A stone’s throw from the Hermitage through the Chariot of Glory Arch of the General Staff Building, Baltika Brew is a mega microbrewery (they’re also Russia´s leading industrial brewery, but this stuff is made on site).

If Catherine the Great ran your local Wetherspoons franchise it would look something like this. High vaulted ceilings, leaded windows and rows of tables are upstaged by a pink neon lighting rig and an unmanned stage pumping out 90s garage in the early afternoon. A plethora of pleather isn’t in keeping with the elegant building, but it’s a comfortable if naff place to be fed and watered by English-speaking bar staff with good beer and food after a day’s sightseeing.

BarChick and companion drank home-brewed filtered and unfiltered beer from their extensive list, accompanied by prawns and Bavarian-style sausages. One third German beer hall, one third hotel lobby and one third disco, Baltika Brew might be a bit schizophrenic, but hey, who isn’t these days? (BarChick isn’t. Yes she is.)