And if the Beer Lover's Party takes itself less than seriously as it lobbies for the support it hopes will catapult it to a majority in the next parliament, then that is just part of the plan.
"The problem is that our dour Russian politicians are too boring," said the group's leader, Konstantin Kalachyov, 29. "We know that we are part of a joke, we are trying to make people laugh, but we can write serious legislation as well."
The Beer Lover's Party offers no platform, instead proposing bringing people together over a few steins as a way of preventing political strife.
"If we could get opponents to sit down over a mug of beer, we could attempt to breach the gap between left and right," Kalachyov said.
Increasing the number of decent places to drink beer and the number of public toilets are other items on the party's agenda.
"Russia already has enough bad populists," Kalachyov said. "We would play the role of good populists."
After Zhirinovsky's Liberal Democratic Party won 23 percent of the vote in December parliamentary elections by playing on popular discontent over reforms, Kalachyov and some friends decided -- over a few beers -- to form their party.
"The Russian people do not understand our reformists. Zhirinovsky spoke to people in their own language," said Kalachyov of the elections, in which he failed to win a seat on the ticket of the reformist Party of Russian Unity and Accord.
He said his new party could give Zhirinovsky and others a run for their money in the next elections, adding that he "wouldn't be surprised" if the party ended up with the most seats.
"We believe we can appeal to those who did not vote or to those who gave their votes to Zhirinovsky in protest," Kalachyov said. An added incentive: While Zhirinovsky has promised his supporters cheap vodka, the Beer Lovers plan to give out free beer during the next election.
And beer, according to Kalachyov, is far superior to vodka as a medium for bringing people together.
Kalachyov said that since its opening congress last December, which was attended by 43 beer enthusiasts, the party has grown to 5,000 members, each of whom will soon receive a small lapel pin in the form of a frosty beer mug overflowing with suds.
Of course, it would not be Russian politics without a few minor hiccups. The Beer Lovers have already split into two factions -- one that drinks lager beer, and another that prefers darker draughts.
But Kalachyov laughed off this and another conflict, between imported beer lovers and "the patriotic opposition" -- those who quaff exclusively domestic brew.
"We like everybody who drinks and does not get drunk," he chuckled.
Everybody, that is, except Communists. The party does not accept applications from anyone who discriminates on the bases of nationality, sex or class.
"That rules out Communists, who advocate class struggle," he said.
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