Siberian Soul Beer From The Gelios Brewery

However intangible, the soul method of beer making seems to be working. Today the Gelios Brewery produces 15 kinds of beer using natural ingredients, and modern technology mixed with traditional brewing methods learned from Czech and German masters. The Russian brewery proudly adheres to the Bavarian Purity Law defined by German brewer Vilgelem IV in 1516. Popular brands today include Moralavia, Cselke, Bruderlich, and Prado beers brewed from traditional European recipes and pure water from the nearby Bratsk reservoir downriver from Lake Baikal. Local beer drinkers also enjoy several versions of Bratskoe light and dark beers. 

The brewery uses the best natural ingredients purchased from international suppliers. It selects three types of malt seeds from Germany and the Czech Republic and grows them in Russia.  Whole hops come from Germany, and yeast from Denmark. Brewers may also add rice and sugar to make dark and strong beers. Other ingredients may include flavoring, heading agents, and preservatives. The result is 15 light and dark beers that have won many prestigious international awards, including "Golden Palm" (Nice), "Golden Mercury" (Amsterdam), "Knights of Malta" (Malta), and the aptly named "Large Golden Plate" (Tel Aviv). Beers range in alcohol content from four to five percent and include filtered and unfiltered brands.

Gelios has weathered several challenges to the integrity of their beer making process. In Soviet times about 4,800 breweries operated in Russia. Today less than 200 remain. Competition increased in the 1990s with the appearance of large-scale, internationally funded breweries such as Baltika, but the quality of Gelios beers set them apart in the Siberian marketplace and the small brewery successfully competes against larger companies. Still, the beer climate can be frigid.

In 2010 Russian authorities imposed a 30% tax increase meant to reduce alcohol consumption. The new law squeezed profits and challenged the brewery to reduce costs and modify brewing methods, but Smirnov and his team held out and refused to compromise the quality of the Gelios brand.  They resisted temptations to use less expensive syrups and extracts to lower prices and stayed true to a formula for success: traditional methods with modern equipment.

Smirnov also struggled against beer counterfeiters who poured cheap beers into Gelios kegs in attempts to sell inferior products under false labels. “We have always fought, and are still fighting, for the quality of our products,” he writes on the company website. A company slogan captures the Gelios brewing philosophy as "A better way, instead of somehow."