% alcohol, like kvass.

1930s

By the mid-1930s, active work was underway on new OSTs; they wanted to expand the varietal diversity, moreover, towards Western European traditional brands (“Vienna”, “Pilsen”, “Munich”). At that time, the main thing in determining the style of beer was malt - for “Pilsner” beer they used light “Pilsner” malt, for “Vienna” - more roasted and therefore darker “Viennese”, for “Munich” - dark “Munich” malt. The water was also taken into account - for the Pilsensky it had to be especially soft, for the Munich it had to be harder. But as a result, beer under other names was included in the OST, which is usually associated with a well-known legend - about the victory of the beer “Venskoye” of the Zhigulevsky plant at the beer competition at VDNKh and Mikoyan’s proposal to use the name of the plant - “Zhigulevskoye” instead of the “bourgeois” name “Venskoye” . Be that as it may, both malt and beer were renamed.

Malt began to be divided according to color into three types: “Russian” (formerly “Pilsner”), “Zhigulevsky” (formerly “Viennese”), Ukrainian (formerly “Munich”), and the beer was renamed accordingly - “Russkoe”, “Zhigulevskoe” ", "Ukrainian". The names were given in honor of the largest state-owned factories: “Zhigulevskoye” - the Zhigulevsky plant in Kuibyshev (Samara), “Russkoye” - the Rostov-on-Don plant, “Moskovskoye” - Moscow enterprises, “Ukrainskoye” - the factories of Odessa and Kharkov. Other varieties were also included in OST 350-38 under their old name (since there was nothing “bourgeois” in their name): this is “Porter”, which was fermented according to the English tradition by top fermentation, a very dense, heavily hopped variety of beer with wine and caramel taste. And besides it, “Martovskoe” and “Caramelnoye” (the successor to “Cherny”) are dark, unfermented beer with 1.5% alcohol, which was recommended for use even by children and nursing mothers. These eight varieties, with some changes, existed until the collapse of the USSR, and some survived it, so we will dwell on them in more detail.

In addition, new varieties were being developed, primarily elite ones. Thus, by 1939, “Moskovskoye Vyssheskoe grade” and “Stolichnoe” were developed. This light variety became the strongest (and after the war, when the density value was increased to 23%, the densest) variety in the USSR. “Kyiv” is a type of beer with wheat malt, albeit bottom (lager) fermentation. They brewed “Soyuznoye” and “Polyarnoye”, which duplicated another variety, “Moskovskoye”, and therefore were discontinued. A variety in the style of ale was also developed, but the beginning of the Great Patriotic War stopped all work in this direction.

Post-war period

Already in 1944, after the liberation of Riga, the “Rizhskoe” variety was put into production, which duplicated “Russkoe” and in GOST 3478-46 replaced this variety (now Riga was not a “bourgeois” city and the name “Rizhskoe” could be used ). The remaining varieties have been preserved in GOST. Since that time, with rare exceptions, all beer in the USSR was produced using bottom fermentation technology (lager), and the wort was mashed in the Czech-German tradition using the decoction method. The restoration of the economy destroyed by the war began. During the 1930s, beer production in the USSR tripled, but in 1946 it was less than half of the production in 1940. The lion's share of beer was sold on tap (as before the war, although in the Russian Empire everything was the other way around), little bottled beer was produced, and the Baltic states were in the lead in this matter. The main volume of beer was the Zhigulevskoe variety; in some cases it accounted for up to 90% of the total volume of beer produced.

Serious changes occurred only during the Khrushchev Thaw. At that time, various administrative and economic reassignments were carried out in the country, and instead of GOST, republican standards for beer were introduced, which greatly increased the number of varieties of Soviet beer. Many large factories introduced their own TTU (temporary technical conditions) and began brewing branded varieties. The quantitative diversity far exceeded a hundred varieties. In addition to the RSFSR, there were especially many varieties in the Ukrainian SSR, BSSR, and the Baltic states - they usually bore the names of republics, historical regions, capitals and cities with brewing traditions. At the same time, unmalted materials began to be introduced to a very wide extent in brewing. This allowed the creation of different flavor profiles - barley, rice, corn, soy, wheat, various types of sugar - which became an integral part of the Soviet beer recipe. In the late 1950s - early 1960s, factories for the production of enzyme preparations were opened in Zaporozhye and Lvov, which made it possible to increase the amount of unmalted products used to 30–50% (primarily in Zhigulevsky).

