Beer is a favorite drink in many countries of the world. Just after a mug of this low-alcoholic alcohol with hop bitterness and a delicious shade of malt, you can relax after a hard working day or sit in a pleasant company of best friends. And how many incredibly tasty snacks for beer exist! Squids, wings, cheese balls and sticks, chips, crackers, smoked and dried fish, nuts and much more!
To date, there is simply an unthinkable number of varieties and brands of such a drink. In this article, we suggest you familiarize yourself with the Bashkir producer of beer - the Shihan brewery, a branch of the Heineken Breweries LLC. We’ll tell the story of its appearance, consider the range of beer produced and learn a lot of interesting things about this brand.
Brewery History
The name for the foamy drink was not chosen at all by chance, in honor of the four lonely mountains of the Bashkir Urals - Yuraktau, Kushtau, Shakhtau, Toratau, united under the general name "Shihan". Sterlitamak, Salavat, Ishimbay - cities near which stone formations are located, which are the remains of a barrier reef that formed millions of years ago.
Sterlitamak in 1956 became the city that the Council of Ministers of the Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic chose for the construction of a brewery. In those years, the company was called "Sterlitamak beer-non-alcoholic factory". The brewery's capacity was already 150 million liters of foamy drink per year.
In addition to standard varieties, such as Zhigulevskoye, Riga and Moskovskoye, the plant produced its own branded beer - Sterlitamakskoye, Salt Pristan, Sedoy Ural and Shihan. Already in 2004, the plant became part of the Dutch company Heineken United Breweries. Today Shihan is the largest branch of the brewing industry in Bashkortostan.
Range of products
The Shihan company today produces several types of beer :
- "Shihan light."
- "Shihan strong."
- "Shihan is dark."
- "Shihan living."
- "Gray Ural".
Along with its branded varieties, the plant produces several types of corporate brands: PIT, Okhota, Three Bears and Bochkaryov, as well as three types of kvass, lemonade and mineral water.
Assortment expansion
More recently, the Heineken company decided to expand the beer assortment by launching a new Shihan Buckwheat. In June last year, a drink brewed using buckwheat was first sold. This is a bright lager with a fortress of 4.5 degrees and a density of no more than 11 percent. A distinctive feature of this beer is its bright amber color, the characteristic taste of buckwheat and light bitterness.
According to the director of the plant Georgy Gubeladze, the introduction of new varieties of foamy drink is something that will definitely help strengthen the company's position among competitors in the market. Since recently consumers have increasingly opted for products manufactured within our country, the decision to produce Shihan buckwheat beer was quite easy and quick. Why exactly buckwheat? Because the Russian Federation is the largest producer of buckwheat and a consumer.
Beer Design Update
Since the appearance of the beer label, produced since 1986, is already significantly outdated, ceased to be perceived as interesting and informative, the Shihan beer producers decided to change its design. To entrust the creation of a modern label, Soldis decided. In the process of working on a new “face” of the bottle with a foamy drink, it was decided to tie the pride of Bashkiria - Mount Shihani to the brand name . The branding agency managed to complete all the tasks and achieve an attractive, easily readable and memorable label.
Festival "Shihan Brewery Day"
June 18, 2016 was an incredible celebration of the birthday of the Shihan plant. Sterlitamak with its residents and guests of the city are already accustomed to this annual holiday, so they are pleased to join the show, held right on the premises of the enterprise. Russian singer Stas Kostyushkin and cheerleaders of the hockey team Salavat Yulaev gave the audience a real charge of positive and great mood. The event was traditionally hosted by fun-showman Azamat Muratov.
In addition to the main entertainment program, streetball and air hockey games were available for guests. Yes, and it was quite difficult to stay hungry at the festival, because the organizers made sure to feed the guests with barbecue, pilaf and pastries. Even fast food lovers had a place to roam.
From the very beginning of the event until its completion, the entire territory was under the watchful eye of the guard. Therefore, each guest felt safe.
Beer Reviews
Based on numerous reviews, we can conclude that the beer produced at this factory is quite tasty, but does not have the so-called "highlight". Thanks to the purest water and high-quality raw materials, the product is obtained as natural as possible, without the addition of any extraneous chemistry.
Beer "Shihan light" is one of the most popular in the brewery production line . A fairly light, medium- density beer with a 4.4% strength. The taste is characterized by light wine tones.
Beer "Gray Ural" has a rich straw color. Unfortunately, the drink does not differ in rich taste and rich aroma. A fairly dense beer with a short aftertaste and a slight bitterness of hops. The beer strength reaches 6%, which allows us to call it the strongest in the entire line.