Microbrewed Adventures (22 page)

Agostino Arioli (back) with brewers at Birrificio Italiano brewpub and restaurant, Marinone, Italy

The Beers of Birrificio Italiano

Prima—
(
L' ingannatrice
—the cheater, “who is like a woman who is a liar—beware”) This beer has a mild taste, so you may think it is light, but it is 6 percent alcohol. A soft caramel personality dominates this popular brown lager. At first you might think of it as German Dunkel style, but a sweet twist of crème caramel is often used to describe its qualities, so close to butterscotch but most definitely not. The beer does have caramel malts, but Agostino knows that it is the extra boil time that gives this heady lager its special character. Caramunich, carapils, Munich and pils malts are used to brew this complex, well-balanced beer.

 

Amber Shock—
(
L' impevedible
—“that which is unexpected”) At 7 percent alcohol, this beer is lager fermented and lager bottle-conditioned. It's available only in elegant 1-liter bottle-conditioned packages for the customer who comes to the brewery. It is considered the brewery's most special beer and the most “mythical,” because it isn't always available. A full-malt and toffeelike flavor creates the overture, followed by a complementary fruity rose, apricot and cherry aroma and flavor. The beer has a slight sulfur note in the aroma, but within a few minutes of breathing after opening, the sulfur notes dissipate. The result is a remarkably playful and complex beer that is light on the palate. It is a lager, yet because of its higher alcohol and bottle conditioning it develops nontypical fruit character.

 

Tipo Pils—
(
Autoconscienza
—“the self-consciousness; when you finish drinking it you will have reached a state of self-consciousness”) With a rich, dense head, this is every bit in the clean, crisp, refreshing and flavorful tradition of a Bavarian-style pilsener—brewed south of the Alps, leaving you wondering if you've gone to another heaven.

 

Bibock—
(
La Prepotenza
—“strength and power as from a goat; enabling one to do what they want to do” Agostino encourages you to “get in touch with
the Bibock”) This is an Italian creation, an amber “Italian bock.” It's 6.2 percent alcohol, with more hops than a traditional bock, along with the rich maltiness usually evident in the stronger German version. You wouldn't be able to call it a bock in Germany, but then again, this is Italy. Its aroma is reminiscent of fresh rising bread dough, and its maltiness is complemented with a unique apricot character in both flavor and aroma. German Hallertau and Perle hops are used for aroma.

 

Weiss Beer—
(
L' Mirage
—“a dream of a woman taking a bath in a tub of Weiss beer,” explains Agostino.) This seasonal brew was not available when I was there.

 

Dunkel Weizen—
(
Voo Du—L' Originia
—“the original because all original styles were dark”) This seasonal brew was not available when I was there.

 

2000—
(
La Birra Terzo Millennio
—“the beer of the third 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

E
AST 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.

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 used in very small percentages by German brewers in order to naturally acidify brewing water) contributes remarkably soft acidity without the often overpowering complexity of bacterially fermented Belgian ales, from which this beer's pedigree emerged. Dried English ale yeast is used in this brew, as it is in all of their beers.

 

INDEED, THE
craft brewers of Italy to whom I was introduced in 2000 were unlike any other craft brewers in the world. The combination of their romantic culture, exquisite regional cuisine, respect for their wine heritage and creative brewing techniques gives them the distinction of being the poets of the brewing industry. Currently they are few, but their ranks are growing. The world will be a far better place when the brewing poets of Italy emerge in numbers and offer their quality creations alongside all the other wonderful things Italy has to offer.

The Piozzo Experiment:
The Secret Life of Beer
La Baladin, Piozzo, Italy

E
INSTEIN ONCE SAID
,
“There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”

There are many facets of beer and brewing that go far beyond art and science. They are the mysteries and miracles. These are the things that intrigue
me the most. I enjoy being able to appreciate them even though I don't fully understand them.

Whenever I brew, I still “feel” the beer and am absolutely certain the beer knows that I care. So often I am asked about the difference between homebrewed and microbrewed beer and mass-produced beer. I am dead serious when I say the difference has something to do with the caring spirit that a homebrewer or microbrewer is able to transmit to the very nature of the wort and the care of yeast and fermentation. I'm not talking about scientific care but a frame of mind, which is transmitted. Who can deny that attitude of mind affects humans and their performance?

I've thought to myself, what about other living organisms? It is quite common knowledge that all living organisms respond to a variety of stimuli. Brewing scientists measure the effects of heat, time, pressure, motion and other forms of stress on yeast. The stream of activities is adjusted accordingly to produce beer as efficiently as possible with the desired qualities. This is what most professional brewers do to earn a living.

Homebrewers do not earn a living from making beer. For them, beer is simply a matter of pride and caring. Money and its impact on efficiency are less relevant. Though they consider the science of brewing, homebrewers are closer to and more accepting of the mysteries of brewing.

There is an Italian brewer who brews craft beers in the tiny hilltop village of Piozzo. On a second visit to La Baladin and Teo Musso's brewhouse and fermentation area, a small group of American craft brewers and I marveled at Teo's latest project. He had fitted his fermentation tanks with giant headphones. Piping in music for several hours a day, Teo had recently embarked on a two-year experiment attempting to discover aspects of “the secret life of beer.”

First impressions may elicit the reaction that this is preposterous. Yet Teo is serious, and he is not alone. There are scientists and healers throughout the world who would recognize that Teo might be on to something. Music is not only of a powerful essence in the lives of people, but it has also been a proven factor in the health of plants and other living organisms.

Just before I sat down to write of my experience and thoughts of the little village brewery in Piozzo, I remembered a book about music that author and acquaintance Don Campbell had given me a few years ago called
The Mozart Effect
(Avon Books, 1997). I had never read it, and now I wasn't about to tackle its 350-plus pages. I took it off my shelf for a quick look. I did not thumb through its pages. I magically opened it directly to page 82 and a heading entitled “Sonic Bloom.” A brief introduction explored the use of music to enhance plant growth.

Headphones on the tanks; music for yeast

My fingers anticipated that there must be more background and support for the experiment in Piozzo. I then magically turned to page 64, with the heading “How Music Affects Us: A Medley.” George Gershwin is quoted: “Music sets up a certain vibration which unquestionably results in a physical reaction. Eventually the proper vibration for every person will be found and utilized.”

In the tiny village of Piozzo, Teo Musso embarked on an experiment no brewing scientist would dare risk his reputation on. “Yeast is a living animal. Why shouldn't it be affected by music as other living organisms are?” Teo explains quite emphatically, nurturing the legitimacy of what at first appears to be an exercise in brewing insanity. But then, with contemplation…

There are significant implications to Teo's ideas. Perhaps his experiments and measurements will be inconclusive. Perhaps they will be enlightening. Whatever the results of the Piozzo Experiment, I hope it inspires an ongoing appreciation of yeast. I hope it inspires a variety of perspectives. Yeast is a sensitive living organism that we know very little about. I appreciate the guidance brewing science has given to me as a brewer. It has helped improve my beer. But without appreciation of the mysteries of yeast and the life processes involving beer, all the science in the world is a bunch of hooey.