Beer traditions in Russia
Russian beer (pronounced in Russian as “Pivo“) occupies the second place in the chart of alcoholic drinks after Vodka, which is inarguable alcoholic drink # 1 in Russia. But most Russians consider it to be a healthier, less harmful and almost non-alcoholic alternative drink.
Surprising is the fact that Russians distribute beer in different categories not by the fermentation process, but by color, which sounds unbelievable to Germans and other German speaking nations. There is a beer of the following sorts in Russia: Light, Red (Semi-Dark), and Dark.
Light reminds Lager most of all and two other sorts are more equivalent to Ales. There is also a specific category called super-strong beer (usually contains 6-10% of alcohol) which is very popular in Russia. Russian beer carries the names of plenty of brands and each region in Russia is known for having its own brewery.
In large cities there are several microbreweries and pubs with integrated brewery which are called brewpubs.
Russians are know for their addiction to alcohol which set up the stereotype of being heavy drinkers. It’s another common stereotype also that alcoholism is a major cause of the country’s social ills and disasters and even national economy. This is not completely true. It’s a prejudice along with the talks about the bears walking along the streets in Russia. Most Russians realy prefer Vodka, but Moscowites are rather focusing on beer.
The beer cans in Russia are in general smaller and more expensive than in Europe. But this situation is going to change in the nearest future: the Russian parliament proposes an impressive increase in taxes on beer, which might be dramatic for foreign-owned brewing industry which profits will seriously suffer from the new taxes.
President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev states that alcoholism is “a national disaster” and is leading a powerful campaign against alcohol addiction. If taking statistics, each Russian drinks about 18 liters of pure alcohol a year in average , which overshoots the “dangerous level” twice. And it is surely one of the factors that causes high mortality rate in the country.
A bill aiming to increase taxes on beer by 200% starting from the next year is already at the State Duma. The next step of rate increase will be the – 11% in 2011 and 20% in 2012.
Anton Artemiev, executive of the Baltika Brewery based in St. Petersburg, says that this bill will have a strong negative impact on the beer industry as well as economy in Russia on the whole, which will cause the new employment difficulties and the deterrence of the foreign investments.
The Russian beer market is the third largest in the world and its development potential was noticed by the foreign multinationals who have bought most of the local brewers in recent years. However, beer consumption in Russia fell 5% in 2008 and 9% in 2009.
* * *
3 most popular beer trademark in Russia:
1) Carlsberg based in Denmark (owns Baltika) has a 38% market share.
2) Anheuser-Busch InBev based in Belgium has a 18.4% market share.
3) Heineken NV based in Netherlands with a 13% market share.
Efes Breweries International N.V. (Turkey) is also among the most successful beer companies.
Beer is a symbol of St.Patrick Day which is actively celebrated mostly in America and Ireland. Let’s take the huge beer glasses and exchange warm “cheers” in the best friends circle. St.Patrick’s Day is also good for going out and partying.
The required clothing and accessories on this day are of green color. Traditionally, those who are caught not wearing green are being pinched. The origin of the holiday is Irish but it’s celebrated also by non-Irish.
Chicago dyes its river green and has done so since 1962 when the sewer workers used green dye to check for sewer discharges and got an idea to turn the river green for Saint Patrick’s Day.
* * *
Don’t loose a chance to enjoy ST.Patrick’s day and taste its golden benefit- the BEER!
* * *
* * *
* * *
