For the past couple of months, my CBC columns have not been posted on their website. This is due mostly to RadioActive being a bit shorthanded. It is a bit of a shame, as the rest of my beer personality series got lost as a result. Alas! What can a humble beer columnist do?
However, my column from last Friday was up almost immediately (listen to it here). I decided to do a feature on the growing trend toward craft beer in Italy, using as my anchor the two breweries currently available in Alberta, Birrificio Del Ducato and Birrificio Bruton. The focus of the column isn’t so much on whether these beer are world class, but that a distinctly non-beer culture is creating space for craft beer. That is the interesting part of the story, in my opinion.
I have sampled a few beer from each of the two breweries, and can honestly say many of them are quite good. Not all, of course – but name a brewery where we adore every single one of the beer they make? Plus I did find some of the bottles were showing the effects of their long journey across the ocean. On air we sampled the Bruton Bianca, which I find a pleasant, fruity version of Wit (and I had an instinct the host would appreciate it – which makes for better listening). I could have also easily gone with the New Morning, which is a really nice saison, in my opinion.
Italy is not alone in being a non-beer country embracing good craft beer. Japan is another example. But Italy may be the first of the classic wine nations to turn toward beer. And I find that fascinating. And encouraging.
I did get an email response from the brewmaster at Bruton, but unfortunately too late to incorporate it fully into the column. My favourite quote from him speaks loudly about the potential advantages of brewing beer in a non-beer nation. “Being Italian, we don’t have any history, any tradition… and that’s not only a matter, ’cause we’ve been forced to invent, to re-intepet and that’s probably the reason of the healthy condition of the young Italian beer movement”.
It can see how it might be easier to experiment and chart your own course in Italy than in, say, Germany. At any rate, here is hoping we see more wine countries turning to beer.
January 11, 2012 at 1:24 PM
I was looking for one of the “Beer Personallity” segments from Radioactive and now I see they were lost. You had one on a BC company that made a IPA and you mentioned how the owner started on his own just on credit cards. It was a great story but I couldn’t remember the name of the company. Can you tell me?
January 11, 2012 at 1:30 PM
Len,
Yes, I am disappointed that what was a pretty interesting series hasn’t been saved online. Maybe I will try to talk them into posting them anyway.
The B.C. brewery was Phillips Brewing out of Victoria, now available in Alberta.
Jason
January 11, 2012 at 1:41 PM
Thanks Jason! I’m a freelance 3D artist and looking to expand my customer base. In this line of work you only get hired to do what you’ve already done so I thought I’d approach them and see if they’d like a few ad images done for free so I have something to add to show. If you know any other company that might benefit, let me know 🙂
Here’s samples: http://www.actionart.ca/freelance.htm
Love your show! Cheers! – Len
January 14, 2012 at 9:15 PM
Thanks for pointing these two beer companies out. I went out after reading your article and found a couple of beers from the Ducato brewery, their Verdi Imperial Stout and one called La Luna Rossa (the red moon). I have to confess that I’m fairly new to beer styles, so I don’t really know what type of beer the Rossa is, but it has 8% alcohol. Could you educate me on that one? I’ve already drunk the stout and really enjoyed it. I’m looking forward to trying the other one. I was so pleased to find them, and I thank you for expanding my beer horizons. My ethnic background is Italian, so I’m pleased to see some craft breweries starting up in Italy and making some good quality beer.
January 15, 2012 at 11:02 AM
Sandra, I have not tried the Luna Rossa, but I understand it is their take on a Belgian Kriek, which is a sour beer infused with cherries. Krieks are part of the Lambic family of beer, which originate in Belgium. The beer is sour due to the use of certain wild cultures that create a sour tang to the beer. The cherry will help balance to create some sweetness and fruity character.
The beer is actually a blend of three other sour beer that they produce, so I suspect it will have a fairly moderate level of tartness – but that is just a guess. at 8% it is stronger than traditional Lambics, but that is one of the fun things of being a craft brewer in Italy – no rules to follow.
I hope you enjoy it.
It has higher
January 15, 2012 at 10:22 PM
Hi Jason, Thanks for the explanation of the Luna Rossa beer. I tried it this evening, and I am sorry to say that I did not really enjoy it very much. When I poured it out of the bottle and into a glass, no head formed at all — is that typical of Lambic beers, or did I perhaps get a bad bottle? The flavour was reminiscent of some Krieks that I have had before, but it was a little too sour for my taste, and there was little sweetness to it, at least not much that I could discern. Maybe it was just the low level of carbonation that bothered me. I’m not sure. It certainly was not as enjoyable as the stout I had the evening before (I do like all kinds of beer, dark and light, so it’s not just that I’m more partial to dark beer). Maybe I just don’t understand Lambic beers and what they are supposed to be like. Are they typically cloudy? Because this beer definitely was. I found that a little off-putting, but it did have a nice red colour, which was an attractive characteristic. I would give it another chance in case I just got an off bottle because I have enjoyed some of the Belgian fruit beers that I have tried before. I must confess, however, that I have not liked the Krieks as much as the beers with other fruit flavours like cassis and apricot, and I’m not sure if those fruit beers are in the Lambic family. All in all, an interesting experiment!
January 16, 2012 at 11:09 AM
Hi Sandra. It is not common for lambics to be cloudy, however they are usually highly carbonated. The sour taste you get is intended, although it should be clean tartness and not like vinegar. Having not tried the beer myself yet, I cannot say with any degree of certainty whether it was a problem with the bottle you had, or if lambics are not necessarily your thing. Many fruit lambics can be (inappropriately) sweet (e.g. Bellevue Kriek).
The best way to test your affinity for lambic (if money is not an issue) is to buy a bottle of Cantillon. They have a number of different fruit lambics and most regard them as the finest lambic brewer on the planet. If you dislike their lambic, you will learn a lot about your palate. There are a number of other lambics available you could try, as well, many of them a bit sweeter and rounder than the Cantillon.
I hope this helps.
January 16, 2012 at 3:56 PM
Hello Jason,
Thanks for your response and your recommendations. I will give the Cantillon a try (next payday) and see what happens. I have had Bellevue Kriek and found it too sweet, which pretty much turned me off cherry beer all together. Even though I didn’t like it very much, I would drink a Luna Rossa again over the Bellevue any day, so at least I have learned that I prefer sour to sweet. I look forward to testing my palate further. Thanks for your insights and your very informative blog.