This little story
begins with a sincere apology. I quickly threw together an
e-poster/flyer thing to advertise an Italian beer tasting event at
work. Knowing of a record label slogan 'Italians Do It Better',
liking the design and several of the artists that it represents. I
used the logo as a theme or more like a small image for a beer bottle
design on the poster. Naively, I didn't contact them asking for
permission and worse still, I didn't credit them when I did use it.
Whether it was a breach of copyright or not doesn't matter, it was
wrong of me and for that I am sorry.
We recently took an
order of a selection of top Italian craft beers from various
breweries around Italy. Birra Del Borgo, Birrifico, Loverbeer, Brew
Fist and Toccalmatto to name a few. A guy from the distribution
company was coming down to head the tasting for us. Would it be a
loose tasting, the kind where people wonder about aimlessly looking
at things with a glass in their hands, occasionally having a brief
chat about beer then disappearing into the background. Or would it be
structured, a tutored tasting and discussion on each beer bouncing
ideas and thoughts of the group. Thankfully it was the latter, I've
been to numerous loosely run tastings and the only thing that happens
is booze gets consumed and people get drunk
I'd stayed at my uncles
the night before. I wanted to see what the Euston Tap was like. I'd
been told it was a brilliant little bar, one where you can find all
manner of beers from lagers and sours to stouts and hefes. Being so
close to where he lived it was weird that I'd not been there. Perhaps
this may have been down to the fact that I went there maybe six years
ago and the place was terrible, full of estate agent types and wife
beater style continental lagers. It couldn't have been further from
that, but you can read about all of that in my last post.
The tasting began with
an Italian take on a classic pilsner 'Tipopils'. A wonderful creation
from Birrificio Italiano, literally translating to Italian Brewery.
Light, hoppy and malty. A very pilsner like pilsner. A perfect beer
to start the evening on. Next was an American style Pale Ale from
Birra Del Borgo called 'Re Ale'. A new world style pale with all the
hop notes you would expect. Both amazing beers, so much better than
beers like Peroni or Birra Moretti that you might be used to, granted
they do cost more but every penny is worth it.
Knowing what was left
to taste, the session could only get better.
Up next was 'My
Antonia' a colab between Birra Del Borgo and Dogfish head. As far as
I know of, I think it might be the first of its kind, an Imperial
Pilsner. Like a pilsner but turned up, a lot. More hops, more
flavour, more booze (7.5%), more oomph. Boy it was good.
I think we were going
up the flavour wheel, as things increase and intensify. Brew Fist
were next up. I tried a some of their beers a couple of weeks ago.
The first of the bunch was 'Space Man' the IPA that I wrote about in
my post 'An Astronomical Cowboy'. We only had one bottle so a lucky
handful of people got to try it. They all loved it. I can happily say
that it's back in stock and it really is one of the greatest IPAs
that I've tried. We quickly moved on to 'Spaghetti Western' the
Imperial Chocolate Coffee Stout that I wrote about in 'An Astronomical Cowboy'.
When the evenings tour
guide of beer reached over and picked up a bottle of the 'Grappa'
aged Spaghetti Western my heart rate elevated a little. I don't like
Grappa, at all but the beer only had the faintest hint of it. You
could detect it but it was very hard and the difference was barely
noticeable.
We had a couple of very
special beers from LoverBeer. Both were of the spontaneous
fermentation style, I think any way. Fruity and tart. One, the
'Griotta' was crisp and tangy with hints of raspberry. It was very
smooth and had a light feel to it, acidic but actually quite
pleasant. The other was 'BeerBrugna' a similar style of beer but
flavoured with plums. You could really taste the plums, like
under-ripe plums picked from the tree, when they are still too firm
and green. I enjoyed both of them, very special beers for a special
occasion. A perfect bottle of booze to take to a party instead of a
fine wine.
Last up and possibly
the highlight of the evening was a 'Russian Imperial Stout' from
Toccalmatto. A 12% black gold beast. Barrel aged, rich, syrupy, strong
and smooth. It had everything you could possibly imagine a stout
should. It was so boozy but the alcohol was so subtle you wouldn't
notice that it was so strong which is a good thing in a beer like
this. I was so impressed I put a bottle of 'Indigo Child' in the
fridge. A tart colab between Wild Beer Co and Toccalmatto. That was
for later.
The tasting was
wrapping up and coming to an end. A mate of mine had turned up for it
so I helped him chose some bottles to take home with him. He loved
it, so many tasty beers and an informative explanation of each. My
uncle had arrived with me but due to being poorly had left by this
point.s
Drinking all those
dark, rich and heavy imperial stouts, I needed something sharp and
tangy to wash my mouth out. So I grabbed a can of 'Westbrook Gose'
out of the fridge. It was definitely sharp, sour, tangy and acidic
but glorious. It was as though I'd had a glass of water after a heavy
night of drinking and a long drunken sleep. This beer served its
purpose and was enjoyable too.
The Indigo Child was
chilled enough to open. Hopefully I wouldn't have same problem I seem
to have with every sour I open up. The Westbrook Gose sprayed out,
the bottle of Duchess De Bourgogne the other day fizzed up and foamed
out the top, they all seem to explode all over the place. This one
did the very same. I popped the cap off and it instantly sprayed all
over me soaking my top and spilling all over the closest surface
which happened to be the floor. With several sheets of kitchen paper
later I cleaned the mess and when I went back to the beer I saw that
more than one fifth had vanished.
Hazy with a rose pink
tinge, Indigo Child certainly looked the part. It tasted it too. Not
so sour but tart enough and tangy like a home made rhubarb compote.
Deep and intriguing, a complex little thing and altogether special. A
good beer to end such a well accomplished tasting session. It really
was an Italian Beer Masterclass.
several places to vist...
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