I took liberty with the title since the U.S. census refers to the white races as Caucasians. It turns
out the people who inhabit the three countries we toured (Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia) looked more
Arab or Persian in western dress, which may be the only thing they have in common. Azerbaijan is Muslim,
but not overly religious. There is no problem drinking beer in public or private. Georgia is very
Christian, the people never pass a church without blessing themselves and the women still cover their
heads when entering a church. Armenia is Christian, but according to a tour guide, after years of
communist rule, the inhabitants are still trying to figure out how to express it. The best of all
differences is that they each speak their own language with its unique alphabet and character set.
This made figuring the name of some beers a challenge (see photo). Enough of culture, on to the beer.
In Baku, capital of Azerbaijan, we enjoyed several beers on tap, in bottles and cans, especially
along the Bulvar overlooking the Caspian Sea in the warm afternoon prior to sunset. The beers were
moderately strrong from 4.5-4.8%. The national beer was Xirdalan. Baltica, a Russian brand brewed
locally, comes in numbered varieties with each number increasing the alcohol content. We saw signs
for Iceberg but never found the beer. Efsane came in a hefty 2.5 liter plastic bottle and Qala, which
was only 3.6%, came in 0.5 liter bottles. All in all, the brews went down well. Our best experience
was at "The Brewery," Baku's own brew pub, which serves light, medium and dark lagers. We, of course,
opted for the dark, which was by far the best beer of the trip. Our worst encounter was in a bar
called Darvis, which was uniquely housed within the city walls. We should have been warned when we
entered to find the place empty. The barman was very happy to see us and said something that sounded
like "we have gypsies" thinking it was a different beer, we said o.k.. Turned out to be BBQ potato
chips (chip-ses). The beer was bottled Xirdalan and the price was the most we payed the whole trip.
Georgia had lots of beer, including some Slavutich from the Ukraine. Natakhtari is the national brand
available everywhere. My wife liked the neck label on the Argo; the beer wasn't great but the drawing
of the ship was brilliant. According to local lore ships from this area sailed all the way to Scandinavia
and that's where the Vikings got the design for their ships. The Vikings claim it was the other way
around. In Tbilisi we had Karua at 4.5% and Kasris at 5.2%, the label boasted it was made with the
unique water of Natakhtari. (We missed the brewpub in Tbilisi, darn!) Zekari is made by Castel Brewery
as well as Sakartuelo. Kazbegi is named after a mountain way over on The Russian border; the mountain
looks great and the beer was light and bitter. But remember, Georgia is famous for its wine, so dont
miss out on it.
Armenia was our least favorite beer stop. Kilikia is the most widely available, especially on draft, and
Kotayak is also popular. Schurmer dark ale was available at the Shamrock Irish pub and touted as the
Armenian Guinness (not quite), but it was different. Eretumi was like the other Armenian beers, they
must have different taste buds than we do. By the way, we skipped attempting "kvas," a sweet homebrew
of fermented rye bread. However, we were able to buy Czech and Ukrainian beer in cans at the supermarket
for about the same price and liked it better. The worst news is that no Armenian beer comes in cans so I
am unable to add that can to my collection. I removed a Kilika label from a bottle and will tape it to a
can to put on my shelf. We were told about a new beer which was supposed to be pretty good. So we walked
several blocks and found the Wild West Bar, complete with swinging doors. Sure enough they had bottled
Aleksandrapof, the best beer we had in Armenia. It came in a kind a barrel shaped bottle that had only
a neck label, I'll put that on the back of my can.
Last but not least, I must mention Georgian "Snickers." All along the highways in Georgia people sell
produce fresh from their farms: tomatoes, grapes, apples, eggplants and so forth. On our way back from
a monastery we asked the driver to stop so we could buy some grapes. Next to the fruit there were dark
sausage-looking things hanging from a rack. After checking, we found out they were peanuts strung
together and dipped in fruit syrup which dries and creates a healthy treat. In Armenia they make these
snacks with walnuts. Who needs trail mix!
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