I can never resist a moment of sublime irony. That’s why, when I stumbled across this great post and photo by Svet & Kyle Keeton on Windows to Russia, I couldn’t resist sharing it with everyone.

The sign in front of the veritable wall of local (Klinskoye, Bochkarev, Baltika, Nevskoye) and foreign (Kronenbourg, Carlsberg, Zlatopramen, Bavaria, Hoegaarden, Heineken, Amstel) beers reads:

Уважаемые покупатели!
Приносим свои извинения за ВРЕМЕННОЕ отсутствие алкогольных напитков в нашем магазине.

Or in other words:

Dear Customers!
We apologize for the TEMPORARY lack of alcohol in our store.

Too funny for words! What they mean is that the store has a temporary lack of stronger stuff – spirits and what not – for in Russia beer is considered to be a soft drink alongside cola and lemonade. It’s commonplace to see people at metro stations, in parks and strolling along the street in Russia with a 500ml glass bottle of beer or even a 1.25L PET plastic bottle.

It’s particularly ironic to regard beer as “soft” as some of the beers like Okhota Krepkoye (8.5% alcohol per volume)* and Baltika 9 (8% alcohol per volume) are a couple of Russian lagers that really leave a knock-out impression!

Contrary to all appearances, it’s now illegal to drink beer and beer-based drinks in public places in Russia. The federal law was approved and re-worked during 2004, passed in February 2005 and signed into law by the president in March 2005. The thing is, I’m pretty sure that the new legislation came into effect the following April 1.

Talk about a short-sighted measure! I don’t know if the crowds of people were out, beer cans in hand, to celebrate the ultimate April Fools joke or to bring in the new law with good cheer, but it certainly wasn’t a dry day in St. Petersburg!

* Here’s a brutally forthright beer review of the potent Okota Krepkoye: Pale yellow. Aroma of petrol and corn. Sweet with burning vodka-like alcohol and no body to sustain it. Near undrinkable.