Italian Craft Beer in Philadelphia

I began taking note of the Italian craft beer movement four years ago (wow, really, it's been that long?) when I was invited to a tasting at Tria. Chestnuts, Baladin, numerous other Italian breweries, and even a couple of sours were the theme of the day.

Forward to 2012, another election year, and more Italian brewers are crashing the shores with their take on better beer. Case in point: Iacopo Lenci, owner and brewmaster from Birrificio Brùton in Lucca, Tuscany. He estimates that roughly 35% of his production is exported to North America and a couple of handfuls of states. Nevulis Beverages is responsible for importing and distributing the beers locally around Philadelphia.

(a.kitchen's General Manager Todd Rodgers, Chef Bryan Sikora, and Birrificio Brùton's owner/brewmaster Iacopo Lenci)

This week, Lenci was making his third trip to Philadelphia when we met up with him at the relatively new a.kitchen just off Rittenhouse Square. That we chose to take up PR Profile on their suggestion to stop by turned out to be one of the best decisions of the week.

(Birrificio Brùton's Bianca and Lilith)

After deciding to make a couple of other first stops (Franklin Mortgage and Dandelion —yes, I really am that far behind), we were sat at a perfect window seat for two at a.kitchen.

The format for the evening allowed customers to either order à la carte food items and beers or purchase four-course meals with the food selections in each course paired one of Brùton's beers.

We opted for à la carte in an effort to keep the visit, at least in our minds, as brief as possible. Of course, one piece of food leads to a beer, which leads to a conversation with Lenci and restaurant GM Todd Rodgers, which leads to a bump-in with wine (and more than a once-in-a-while beer) guy David McDuff, which leads to more food and beer, which leads to chatting with Nevulis' Jeff Banet, which leads to trying to leave and bumping into Monk's Café's Tom Peters, who said Pliny the Younger was still on tap more than 24 hours after tapping it. Of course it was a half keg, not a sixtel like most others received, and there were plenty of other great beers pouring during his very special event the day before, so it's not surprising. Or, PtY has jumped the shark; you be the judge ;-)

(Was there a run-on sentence in that last paragraph? Did that last paragraph make any sense at all? Hey, I'm writing again, so cut me some slack.)

Rodgers and Chef Bryan Sikora came up with a spectacular pairing menu. Each dish and each beer could easily stand on its own. Together, the flavors did not battle each other for palate supremacy. And, if there was one thing we said about each beer, it was "I could drink this beer all night".

And we probably could have. Well, perhaps with the exception of the Dieci, which weighs in at around 10% ABV. But, yet again, it was beer whose aroma and flavors stole the show, leaving us slackjawed that it could be a 10% beer.

A quick rundown of the food and beer we enjoyed includes:

Potato-Gruyere Gratin with Speck (three words there tell you everything you need to know about the savory sumptuousness of this dish) paired quite well with Lilith (5.5% ABV) and its mild Cascade hop citrusy flavor and bitterness.

(Potato-Gruyere Gratin with Speck and Birrificio Brùton's Lilith)

Seared Sea Scallops with Blood Orange (could have been some of the most perfectly prepared scallops I've ever come across as too many kitchens suffer from either over- or under-doing them) with the wonderful Bianca (5% ABV), which exhibits pleasant and refreshing flavors of orange citrus, pepper spice, and fragrant lemongrass.

(Seared Sea Scallops with Birrificio Brùton's Bianca)

Lamb Bolognese over Tagliatelle (how I love this sturdy noodle, and with the meaty bolognese the dish became so succulent) paired nicely with the heftier Momus, whose 7.5% ABV is masked by its smooth and tasty profile of sweet caramelized malts.

(Lamb Bolognese with Tagliatelle and Birrificio Brùton's Momus)

Finally, the pièce de résistance was delivered in the form of Goat Cheese Cake with a Hazlenut Crust and Vanilla Honey. I'm not sure that any further description is necessary, since it truly was as good as the words suggest. And, with the Dieci (10% barleywine) riding shotgun, the night ended on as equally-perfect a note as the preceding courses had also struck.

(Goat Cheese Cake with Hazlenut Crust, Vanilla Honey, and Birrificio Brùton's Dieci)

During this extremely worthwhile Tuesday night in Philly, there were two primary takeaways. If a.kitchen is still a bit under, or even off, your radar, you should really consider bumping it up. It's not as if the restaurant has not been gathering critical acclaim both locally in Philadelphia and beyond. From what I gather from talking with many both in and out of the city, a.kitchen is not yet a household name for foodies. My gut tells me, though both figuratively and literally), that this is changing, and changing quickly. The awarding of "three bells" by local critic, Craig LaBan, won't hurt either.

