Vilkmerges Jouduju Serbentu Stout

Brewed by Vilkmergė
Style: Flavored – Fruit
Panevezys, Lithuania

From the city of Panevėžys, in the centre of Lithuania comes the brewery Vilkmerges. The region has a long history of brewing, mainly down to the natural surroundings of the countryside and its ideal conditions for making good beers… the purest spring waters, local malts and tasty hops all produced here.

All the beers from Vilkmerges are top-fermented and unpasteurized, which is why they are filled into bottles of black glass to protect them from sunlight and preserve their superior taste and other unique characteristics.

Today the brand of “Vilkmerges” belongs to the Kalnapilio-Tauro Grupe, which is part of the Danish holding company Royal Unibrew.

Review: 0,41l bottle of Vilkmerges Jouduju Serbentu Stout: 5.5% vol.

A seasonal beer, “Vilkmergė Black Currant Stout” is billed as a dark stout beer with black currants coming in a lovely designed black bottle with imprints on the back.

Looks well, yes obviously, like a glass of blackcurrant, purple/dark red colour. Not a bad head on the pour, creamy and decent looking, but dies a quick death.

Smell is quite clear on the nose, it is a great big whiff of black currant. Smells like a Ribena. For me that’s a neutral, I am not bothered either way by the smell…..black currant doesn’t excite but its also not a bad aroma.

No surprise to tell you that the taste is like a blackcurrant juice. Very sweet and nice enough to drink, but it really feels like I am drinking a Ribena. I am really struggling to see how this is classed as a stout, its more like a fruit beer or juice.

Get a sweet blackcurrant taste, a little of the malts and a berry aftertaste, with no bitterness. Too heavy on the fruits and sugar filled but not so much on the hops and alcohol flavours.

It is nice to drink and easy to go down, but I cant find any alcohol or flavours to show this is anything but a fruit juice. The alcohol is very well hidden.

I can feel the alcohol kicking in afterwards though! But still a big disappointment, as I was expecting an interesting stout (my favourite beer style) and here I am drinking a Ribena. It doesn’t look, smell or taste like a beer! And it came in such a nice bottle, oh well……