Ode to Craft Brew

If you ever get the chance to go to Italy in the near future and you enjoy a craft brew every now and then, keep your eyes peeled because from my experience they are quite the rarity.  When I lived in Philadelphia, finding a craft beer was relatively easy.  With the two dozen or so companies in the South New Jersey, Eastern Pennsylvania and Delaware areas ranging from single person operation to rather large microbrewery, good draft beer was and still is abundant.

Our beer culture as we knew it used to be commercial big name companies offering you their lagers.  That was the standard beer for all of America.  Light, crisp lagers with nuances of hops and malts... and taste.

In the 1980s, home brewers began to open their own companies because they realized their own home brews tasted better than the major corporations.  I consider these people to be the founding fathers of the microbrew/craft beer industry.  Over the next 25 years, the commercial brands lost their tight grip on the market because of the flavor explosions people experienced. Craft beers went from unheard-of to sought-after.  

Recently, the craft beer express dug a tunnel under the Atlantic Ocean and made its way to Europe!

I can't speak for the rest of the European countries, but Italy seems to be on a good path toward craft brew mania.  I've only heard of a few places in all of Rome that serve these types of beers so far, but all it takes is one good place to get the ball rolling... or perhaps more appropriate for this post, get the keg rolling.

Here's one of the local places specializing in craft beer. Say hello to Bir & Fud.  You would say it as if it were spelled Beer & Food.

How do I know they specialize in craft beers?  See below.

The key words are SOLO BIRRA ARTIGIANALE ITALIANA!!!  Translation: Only Italian Artisan Beer!!!

There are 16 kinds on tap, 8 different brands, all Italian.  As a home brewer who demands very good beer, it makes me very happy to see this many companies in Italy.  And I assume there are many more.

The moral of this post is when in Italy, don't just drink wine!  Try the beer too!

Time for a drink.  Cin Cin everyone!  (Raise your glass and say Cheers in Italian)

Today we will try the following from left to right: 

• Rurale's Terzo Miglio - An American Pale Ale at 5.5% alcohol by volume.  It had a good hoppy nose to it, quite floral.  The taste was surprisingly bitter at first with notes of grapefruit from the hops, but then it mellowed out into a honey-like malty taste.  A few sips of these and you no longer question if you made the right choice or not.

• Borgo's Prunus - A Special Ale made with Cherries at 5% alcohol by volume.  This is actually a sour beer, only slightly sour, and the cherry flavor is intense making me think I was tasting more of a sour cherry candy than a beer.  They either used a ton of fresh cherries in the brewing process, or very healthy dose of cherry extract.  The sourness is created by using a particular yeast strain which I could not begin to identify from tasting it.  If you aren't a beer lover, this is the ideal beer for you when visiting since Bir & Fud does not serve wine or cocktails.

• Borgo's Castagnale - A Special Ale made with Chestnuts at 5% alcohol by volume.  This was the beer I ordered for myself, just because I've never had a beer made with Chestnuts.  To my dismay, it was light in body (mouth feel) making it seem almost watered down. Carbonation was fine.  The taste, well, it was more malty than hoppy, and honestly I could not tell what a Chestnut tasted like from this whereas in other nut beers I could distinguish a little bit from it.  For example, Rogue Ales out of Oregon makes a hazelnut beer that I could tell had hazelnut flavor in it.  It's called Hazelnut Brown Nectar. Very tasty by the way.  Anyway, not so thrilled with this one but always glad to try something new.

Arrivederci my friends!