Here are some of the most interesting varieties, which began to be produced at that time: “Taiga” and “Magadanskoe” were produced using pine needle extract, and the Estonian “Kadaka” - with juniper, “Pereyaslavskoe” and “Romenskoe festive” - with honey, and “Lyubitelskoe” - with 50% unmalted wheat. Some plants were real generators of new varieties. Under the leadership of G.P. Dyumler, “Isetskoye” beer was created at the Isetsky plant, the prototype of which was German bock (this variety is still brewed to this day). Also appeared “Uralskoe” - a dense, dark and wine type of beer and “Sverdlovskoe” - a highly fermented light type of beer, the forerunner of the varieties that we drink now.

They tried to completely ferment beer in the USSR, but the technologies of that time (primarily the yeast races used) did not allow this, so with the same initial gravity, Soviet beer varieties were always less strong than modern ones - and this was despite very significant periods of fermentation for Soviet beer. up to 100 days, like Stolichny. In Moscow, they revived the pre-revolutionary “Double Gold Label” under the name “Double Gold”, a little later they began to brew dense light “Our Mark” and “Moskvoretskoye”, dense dark “Ostankinskoye”. In Khamovniki they brewed “Light” beer in the traditional Russian style of unfermented kvass.

In Ukraine, the Lvov plant (with several versions of “Lvovsky”), the Kyiv factories (several versions of “Kievsky”) and some others stood out. The Baltics remained the last island of pure malt beer; several varieties were brewed there (for example, the Senchu variety actually repeated the recipe of Zhigulevsky, but only from pure malt). Throughout the Union, the only mass-produced pure malt variety was “Rizhskoye”. But closer to the 1970s, they began to introduce “Slavyanskoe” to replace it. From the mid-1960s, bottled beer began to dominate over draft beer; it was usually not pasteurized, and its shelf life was around seven days. But in reality, durability did not reach three days, since breweries could afford it - beer did not sit on the shelves. “Zhigulevsky” (“Viennese”) malt disappeared from the latest GOST standards for malt, and “Zhigulevskoye” lost its “Viennese” character, and due to the significant amount of unmalted products and a reduction in fermentation time to 14 and even 11 days the variety has become the most unassuming.

1970–1990s

In the 1970s, such well-known beer brands as “Admiralteyskoe”, “Donskoe Cossack”, “Petrovskoe”, “Yachmenny Kolos”, “Klinskoe” were launched, many of them survived until today. The varieties “Lyubitelskoe” and “Stolichnoe” continued the trend towards highly fermented modern varieties. In the 1980s, new varieties continued to appear constantly (oddly enough, the anti-alcohol campaign of 1985 even stimulated their appearance, especially low-alcohol ones); there were an exceptionally large number of them by 1990, although many of these varieties can already be attributed to the period of independence of the republics of the former USSR . At that time, “Tverskoye”, “Bouquet of Chuvashia”, “Vityaz”, “Chernigovskoye” appeared, but this needs a different conversation. In total, during the existence of the USSR (from 1922 to 1991), approximately 350 types of beer were brewed.

About the features beer consumption in Leningrad of the second half of the twentieth century.

I love beer because it is a sociable drink, ideal for relaxing. It’s great to drink while fishing, after a bath, in a bar with friends, or at home in the kitchen on a busy day’s evening.

I first tried beer in 1961, when I was 8 years old: after going to the bathhouse, my father always bought me kvass and beer for himself, and one day he gave me a small sip. At that time in Leningrad there were beer vending machines, which were popularly called “auto-drinkers.” But somehow they didn’t take root here, but in Moscow they were very common.

When I was young, beer was sold by the glass in special kiosks, and it was always one and only variety: “Zhigulevskoye”, which tastes very good! It was brought in tanks and poured into special containers with taps. Drinking beer in the morning was not at all considered shameful back then: by the evening there simply might not be any left. People lined up in huge queues, holding cans and string bags with three-liter jars. If you didn’t have your own container, you usually ordered a “large one with a trailer”: you drink a small mug for 11 kopecks in one gulp, and with a large one, for 22 kopecks, you step aside. It’s good if you have dried fish in your pocket.

