Abstract :
TO BE absolutely honest, I am not much of a beer drinker. Probably because it was one of the rarest commodities in the Soviet Union, the country I was born and grew up in. Millions of thirsty (or rather, hungover) Soviet males used to start their mornings by scouring their neighbourhood shops and posing that sacramental ?? and largely rhetorical ?? question: "Pivo yest?" ("Do you have beer?")