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In Russia, beer (Russian: пиво pivo) is the second most popular alcoholic drink after vodka, seen by many as a less harmful alternative. The average Russian person drank about 12.5 liters of pure alcohol in 2010, with vodka accounting for more than five liters and beer about four liters.
Contents
Russians categorize beer by color rather than fermentation process: Light, Red or Semi-Dark and Dark. Light is more or less equivalent to Lager and the last two are close to Ales. There are also strong beers (6-10% alcohol).
In 2011, there were 561 beer producers operating in Russia. Among them are 40 large producers including Baltika and Stary Melnik, 76 medium scale regional breweries, 263 mini/microbreweries and 182 restaurant breweries.
Production
Beer production in Russia reduced by 5.1% in 2010, to 102.93 mln hl. However, in money terms, the Russian beer market grew by 16% to 598 bln. roubles (or 22% to $19.9 bln).
In 2010, the five leading companies' beer sales by volume reduced by 5% to 83.6 mln hl. Other breweries saw their sales increase by 14%, up to approximately 22 mln hl. The total volume of beer imports in 2010 was about 3.07 mln hl.