By the way, no one stole the mugs, but during perestroika the kiosks sometimes didn’t have them at all, so they even poured them into bags, made a hole and drank through it.

In winter, they sold heated beer - after all, they drank mostly on the street. The expression “front door restaurant” was in use: not everyone had their own place to live, and not every wife approved of her husband appearing on the doorstep with a can of beer. You could go to drink beer in a cafe or restaurant, but there was only bottled beer, and draft beer was still valued more for its freshness: bottles were often found with sediment at the bottom. But there was a variety of varieties: Rizhskoe, Leningradskoe, Double Zolotoye, Barley Ear, dark Martovskoe and Porter... They sold bottled beer in grocery stores, but, again, it was not always possible to keep up with it.

That is why a real event was the opening of the “Beer” store on Kirovsky Prospekt in the mid-70s, where it was almost always sold.

The appearance of “beer halls” caused no less excitement - the very first was called “Zhiguli”, you could get there either through connections or by standing in a long line.

Beginning in 1973, beer bars began to open all over Leningrad, the very first and legendary of which were “Pushkar” on Bolshaya Pushkarskaya, “Staraya Zastava” on Mira Square, and “Yantar” on the Karpovka River. The very word “bar” was bewitching and enchanting for Soviet people. To get inside, you again had to stand in hated queues; those who knew doormen were luckier: for three rubles you could skip the line. Such establishments already had some kind of interior, as well as nice ceramic mugs.

Special beer snacks were a curiosity: straws, salty drying, mackerel, and occasionally small shrimp. Under the counter you could buy smoked bream or a pack of American cigarettes... The bars were visited mainly by young people: older generation remained in queues at the kiosks. There were problems with entry, but not with prices: beer in the bar cost at most 10 kopecks more than on the street. Large groups sat at the bar for a long time, brought guitars with them, and organized competitions: they drank beer to speed. One of my friends drank a half-liter mug in three seconds!..

The “White Horse” beer restaurant on Chkalovsky Prospekt also became a very fashionable establishment: here you could enjoy a full dinner with a glass of your favorite drink, but the main thing was to try Czech beer, for example real Pilsner. It cost 1 ruble, and “Zhiguli” cost 30 – 40 kopecks.

Things were so meager only for the Soviet citizen: for foreigners there was everything! I tried it early good varieties beer: in 1976 he joined Intourist. There I saw beer in a can for the first time, it was a whole little shock. And in 1982, I became a bartender in the currency bar of the Leningrad Hotel - there were draft Heineken, Tuborg, Carlsberg... To be honest, draft domestic beer was not even close to them. The main world brands were represented in glass - both Warsteiner and Budweiser were already known then. It was different high quality and Finnish beer is in great demand: Koff, Lapin Kulta, Karjala.

In addition to currency bars, imported beer was sold in the Beryozka store, but Soviet people were barred from going there: they were immediately taken out under white hands, and possession of currency equivalent to 25 rubles was already a criminal offense. There really was nowhere to buy overseas beer; the ubiquitous black marketeers and enterprising taxi drivers were somehow not keen on it. Only occasionally could Czech beer be snatched from the back doors of grocery stores.

Gorbachev’s anti-alcohol campaign, which began in 1985, hit beer lovers last. The bars didn’t close, and I don’t remember such a time when beer was not available at all, because low alcohol drinks then they were opposed to vodka and were considered more “noble”. With the fall of the Iron Curtain, imported beer appeared in stores. Domestic factories began to produce drinks under license under well-known global brands, but in their own way taste qualities most of them, unfortunately, are inferior to the originals.

Intourist was gone, and in 1992 I started working as a bartender at the Nevskaya Melodiya nightclub, a Swedish-Russian enterprise. The assortment of beer there was impressive: more than 60 types of bottled beer, from American to Japanese, and Swedish draft - Spendrup’s, Falcon. My eyes just ran wild. Of the new establishments of that time, I would mention the Senate Bar: there I first saw a separate beer menu on 30 sheets.

At the end of the 90s, Baltika No. 7 on tap appeared, and imagine, it was in much greater demand among foreign guests than imported brands. Many private breweries have opened, because private entrepreneurship is finally allowed. Beer from local breweries is loved for its interesting flavors and freshness. I believe that only Vasileostrovskoe has become a truly strong, well-known brand: having appeared in 2002, it became a competitor in bars even to such a giant as Baltika.

