Zhigulevskoye

Zhigulevskoye(Russian- Жигулёвское) or Zhiguli is a notorious brand of Soviet (Russian) beer. The original brewery was founded in Samara in 1881 by an Austrian entrepreneur Alfred von Vacano [ [http://info.samara.ru/history1/81901 Info.Samara.Ru | Юкэтпед Тхкхоонбхв Тнм Бюйюмн ] ] . The original brand was named Viennese Beer (as of - beer from Vienna), but in 1934 Soviet authorities renamed it to "Zhigulevskoye Beer" to eradicate a bourgeois name.

Back in the USSR, this was at times virtually "the only" beer brand; also a brand you could find guaranteed anywhere in the country. Lack of other beers was so obvious, that a famous satire was created, when a Soviet man is granted 1 hour in a government warehouse, where "anything" can be found. When asked what kind of beer he would want, he can't come up with anything else but "... I don't know..., maybe... Zhigulevskoye?..."

Zhigulevskoye beer has a distinct strong semi-spicy, semi-bitter taste, and is typically sold in dark-green 0.5-liter bottles - a famous prey of the poor in modern Russia.

Marketing outside Russia

There was an attempt to market it in Britain under the name "Zhiguli's", but it did not prove popular, possibly because the ending sounds like "goolies", an Australian slang word for testicles, well known to the British.

However, due to penetration of another Russian beer, Baltika, as well as Yava cigarettes on the British market, there are some hopes to reintroduce the mother of all Russian beers in British Isles again.

References