Five Italian Beers Of Note

Blog has been quiet. Have been snooping around central Italy, trying beers. Here is my record:

Birra Moretti

Let’s get this one out of the way.  This beer is everywhere in Italy. You cannot ignore it. From the obscured osteria behind a hilltop church, to the Florentine cathedral-front sandwich sellers, this beer is as common as the roadside Madonna.

Hopping Hare

A quick note this morning about another fantastic British beer I tried last night. Not from some hip pop-up nano-brewery in East London - but from supermarket stalwarts Badger. I've been disappointed with some other mainstream beers oriented around English hops, but this one - Hopping Hare - is well worth a try.

Pale Rider

Tonight, I dropped by a local of mine to catch up with a friend. The Barnsbury has a great selection of cask ales, and had a few there that I had never seen before. I was initially amused by one beer's claim that it had been CAMRA's champion beer of 2004. I mean, guys. 2004. It was up against the great Purity Mad Goose and a slightly tribal-looking pump promising New Zealand hops. The beer in question was Kelham Island Brewery's Pale Rider.

Mainly, we were too distracted - along with the rest of the pub - by the final ten minutes of the Italy Germany match. In particular, to the supreme efforts of the German goalie who drew applause while making his way up the field as if to attempt some Schmeichelian miracle. It wasn't until a short while after that it hit me: This was a very good beer. There was a real pineapple tang, and the beer had body enough to back it up. No unnecessary bitterness, no jarring aroma. Despite the dated credentials, this beer is perhaps the most imaginative English ale I have tasted in a long time.