Italy has been surprising me lately

Fear - 5.2%

I was pleasantly surprised when I was last in Italy that I could find some local beers that was more than just the lager that we typically see in bars over here.

Brewfist is an Italian craft brewery that produces some interesting looking labels to wrap at least one interesting tasting beer.

I went for Fear, a milk chocolate stout as I do gravitate toward the heavier brews.

Fear is actually not as thick as I was expecting and for a beer with no appreciable head the extreme effervescence on the tongue was quite a surprise.

The chocolate taste is a lot more subtle than I was hoping for.  when something describes itself as milk chocolate I would be expecting a little more sweetness than Fear provides.  I found the chocolate was more in the after taste than as it flows over the taste buds.

I'm not going to make it my mission to hunt it down but I certainly wouldn't turn a bottle down if someone offered it to me.

Fancy bottle tops

Tosca 5.2%

I remember I first saw these swing-top style bottles on Grolsch and would always want to open one even if I wasn't such a fan of the contents.  There is just something about pushing open the lid that is an exceedingly satisfying action. Plus it doesn't matter if you cant find the bottle opener.

Tosca here was found in an unassuming supermarket in Tuscany while I was stocking up on food.  I did some minimal hunting but all I could find was the distributor in Italy rather than the actual brewery.

This is a gem of a beer.  Rich malts over a crisp, almost honey like, tone.  This is perfect for a sunny afternoon or even a drizzly evening (I think Italy is sad to see me go)

There is one more beer I've had here.  I might write it up but I'm not sure.  One way or the other the southern hemisphere challenge approaches.

Beer from an area almost indistinguishable from ivory

For the past week I've been in Tuscany right in the Chianti region.  Of course being smack in the middle of a famous wine making region I couldn't resist hunting out a few beers to see how much competition the vineyards have.

Turbone - 5.0%

Enter Turbone.

Yes that's a wolf in a hat fishing.  I'm assuming it's an amusing pun based on a wolf themed brewery, if my Latin from 18 years ago is correct.

I have a bit of a soft spot for wheat beers.  I find them refreshing like a larger but with more flavour and not as over the top as the IPA's I've run into more recently.

It's got hints of citrus fruits and a pleasant mild bitterness that doesn't overpower everything at the end of a mouthful.

I've got another couple of Italian beers chilling in the fridge so hopefully I can get onto them next. 

A little Italian flavour

Peroni Gran Reserva - 6.6%

So this last week I went to see Avenue Q again.  And before hand we went as a group to Pizza Express.  As I didn't want to fall asleep in the theatre and start snoring we didn't have any wine and I spotted this on the menu.

Peroni Gran Reserva this is Peroni's attempt to do something a little more special than their normal fare.  It is a richer amber than the classic Nasstro Azzuro and with it comes a better flavour.  It has a nice subtle malt which reminds me of the northern European beers like Leffe.

They only serve the smaller bottles and it is a little more than the base lager but it is worth the price increase.

It was quite a surprise to discover this on the menu and I'm glad I found it.