Florenzia!

Today's beer is the first one that I tried from my variety four pack from La Petrognola. It also happened to be my favorite one.

Florenzia is a bionda style beer, which means that it is a blonde ale. Now, an Italian blonde is another term for a lager or pilsner which is very different from, say, a Belgian blonde. This was very light, but still had a nice body to it. It was malty, but certainly had some very different flavors to it. Florenzia was only 5.3% and it showed. The beer was extremely easy to drink. Florenzia had a kind of soda like carbonation, which you can tell by looking at the pictures. This is a little weird for a pilsner, which generally have a more champagne-like carbonation level. This made the beer have a smoother taste. 

I really enjoyed this beer. I also really enjoyed the atmosphere in which I drank it. We had this in our apartment in Florence, which was on the top floor of an older building, with beautiful views across the city and over to the Duomo. It was a perfect way to relax after walking around. I would probably get this one again. 

Glassware: Pilsner glass, mug, flute

Synonym Beer: Peroni Grand Reserva 

If you want me to look at a particular beer, drink, place, or have anything to say to me, email me at monksandmalts@gmail.com. Buy my pictures here: http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/robert-rizzolo.html. You can send me cool photos too, if you like and I will make a post up for you. 

'Na Biretta Rossa

Another in the line of Italian beers that I tried while over there: 'na biretta rossa. 

I drank this one alongside a nice prosciutto focaccia, which was pretty much my go-to lunch while in Italy. I drank it in a nice little cafe that was virtually a stone's throw from the Colosseum. It was probably a little bit more touristy than I would have wanted, but the food was tasty and they had more Italian beer than Peroni and Moretti, so I was happy. 

I liked the beer almost immediately, not because of the taste, but because I really like the label and the bottle. It is almost, but not quite a snub nose bottle. It is more like an old timey medicine bottle. I also really like the label. It is simple and crisp. Really eye catching too, because the red and silver stand out so clearly from the black background. I kind of like the cap too. 

In case you were wondering, I didn't do anything to the photo. The beer really is that red. The beer is a doppelbock style, which is actually really common in Italy, and I would have to say, one of the styles that they do pretty well. It is 6.3% ABV, which might even be a little low for a doppelbock. It has little to no hops present in both the nose and the taste. Everything about this beer was dominated by the malt. It is a little sweet, tasting a bit like caramel, toffee, and sweet bread. Overall, everything about this beer was subtle. The flavors, while they exist, are not overwhelming in the slightest. They might not even be whelming at all. The booze was pretty much impossible to taste. This was really helpful in keeping the beer nice and refreshing, more so than most doppelbocks. 

To sum up my opinions about this beer: Good, not great. Really refreshing. The presentation may be better than the beer itself though. 

Glassware: Pint, Mug, Stein

Synonym Beer: Moretti La Rossa (but with a bit less flavor)

If you want me to look at a particular beer, drink, place, or have anything to say to me, email me at monksandmalts@gmail.com. Buy my pictures here: http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/robert-rizzolo.html. You can send me cool photos too, if you like and I will make a post up for you. 

Extraomnes Zest

Today I'm going to cover the hoppiest beer that I tried while in Italy, Extraomnes Zest. I picked it up at a delicious, yet moderately expensive pizza place just outside the Vatican, called Pizzarium. You may be able to tell by the picture, but we ate the pizza and drank our beers on a graffittied bench just outside of a metro stop. If that isn't Roman, I don't know what is. 

Zest is listed as a Belgian Ale, probably more of a Belgian Pale Ale. Personally, I don't think that this is all that accurate. First of all, it is only 5.3% ABV. This doesn't really match up well with the Belgian Pale Ale style, which are generally more in the 6-7% ABV range. This alone wouldn't really be an issue, but the beer in itself is way too hoppy for the style. 

It is a hazy, medium golden color with really nice head retention. The nose was nice and hoppy, with some general citrus/fruity notes and a bit of yeast. The taste was very hoppy, but definitely has a nice maltiness to it, so the hops didn't make the beer too bitter. There is some body to the beer, but it wasn't overwhelming or too heavy. The hops gave the beer a kind of freshness that was perfect for a warm spring day in Italy.

Personally, I think that Zest is a great candidate for importing into the States. A lot of American craft beer consumers love themselves some hops. This beer can certainly stand up to that desire. It also would allow American consumers to see some of the good stuff that Italy is working on in terms of beer. 

Glassware: Tulip, Goblet (not a plastic cup)

Synonym Beer: Ommegang BPA

If you want me to look at a particular beer, drink, place, or have anything to say to me, email me at monksandmalts@gmail.com. Buy my pictures here: http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/robert-rizzolo.html. You can send me cool photos too, if you like and I will make a post up for you. 

Garfagnina

Here is one of the first craft beer that I picked up in Italy. Oddly enough, I picked it up in a bakery. It is one of four that I picked up from the same brewery, La Petrognola. It was less than impressive, but I'll get to that.