While working at Nevskaya Melody, from my mentors I learned about the existence of beer cocktails; the “Yellow Submarine” was very popular - a shot glass is placed at the bottom of a mug of beer Jägermeister liqueur. Beer with the addition of all kinds of syrups has become fashionable, and, contrary to the stereotype, such drinks are liked not only by women. We learned how pleasant it is to sip Sol or Corona Extra through a slice of lime in hot weather. At the first Irish pub in the city, “Mollie’s,” we were able to try not only national cuisine, but also real Irish ale Guinness. And the owners of the German brewery at the Pulkovskaya Hotel organized the first Russian Oktoberfest.

In the development of St. Petersburg as a “beer capital,” I think, the ineradicable spirit of our city, the desire to understand and adopt all the best, played an important role. In addition, St. Petersburg is not only a port city, but also a fishing city - and what other drink goes so well with fish?

The beer issue for the inhabitants of the USSR was extremely serious!

Although in that country there was not an abundance of, as it is now called, “assortment”, but, more precisely, for the broad masses there was only “Zhigulevskoe”, yes - if you’re lucky! – “Rizhskoe” or “Martovskoe”, but they approached the very process of consuming the foamy drink thoroughly!
On weekends, the heads of teetotal families would certainly treat themselves to a bottle of Zhiguli after a bath or at dinner. Those who were simpler went down to the stalls, of which there were plenty in each microdistrict. This is where life was in full swing! All the latest news, political jokes, just stories - everything that was not discussed here! They took two or three “large” ones at a time (if the queue was moderate and there was enough dishes), took out a wobbler from the bins, slowly tore off piece by piece from it, drank sedately for a long time, talked... In winter they certainly took “heated”, and the caring The sellers themselves asked the taciturn ones: “Do you need heating?” - cared about the health of the clientele! Some desperate and frankly fallen elements immediately drank vodka, some poured it into mugs, but this is not an acquired taste! There was also a category of people at the stalls who liked to sit with inexpensive beer at home: they came with cans and cans.

I will never forget how, when I was still a student, my friends took a couple of cans from my house and went to such a kiosk. And what an honest saleswoman she turned out to be! Having already filled a third of the can, she suddenly fished out with her fingers a passbook and a bundle of banknotes that had floated from the bottom, saying: “What do you have?” How was I supposed to know that my mother kept her savings in containers that had never been used in our house? Thank God they dried...

There were also beer establishments in the USSR. Oh, this is a completely different category of vacation! Ordinary glass stalls were essentially not much different from stalls: almost the same thing, but “under a roof.” But beer restaurants... There were several of these in St. Petersburg: “White Horse”, “Zhiguli”, “Neptune”, “Zhuchok” on, respectively, Zhukovsky, another one, I don’t remember the name - on the corner of Mayakovsky and Nevsky... It was easy to get there extremely difficult, there were long queues, but if you got in...! The drinking process here was so long that they didn’t take less than “five” per nose. They sat for several hours straight, smoking, arguing...

I remember I had my own “trick”: in those years I went to Moscow quite often, and at the same time bought “Herzegovina Flor” cigarettes there, which for some reason were sold only in the capital. In such establishments, I would casually put a pack in front of me, and people would look at me with respect and understand that either he was from Moscow or had just come from there. Some – again, respectfully! – came up to “shoot”. Sometimes these were girls... Having drunk “five times”, sometimes they went around the second circle - here the amount of drink corresponded only to the capabilities of the individual’s body.
Many left on their own, some were led away by friends - not without that!

Yes, then there was no abundance, but only beer - “beer”, sausage - “sausage”, cheese - “cheese”... But, really, there was a lot of good stuff! They don't drink beer like that anymore! Maybe it’s a pity - after all, it was so good to talk about everything with beer, it brought people together in a way that rarely happened with vodka, because they drank a lot back then, and after 400-500 grams of vodka, the conversation is rarely coherent and positive.

So we can safely conclude this monologue with the statement that beer largely cemented the community and unity of the family of Soviet peoples and even partly reconciled them with the shortcomings existing in the USSR!

