• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

By Root 1140 0

millennium”) At 6.5 percent alcohol, this is currently Birrificio Italiano’s only ale, though, as in Bavarian Weizenbier tradition (but using English ale yeast), it is bottle-conditioned with lager yeast. It’s a light brown ale, plumlike and dry, with a soft, well-balanced cocoa and roasted malt character. The beer is served in a special large, robust glass requiring two hands to carry the precious liquid forward to the mouth—most definitely a glass with purpose, to drink deliberately with depth and balance…This is Italian beer poetry and “moves towards the new millennium for Italian beer,” proclaimed Agostino.

Agostino’s departing wisdom: “Semel in Anno Lecit Insanire”—Once a year it is okay to be crazy. “At least once a year,” he emphasized.

Birrificio Lambrate

EAST OF THE CITY CENTER of Milan (Milano) resides a sparkling jewel of a brewpub that features absolutely top-quality beers along with regional specialty foods purchased fresh from the producers. Fresh beer is brewed in the adjacent building. The Skunky Brewpub serves fresh beers brewed by partner-owners Davide Sangiorgi and Rosa Gravina. The Birrificio Lambrate brewing company was founded in 1996 near the heart of Milan. They brew about 1,500 hectoliters of top-fermented ales annually, served in nearby restaurants and at their own brewpub. Young students, businesspeople, artists and beer enthusiasts flock to this warm, bohemian-style bar to enjoy fresh food and an assortment of ales that reflect the creative and poetic spirit of the Italian brewery renaissance.

The Beers of Birrificio Lambrate

The beers at Birrificio Lambrate are all named after places or cultural elements in the Milan area.

Montestella—An extraordinary hoppy, well-balanced blond ale. At 30 bittering units, the hop flavor of Hallertauer, Hersbrucker and Spalt contribute a wonderful balance to the Pilsener malt base. This is world-class ale, yet lager-like in its smoothness. All the brewery’s ales are brewed with dry “English” ale yeast, with world-class results.

Lambrate—Meaning “amber,” this ale is strong at 7 percent alcohol. Its overall impression is sweet, with malt flavor being more memorable than hops. It’s an excellent, well-balanced ale with suggestions of fruitiness.

Santàmbroeus—A pale 7 percent alcohol ale brewed with 5 percent wheat malt; the balance is brewed with pils malt. A strong malty aroma and flavor dominate. Though it’s somewhat “bock”-like, remember, it’s an ale.

Porpora—Referred to as a red beer, but more indicative of brown ale at 6.3 percent alcohol. It has evident malty and roast malt characters with no astringency and good balance and is relatively dry. Hop flavors are notable but not assertive.

Ghisa—Ghisa is Milanese slang for “street police,” in reference to the black uniform they wear. I never had anything quite like this before visiting Birrificio Lambrate. It’s a unique, dark, smoke-flavored beer using 30 percent German beechwood-smoked malt, Munich melanoidan malt, caramel and (black huskless) Carafa malts. With 6.2 percent alcohol, this beer is surprisingly smooth in body and flavor. The smoke flavor is well balanced; the dark and toasted malts offer a velvety texture. This smoke-flavored ale is not assertively hopped and is smooth with excellent drinkability. It is both poetry and balance.

* * *

POETIC BRIGHELLA ITALIAN-BELGIAN-GERMAN-ENGLISH-AMERICAN ALE

Here’s a clear shot at recreating one of the most unusual beers I experienced on my first tour of Italian breweries. As noted above, it is a golden, very fruity ale reminiscent of Belgian Flanders–style old brown ales. This recipe can be found in About the Recipes.

* * *

Brighella—Birrificio Lambrate’s Christmas beer, at 8 percent alcohol. It’s a golden, very fruity ale reminiscent of Belgian Flanders–style old brown ales. Here is expressed the epitome of Italian beer poetry and creativity. The use of 10 percent German-made sauer malt is what makes Brighella unique. I have never heard of this being done elsewhere. The sauer malt (soured by natural lactic fermentation, often