Garfagnina is a red ale made with farro, which is a particular type of grain. For some particular reason, I was able to find a bunch of Italian craft beers that use farro. Maybe it is the Italian beer trend like rye is for the US craft market. I don't know. It is 5.5% ABV, so it really isn't all that strong. Neither is the flavor.

The best way I can think of to describe the nose is that it smells like the healthy cereal that has freeze dried strawberries in it. I have no idea why. The beer doesn't have any strawberry in it. The flavor is thoroughly underwhelming. There is barely any body to the beer. It isn't hoppy in the slightest, but the malt doesn't really show through either. It just kind of disappears. Once you actually finish a sip, you will immediately lose any semblance of flavor that existed. Very forgettable. 

The one redeeming thing that I found about the beer is the bottle. It was a really attractive-looking bottle, so I bought 4 separate bottles from the brewery. I kinda of regretted that decision. Try it if you like, but I won't be going back for seconds. 

Glassware: Pint, Mug, Tulip

Synonym Beer: Smithwick's, but with less flavor.

If you want me to look at a particular beer, drink, place, or have anything to say to me, email me at monksandmalts@gmail.com. Buy my pictures here: http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/robert-rizzolo.html. You can send me cool photos too, if you like and I will make a post up for you. 

Post Switch

Ok, so I have more of a set schedule now, so I will be doing only 2 posts a week now. Tuesdays and Thursdays. Sound good? Awesome. Keep checking back.

Negroni!

One of the most Italian cocktails that I could think of is the Negroni. A negroni is an adaptation of of the Americano cocktail. It is widely believed to have been invented in Florence, Italy in the early 1900s when Count Negroni asked the bartender to make his other favorite cocktail, the americano, stronger. The bartender did this by substituting in gin instead of soda water. 

Ok, enough history. Now on to how to make the drink. The recipe is below.

1 part Campari

1 part Gin

1 part Sweet Vermouth (red)

Ice

Orange Peel (or wedge)

Basically you stir in all of the ingredients into an old fashioned glass and garnish with the orange peel. You can also mix in a shaker if you want to do that. 

In case you are unfamiliar with the ingredients, this isn't one of those fruity, super easy-drinking cocktails. Campari is a very bitter aperitif. This gets balanced a bit by the sweet vermouth and the gin provides the backbone to the drink. Seriously, if you don't like things bitter, don't go out and get one. Try a friend's first. 

The negroni, while very bitter was oddly refreshing and paired really well with some lightly brined olives.  Give it a go if you like bitter drinks. If you are making it yourself, make sure you don't overdo the Campari.

If you want me to look at a particular beer, drink, place, or have anything to say to me, email me at monksandmalts@gmail.com. Buy my pictures here: http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/robert-rizzolo.html. You can send me cool photos too, if you like and I will make a post up for you. 

Nastro Azzurro and Drinking Local (Even Mass Produced)

More Italian beer! This one is another mass produced brew. Nastro Azzurro is made by Peroni, probably the most recognizable name in Italian beer apart from Moretti. Even though I didn't go in with very high hopes, I will always try the local beers because transportation of beer and the atmosphere in which you drink them will certainly change the flavor. This isn't just a blind assumption. Carlsberg is better in Denmark, Budweiser is better in St. Louis, and the goal is to find out if the Italian beers are better in Italy.

Background: We drank this just outside of the Duomo in Florence. It was accompanied by a focaccia with bufala mozzarella and salami. All in all, it was a delicious lunch. Don't worry, I didn't drink all of the carafe. 

Nastro Azzurro is another European pale lager. It is 5.1% ABV, so it makes for a reasonable vacation lunchtime beer. It is crisp, with a hint of grainy sweetness. The hops barely show up, but it you are familiar with hops, you can pick up a subtle hop nose. The hops are almost completely missing from the taste. This was a perfect beer for quenching my thirst after a morning of walking all over Florence. I doubt you are going to be overwhelmed by the flavor, but it went down damn smooth at the time. 

I would suggest that if you want to try this beer, get it on tap, rather than in a bottle. This is because Peroni uses green bottles, which allow in UV light, skunking the beer. With a beer that is this light in flavor, the skunk can be overwhelming and seriously hamper your drinking experience. 

Glassware: Pilsner Glass, Mug

Synonym Beer: Kronenbourg 1664

If you want me to look at a particular beer, drink, place, or have anything to say to me, email me at monksandmalts@gmail.com. Buy my pictures here: http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/robert-rizzolo.html. You can send me cool photos too, if you like and I will make a post up for you. 

Moretti and Why Drinking in Europe is Fun

I recently took a trip to Italy with my girlfriend, Lindsey. While the wine is delicious, I wanted to see what the beer is like in Italy. There is an up-and-coming craft beer market in Italy and I will get to that in an upcoming post, but for now I will start with one of the classics of Italian beer, Birra Moretti. 

