I agree with Didzis, Latvia's Valmiermuižas Alus is the best.

RIGA — If there’s one thing the Baltic states do well, it’s beer. However, unless you’ve spent some time here, there’s little chance you’ll know any of the good brands because unlike Italian wine or German beer, the Baltic ales have not made much presence abroad.

I wasn’t sure who to start asking for which beer is best, but then I realized the Baltic Reports staff and contributors, spread over the three Baltic states, are known to enjoy a cold one on Fridays after a long week of cranking out articles everyday.

So I asked the editor, Nathan Greenhalgh, and he said let’s do a staff survey of which beer is best in the country they are working in.

Nathan Greenhalgh, Lithuania: My favorite is Vilkmergės Tamsusis, which is the best dark beer I’ve ever had in my life. It goes great with kibininė. However, it’s not so widely available, so if I don’t have time to go to a shop or bar that serves it, I find you can’t go wrong with Kalnapilis Pilsner. Golden, great taste, and a half-liter bottle is only two litai (€0.57) in stores.

Didzis Melbiksis, Latvia: I have two favorites. One is expensive, and one is cheap. The expensive one is Valmiermuižas Alus, the usual price is 0.99 lats (€1.40) which is quite a lot. But the taste is 100 percent worth it. This beer is made slowly, the whole process takes a month. And the result is something different from the usual European lager that is made in a million different versions in many countries. It has quite a distinct feeling of yeast, but not so much bitterness, since they use hops only minimally. All in all it gives a rich taste experience. And it’s definitely exclusive — they started selling it only in February, it is still unavailable in many shops, and only a few bars offer it.

The other one is Cuba and usually costs something between 30-40 santims (€0.42-0.56), so it’s from the cheap end. Good for crisis, light lager with a light taste which makes one drink it faster. And it has a cool name, Cuba, and under it it says “anti-imperial beer.” Very peculiar brand for a post-communist country.

Vello Vikerkaar, Estonia: Vello’s favorite is A. le Coq’s Christmas Porter, which I believe has been re-named Vürts Porter this year. Look for the purple-ish label. Has a rich flavor and character of its own — not just a beer trying to ape the West.

Adam Mullett, Lithuania: Any of the Gyvas Alus beers (living beer/unpasturized beer). It’s the tastiest and most natural beer type in Lithuania and more or less they all taste good. For beer selection, Šnekutis and Alaus Namai are the best bars in Vilnius.

Kristina Guobužaitė, Lithuania: Either Vilkmergės Tamsusis or Tauras Tamusis. Very good. It’s a very specific taste of dark beer, it’s very rich in flavor.

James Dahl, Latvia: There are three Latvian beers worth drinking: Bauskas, Piebalgs, Tērvetes. Unlike all other Baltic brewers that I know of, these grow their own barley. Which makes the beer expensive, but tasty.

Baltic barley gives the beer a darker hue due to its naturally darker color. The difference is quite noticeable when you place it next to an Aldaris, Švyturys or le Coq. All other breweries prefer to import their barley. Also, as far as I know, no Baltic brewer uses own hops. All imported. Tērvetes tried, but it didn’t work out.

Kai Joost, Estonia: A. le Coq. I don’t know, it’s good, it’s the best beer in Estonia to me.

Kevin Dugan, Lithuania: Švyturys Baltas and Kalnapilis are far better than most American beers, although I have yet to have anything close to my favorite, Brooklyn Penant Ale. But I am ignorant of the majority of the Baltic beer panoply, I just moved here.

Mike Collier, Latvia: My favorite is Bauskas, a small traditional brewery, still made in Bauska by an ancient master brewer. And it tastes halfway between a light beer and a dark beer. A true ale.

Piebalgas and Užavas are also good and Brengulu beer has a nice honey taste that my wife likes!

Lithuanian beers are pretty good, too but Estonian beers are crap.

Laima Vaigė, Lithuania: I miss foreign dark beers, there are no dark beers that I like in Lithuania. For the usual ones I go with Utenos or Švyturys, but if I’m in a bar, I go for local-made ones like Šnekutis. The mass production ones, I cannot distinguish between them so much.

Jared Grellet, Latvia: I’m also going toward Cuba, because cheap, and nasty but… the sweet label! It’s all about the label, it’s a camouflage bottle. There used to be one I loved called Midvert Pivo but I can’t find it around anymore. It had a picture of a beer on it, but I can’t find it anymore. It used to be popular in Daugavpils. Cuba, it’s cheap nastiness. Aldaris is OK, too.