***

The first brand of beer that comes to mind when talking about a foamy drink in Soviet time, this is, of course, “Zhigulevskoye”. This is truly a people's brand.

Despite a large number of Of the officially announced types of beer at that time, Zhigulevskoye was on free sale, only it was sold on tap.

Beer was not highly valued by Soviet citizens until the early 70s. Thus, the average resident of the USSR drank only 12-15 liters of beer per year, and during the same period of vodka he drank 7-8 liters. Since the country's authorities decided to fight widespread vodka alcoholism, they began to provide citizens with an alternative in the form of a foamy drink.

The end of the 60s was marked by the expansion of beer production. At that time, several large factories were built, which continue to brew beer today. As a result of these changes, vodka consumption in the country decreased slightly, but the so-called “beer alcoholism” became widespread. Cases of mixed “beer and vodka alcoholism” were also frequent.

In the USSR, beer could be bought either on tap or in glass containers. Price bottled beer was 45-65 kopecks. Moreover, since 1981, one bottle could be returned for 20 kopecks, which meant the opportunity to buy another bottle of beer if you returned three empty ones! But they preferred to drink bottled beer at home - at lunchtime on a weekend or after a bath.

The quality of the foamy drink often left much to be desired. Sometimes we came across beer with sediment at the bottom due to its short shelf life; often it could go bad without even reaching the store. For this reason, in each district or city, only beer produced at the nearest plant was always sold, because other types of beer presented in the USSR did not arrive in proper quality. This situation provoked a lack of competition and, moreover, a shortage. So, on a hot summer day, not every store could purchase a much-desired bottle of cold beer.

Draft beer was valued primarily for its freshness. Although there were often cases when even this “fresh” beer had a pronounced sour taste. A beer stall with the option of buying beer to take away or drinking on site was present in every district. The operating mode of such establishments was as follows: if there is beer in stock - it works, if they haven’t delivered it - there is an eloquent sign “No Beer”. Such stalls were usually not equipped with toilets, so all the neighboring courtyards and nooks smelled accordingly.

It was also possible to purchase beer from a barrel standing on the street similar to barrels of kvass.

Those citizens who did not want to enjoy foamy drink on fresh air, went to the pubs. There, this product was offered for a higher price, but there was also a kind of unobtrusive service - mugs were removed from the tables for visitors, which were occasionally wiped with rags of dubious cleanliness.

What was the average pub like? This was most often a hall in which the smell of fumes and tobacco smoke was very clearly felt. The music was drowned out by the noisy conversations of visitors and the clinking of glass. They usually drank in such establishments while standing at high tables on one leg, under which there were hangers. People preferred to take several glasses at once, then they laid out a ram or a roach on the newspaper and began to discuss various philosophical and political topics.

Alcoholics often poured vodka under the table, which they washed down with beer. There were also fans of mixing these two drinks, resulting in a “cocktail” called “ruff”. When beer mugs disappeared somewhere, people did not despair and drank their favorite drink from cans or bags. It was always customary to share fish.

There were restaurants and bars in the USSR, where beer was served in clean three-liter decanters by neat waiters with bow ties. This decanter cost five rubles. You could also order delicious snacks with beer, sometimes even boiled crayfish. However, it was very difficult to get into such establishments on a weekend. And we had a completely different holiday there. You could invite a girl to a restaurant or bar; smoking was most often not allowed there. The beer was not diluted then, although it was not topped up. Draft beer could also be ordered at sausage and kebab shops.

There were beer vending machines in the USSR, where 435 milliliters of beer were poured into a glass for 20 kopecks, but they were not popular. After all, people went to pubs not only for a foamy drink, but also for a special atmosphere.

Canned beer was not produced in the USSR. The only exception was the experiment before the 1980 Olympics, then in the mid-70s they decided to try to put beer into production in tin cans. It was called the “Golden Ring”; the jar was sometimes decorated with the Aeroflot emblem. However, the idea did not justify itself, since the cost of the can turned out to be extremely high - 60 kopecks. Beer in cans spoiled just as quickly as in bottles, so at the end of the Olympics, the production of canned beer was stopped.

Few people remember that in those years there was beer brought from the fraternal countries of Poland and Czechoslovakia, but it was not often possible to get it. But in the Berezka stores there was a simply amazing selection for a Soviet person - eight varieties of foreign beer.