Moretti is a Pale Lager style and sits at 4.6% ABV. It isn't going to top my list of best beers, but after a long day of walking around Rome, it was delicious. It is light and crisp, with a nose that mirrors the taste. It has a grainy sweetness, but nothing is overwhelming. I will say, it was by far the best of the mass produced Italian beers that I tried. It is not a beer for every situation, but I strongly feel that each beer has a proper place. I think that Moretti's place is exactly where we had it. It is perfect for a warm day where you are moving around a lot and you want something refreshing to relax a bit. In my mind, I see it as a wannabe German pilsner. It is trying to get there, but there is something just not as good about it. 

It was especially fun to drink the Moretti in Rome. We bought it from one of the innumerous street carts that dot the city. Since Italy doesn't have open container laws, you can bring your beer into any of the public areas. We decided to drink ours in front of the Colosseum and walk with it through a lovely little park back to our apartment. If you find yourself in Europe somewhere, give the open-air drinking experience a shot, it is worthwhile, especially if you share the experience with someone great. 

While we were over there, we tried a lot of beer. In the next few weeks I will inundate the blog with a bunch of Italian beer, both craft and otherwise. Stay tuned. 

Glassware: Mug, Pilsner glass

Synonym Beer: Grolsch  

3HB Common Man

Today I'm going to talk about Three Heads Brewing (3HB) Common Man. 3HB is a Rochester, NY brewery, so their distribution is limited. You can find them all over NY, provided you have a good beer store around you. If you want to find them online, you can buy them through HalfTimeBeverage.com. 

Common Man is a California Common style beer. It is a lager that sits at 5.5% ABV. It is pretty standard by all accounts. It is pleasant and only slightly hoppy. It has a really light body, but that's a good thing. It is definitely a summer beer, or just one that won't fill you up. I would categorize it as a session, but the ABV is too high. I think this would actually be a great transition into better beer. In itself, it isn't a very striking beer, but it would be good way to ease someone into more flavorful beers. 

I don't mean to be so short with this post, but since the beer isn't very remarkable, the post probably shouldn't be all that remarkable either. Basically, if you are looking to drink something for the sake of drinking, but you'd prefer it to not taste like water mixed with shitty beer, give the Common Man a shot. It is good, but not particularly impressive to me. 

Glassware: Pint, Mug

Synonym Beer: Hyde Park Dirty Blonde 

If you want me to look at a particular beer, drink, place, or have anything to say to me, email me at monksandmalts@gmail.com. Buy my pictures here: http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/robert-rizzolo.html. You can send me cool photos too, if you like and I will make a post up for you. 

Annandale Atomic Cider and Keeping an Open Mind!

Nestled between the hamlets of Annandale-on-Hudson and Barrytown in the town of Red Hook, NY, lies the Montgomery Place Historic site. There are a series of orchards in the area that used to be cultivated by the Livingston family (they owned several mansions in the region). They are currently being used to grown apples for sale and hard cider by Montgomery Place Orchards. Fun fact: I used to work there. The MPO Farm Stand carries the Atomic hard cider as well as a wide selection of local fruits, vegetables, jams, dairy products, etc. The stand is located at the intersection of Route 9G and Route 199 in Red Hook, NY. It is definitely worth a trip.

Atomic is a 7% ABV hard apple cider. This is one of the best ciders I have tried. Am I a little biased? Maybe, but I like to think that my tastebuds tell the truth. What I usually dislike about hard cider is that the taste can be bland and harsh. The Atomic hard cider is tart and pleasantly sweet up front, but finishes crisp and dry, like a cider should. You can tell that there is some booze to it, but not overwhelming. It's actually good that you can taste some alcohol, otherwise it would be all too easy to drink too much. It is extremely refreshing and perfect for a summer's afternoon. What I really like is that you can really tell that the cider comes from apples. Some ciders taste like a bad champagne. I don't get why. It is a drink derived from apples. Make sure you can taste the apples. The Atomic cider exceeded all of my expectations, probably because they are made with some of the best apples in the region.  

If you are a beer drinker and your first thought is, "Ugh, I hate cider", that's probably because you are thinking of it as a beer. Cider is not beer. They are related, but they are very different drinks. Just keep an open mind and try something that you might normally pass by. Personally, I'm not big on ciders, but I will gladly take the opportunity to grab some Atomic cider whenever it shows up. You can find some places to get Atomic here. Give it a shot. You won't be disappointed. Plus, then you get a cool mason jar when you're finished. Just try to moderate, this stuff is strong and smooth. 

Glassware: Mason jar

Synonym Beer: It is a cider, not a beer. Doc's comes closest, but doesn't compare in my opinion.

If you want me to look at a particular beer, drink, place, or have anything to say to me, email me at monksandmalts@gmail.com. Buy my pictures here: http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/robert-rizzolo.html. You can send me cool photos too, if you like and I will make a post up for you.