The person challenging me chooses a different tact by making unsubstantiated claims to the contrary.

Tone it down, gentlemen, please – I’ll not have people throwing Baltika over each other in my gaff.

Here’s another slam dunk to the nonsense he states:

http://russianbaseball.org

He claims to “KNOW” as in not really knowing.

Mike, that is not what happened at all. Some points were made. You called them baseless with no explanation. I asked for one. Unable to provide any counter points, you lost the plot and got your knuckles rapped. If everyone who got spoken
to by the referee in a soccer match got as upset as you did, there’d be no players left on the field. There were no cheap shots that day – you were simply beaten in the argument and started dishing out dirty tackles. That is all.

Now, back to the eagle. All those points above are in no way whatsoever relevant to your argument that the eagle is popular. It is not. I know this because I’ve spent the guts of 12 years in and out of Moscow and am married to a Russian and know tons of Russians. You may discount this experience as irrelevant but I’m fairly sure other many readers wouldnt. The eagle is a symbol of state power, NOT a benign insignia. It is meant to intimidate; it does not signify anything nice at all. I think its a cool looking thing – my wife even bought me the hockey jersey that the Russian team wore at Torino 06 – and I’ve often asked Russians what they thought of it. The response is invariably a shrug of the shoulders and grimace, as if to say ”so what”? To be honest, I think the letters ‘CCCP’ derive much more smiles and nostalgia than the eagle ever did. You can continue to live in pre-revolution fairy-land all you want; I KNOW that Russians dont care for it. The fact that is used everywhere does not in any way signify popularity amoung the Russian people. It is a symbol of the Russian state. End of story.

Andy, apologies for the rant.

http://www.kommersant.com/pda/doc.asp?id=764829

A quick (stress quick)look at the Baltika web site didn’t seem helpful for those seeking the product in the US:

http://baltikabeer.com

Awhile back, I recall contacting that site and receiving a message from a Pittsburgh based vender who said that he could arrange to have Baltika sent to just about any area in the US.

The label says: Imported by RussBeer International, LLC, Brooklyn, NY, 11229

As has been suggested at this thread, Baltika is the most popular name brand of Russian beer. Kind of like how Stoli is the most popular of Russian vodkas. Yet, among the connoiseurs of such matter, Stoli and Baltika aren’t considered as being Russia’s best in their respective markets.

For that matter, volume over quality relates to comparing Budweiser (the American and not Czech version of Budweiser) to Samuel Adams.

As previously noted at this thread, it’s used by other Russia orgs.

From the fall of the Iron Curtain rises Russia’s No.1 beer.

It is taking the form of a phoenix. Clever, eh?

I forgot to mention the Russian speed skating team as one of the national sports teams showing the two headed eagle. I’m sure there’re several others which I haven’t mentioned.