Baladin Soraya, Baladin, Piozzo at FICO Eataly World

 Date:  October 17, 2018

The Story—  This seems to be Baladin week on Beer of the Day and really, why not?   Balladin, the brewery perhaps responsible for catapulting Italy into the top ranks of beer brewing countries, makes more than enough first class beers to warrant a different delight every day of the week.

Eataly World, the world’s largest food court amusement park, is a perfect place to try them.   They’re well-tended in Baladin’s outlet, the selection is exceptionally good, and you don’t have to drive to Piozzo to get them.   Baladin has other pubs in Italy– the one in Rome not only served great beer, but the conversation there became the backbone of our research for our upcoming guide to great beer where you don’t expect it in Europe.   But this small brewpub in a huge space gave us the feeling of drinking outdoors without the heat or rain that a real garden would provide.

We don’t usually get much pleasure from spiced ales; it often seems like we could be drinking “beer” instead.   But Baladin manages spices better than most breweries and Soraya is certainly interesting enough to justify trying one and maybe clean enough to justify having several.   “Habituation” is the process of the palate tuning out an outlier flavor as you drink — a process that can take a liter or two to fully complete.   We didn’t have the time or Euros to try the two or three liters of this, but it’s one of the few spiced ales for which we’ve been tempted to try.

The Beer—  A Kentucky Fried Chicken of beers with probably at least 11 herbs and spices over a soft lemon cream foundation.  Not a great deal of depth but a nice yeasty summer drink.   Ellie found it odd but clean with well blended spices and herbs.   It was actually her rating that pushed this into our “well above average” category.

Value —  Good.  Six bucks for a third of a liter is quite fair.

This week we return to HIGHLIGHTS OF EUROPE–  Surprisingly good beer in “bad beer cities.”  The best we’ve found in researching our next book – a guide to great beer in European tourist cities. (Planned publication 2019.)   We’ll shift back to great American beer finds next week.

Next week we return to the US to highlight some great beers we’ve found in researching out first US Beer publication: Brews and Snooze-– Breweries you can visit and walk back to a fine place to spend the night.  Look for it in 2019.

About these posts:  We taste and evaluate over a thousand beers every year.  The beers posted here rank in the top quarter of those tastings.   Values:  “fair” is a good beer at an above market price, “good” is worth the money, “very good” is a bargain, and “excellent” is a steal.

Baladin FICO Ruggine, Baladin Brewpub, Baladin FICO, Bologna, Italy

Date:  October 16, 2018

The Story—  Yesterday we described the quite remarkable “largest food court in the world” that sits on the outer edges of Bologna.   Bologna is a very walkable city, but FICO Eataly World is a good half hour bus ride from the city.  (Pick up the bus opposite the train station next to the Mecure Hotel– get a ticket from the tobacco shop at the stop,)

The brewery there is a small brewpub sized brewery that turns out very good small batch beers in a not-at-all-small setting.  The pub there serves a good range of Baladin beers — including some that aren’t all that easy to find.   Next to the pub is an array of hundreds of Italian craft bottles.  They’re in varying stages of freshness, but you can do a craft tour of Italy quicker, easier, and even cheaper than you could do on your own with a car

The Beer–Sometimes you can really tell the freshness in a beer, and you can here — and that’s the justification for actually having a brewery on the spot. This Ruggine is chewy, a very figgy fruity amber ale with a full caramel malt throughout.  Hat’s off the the brewer who was skilled enough to craft a nicely sophisticated depth in a small mall-front brewpub.  Fruity, but nicely chewy and the hint of lactose is nice in this brownish context.

Value –Good.  Six buck for a standard third liter glass isn’t bad in craft beer Italy.

This week we return to HIGHLIGHTS OF EUROPE–  Surprisingly good beer in “bad beer cities.”  The best we’ve found in researching our next book – a guide to great beer in European tourist cities. (Planned publication 2019.)   We’ll shift back to great American beer finds next week.

Next week we return to the US to highlight some great beers we’ve found in researching out first US Beer publication: Brews and Snooze-– Breweries you can visit and walk back to a fine place to spend the night.  Look for it in 2019.

About these posts:  We taste and evaluate over a thousand beers every year.  The beers posted here rank in the top quarter of those tastings.   Values:  “fair” is a good beer at an above market price, “good” is worth the money, “very good” is a bargain, and “excellent” is a steal.

Baladin Fico Fabbrica Italiano Contadina, Piozzi, Italy

Date:  October 15, 2018

The Story— Baladin was one of the first Italian breweries to show the world that Italians had truly joined the world craft movement.   Their success helped propel hundreds of other hopefuls, only some of which have matched the daring and quality of this innovator.   Starting as a small brewpub in a small village, they’ve expanded enough to send beer all over Europe and to many markets in the US.

>>Their pubs pour Baladin beers in most of the major Italian cities from Rome to Bologna, but outside Bologna they have an outlet that not only serves Baladin beers, but brews a few as well.  Tomorrow we’ll talk about the quite good beer they brew on premise but today we’re highlighting the beer you can get at almost all of the many beer stands, food stalls and restaurants in this “largest food park in the world,”

>> FICO Italy World is, they say, the world’s largest agri-business park- a multi acre food court with demonstrations, classes, museum displays and at least 40 restaurants and a couple of dedicated beer bars.  The brewpub there is a small operation, brewing competent beers in limited quantities.  This Disneyland for food, however is built to handle millions of customers a year (they haven’t come yet), so the universally available park themed beer has to come in from the mother brewery in Piozzi.

We’ll have more to say about this unusual food and drink destination — big enough so that many of the customers there choose to shop in the provided-for-free three wheel bicycles (but not nearly as easy to operate as they look).  It’s an amazing place and we don’t regret for a moment the day we spent there – or the fact that this “tourist destination” brought us to Bologna, which turned out to be one of our favorite Italian cities ever

The Beer— The Fico Fabbrica Italiano Contadina lager carries the name of the establishment and is brewed to appeal to the average shopper — it would be a mass market beer in another context, but an exceptionally good one.  We’re not convinced of it’s lager pedigree.   Rich and fruity golden ale-like lager with an apricot and hop bitter aftertaste.  A range of soft fruits – orange- orange peel along the way.  Easy drinking for 6%,  No wonder they sell truckloads and have to bring this in from their main brewery.

Value — Good to very good.  Seven bucks is a lot for a pint of beer in most European contexts, but really — an above average beer for Bologna for a below average cost in Bologna was pretty nice to encounter.

This week we return to HIGHLIGHTS OF EUROPE–  Surprisingly good beer in “bad beer cities.”  The best we’ve found in researching our next book – a guide to great beer in European tourist cities. (Planned publication 2019.)   We’ll shift back to great American beer finds next week.

Next week we return to the US to highlight some great beers we’ve found in researching out first US Beer publication: Brews and Snooze-– Breweries you can visit and walk back to a fine place to spend the night.  Look for it in 2019.

About these posts:  We taste and evaluate over a thousand beers every year.  The beers posted here rank in the top quarter of those tastings.   Values:  “fair” is a good beer at an above market price, “good” is worth the money, “very good” is a bargain, and “excellent” is a steal.

Schönbuch Hefeweizen Dunkel, Schönbuch Braumanufaktur, Böblingen, Germany.

Date:  October 14, 2018

The Story— We were drawn to the Franconian town of Plochlingen  because we had not tasted beers from there for years and only then mostly at the local fest.  On line, it looked like a live brewery. Alas, it’s another casualty of the 20th century.  But the “historical brewery” does serve a range of beers from the not-too-far-away Schönbuch Braumanufaktur in Böblingen.  The village is worth a visit not only for the beer but for the striking Hundertwasser apartment complex that you can visit during the day.  It’s also a cute small town with an old center that offers lots of eating and drinking and entertainment options.
The Schönbuch beers pour from a courtyard in the shadow of the old brewery.  They’re in good condition and there’s a good range or styles.   Not what we am here for, but no regrets.

The Beer—  Schönbuch Hefeweizen Dunkel shows more hefe flavor than their hefe helles and much more than most hefe dunkels.  It’s a standout in a style that tends to slide to dullness.  Rich dark malt with a hint of fruit and some banana jumps in late. Ellie liked the clean darkness along with signature hefeweisse flavors.

Value — Very good!  Under five bucks for a first class dark weizen.

This week we return to HIGHLIGHTS OF EUROPE–  Surprisingly good beer in “bad beer cities.”  The best we’ve found in researching our next book – a guide to great beer in European tourist cities. (Planned publication 2019.)   We’ll shift back to great American beer finds next week.

Next week we return to the US to highlight some great beers we’ve found in researching out first US Beer publication: Brews and Snooze-– Breweries you can visit and walk back to a fine place to spend the night.  Look for it in 2019.

About these posts:  We taste and evaluate over a thousand beers every year.  The beers posted here rank in the top quarter of those tastings.   Values:  “fair” is a good beer at an above market price, “good” is worth the money, “very good” is a bargain, and “excellent” is a steal.

Birra Moretti Lunga Maturazione at Milano Centrale train station.

Date:  October 13, 2018

The Story— Moretti got its start when Udine was still part of the Austrian Empire and production bounced around until 1996 when Heineken bought the brand and continues to brew Moretti brands in its four Italian breweries.  The original Moretti breweries now produce the Birra Castello brands.

Still, this beer shows that even the big guys, when well motivated, can brew good beers.   We’re reminded of the sole night brewer at National Premium at Baltimore changed the hopping schedule to fill the last stages of the brew — resulting in a not so bitter but beautifully hop aroma and flavor.  You could absolutely tell a beer that had been brewed on his shift even on their huge brew kit.

Craft beers are crazy popular in Italy today, and some corporate shirt has unleashed a brewer to develop a strong aged ale that is worth savoring.  We found it — at a price — at the Roadhouse Restaurant in the Milan train station.  It’s on the upper deck and gives a fantastic view of the dozens of tracks as trains come and gol

The Beer–Remarkably complex aroma.  Pale malt, the ale fruit is rich, and the end balances well with metal growing in the aftertaste.  When it’s very cold it tastes like a very strong pils.  Closer to room temperature it’s a good Belgian gold.

Value — good to very good.  About five bucks for a standard bottle for a well above average beer.

This week we return to HIGHLIGHTS OF EUROPE–  Surprisingly good beer in “bad beer cities.”  The best we’ve found in researching our next book – a guide to great beer in European tourist cities. (Planned publication 2019.)   We’ll shift back to great American beer finds next week.

Next week we return to the US to highlight some great beers we’ve found in researching out first US Beer publication: Brews and Snooze-– Breweries you can visit and walk back to a fine place to spend the night.  Look for it in 2019.

About these posts:  We taste and evaluate over a thousand beers every year.  The beers posted here rank in the top quarter of those tastings.   Values:  “fair” is a good beer at an above market price, “good” is worth the money, “very good” is a bargain, and “excellent” is a steal.