The other takeaway is Brùton's beers. They're available by the case in Pennsylania and will soon be also by the 30-liter keg, according to Nevulis. As I mentioned above, these beers (particularly Bianca and Lilith, which will become even more appealing in the warmer months) stand very well on their own at the same time as being extremely food-friendly.

(Birrificio Brùton's owner/brewmaster Iacopo Lenci and his lovely Lilith)

Word has it that if you've missed Lenci and his Brùton's beers in the past, there continues to be more of it coming stateside and he's due to return personally in just a few short months for Philly Beer Week.

Mondo Italiano

I'd been to a B United sneak preview tasting of the Italian Beers that they're bringing into the country. I was mesmerized with some of the new flavors I'd never experienced before in a beer. Just a bit of poking around over the past few weeks shows that there's a whole lot of excitement around these sometimes unusual beers. The Experts Agree - Italian beer is where it's at (joesixpack.net) Great interview of Italian home brewer and beer podcaster Tony Manzi (basicbrewing.com) Stan gets caught up in the excitement too (appellationbeer.com) Lots of content and firsthand knowledge from Stonch at his blog (stonch.blogspot.com)

My constituents, I offer CHANGE!

Belgium, Germany, U.S., England, repeat. Same old?

Well then give some of the relatively new Italian beers a try. I swear I don't even know what the word change means anymore. These political chatterboxes have gone on and on about change, but I swear I don't know what they're offering when they say the word change. The minute the current guy leaves office and the new one walks into the Oval Office, there's gonna be change, but beyond that what does change mean as they're using it? Argh, you hear the word over and over and you're left saying, huh?

I had the pleasure of being invited to Tria Café for a preview tasting session of Italian craft beers being imported by B. United Int'l (and locally distributed via Shangy's). There was a Fermentation School session for tasting and pairing these beers conducted later in the evening across town. I've heard the buzz growing about some of these beers, but yesterday was the first chance I had to sample them.

I had missed an Italian Beer Dinner at Chick's Café last October, where some of these beers were featured...and remained available on tap and in bottles for some time after that. What I tasted yesterday, I suppose you could say, were not necessarily flavors that I had not tasted before. Hm, scratch that. I don't believe I've ever had a beer that had roasted chestnuts treated like a grain and added to the mash (that would be the Malthus Birolla Chestnut Ale).

Rather, what I did experience were some very nicely made beers exhibiting aromas and flavors spanning from hoppy to malty to sour and funky. Yet, none of them were done in an over-the-top sort of fashion like we've come to experience (sometimes expect) from various American and Belgian brewers. For example, one of my favorites was the Scires (Birrificio Italiano), described as a sour cherry ale. It certainly brought some cherry in the flavor, but not too much so. Definitely had the Brett notes in there too, but not too much so. But, this isn't to imply that the flavors were wimpy. Just nicely balanced.

The effort that has gone into making this beer is staggering. It was described as a lager batch (aged a short bit) and an ale batch (aged for a year in barrel) combined with sour cherries thrown in and inoculated with Brettanomyces then aged a bit longer. I believe that it was also mentioned that there's a bottle re-fermentation taking place here too. Spectacular process for a spectacular beer!

Same with the Chocarrubica (Birrificio Grado Plato). It carried some vegetal and "footy" aromas, but not in an overwhelmingly offputting way. And, the contribution of 30% oats created a nice and smooth mouthfeel, while the addition of cocoa gave some pleasant chocolate undertones.

The Demon Hunter (Birrificio Montegioco) was one of the maltier brews that I sampled at the tasting. But, it wasn't a huge malt bomb, just a nice combination of malts (didn't make a note of which ones) to give me some nutty and earthy flavors. A bit high in ABV at 8.5%, but well disguised.

The Malthus Baluba (Birrificio di Como) is described as a "double malted stout," but one should not be misled by that terminology. We here in the States tend to be a bit obsessed with style definitions. While I do agree that it often makes sense to tell the consumer what type of beer it is that they are drinking (at least as a starting point), I can also understand from a brewer's point of view that rigid, defined styles should not be the end all/be all for crafting a well-made beer.

Suffice to say, the Baluba is not a big stout, say Russian Imperial, as the name may lead you to believe, but an easy-drinking malty beer. Adding the further allure of this beer are subtle fruity notes from the dried pineapple, ginger, and apricot fruit added during the primary fermentation and later.

The Nora and the Super Baladin (Birreria Le Baladin) were the last two samplings of my session. They are both referred to as the "sour edition 2005," and justly reflected the sourness in the taste. However, where the Nora carried less pronounced souring, the Super Baladin brought a more noticeable sourness backed up by some nice fruit flavors of pineapple, apricot, and tangerine that I noticed.

Interesting brewing notes for the Nora include the near total replacement of hops with orange peel, ginger, and myrrh. Brewers without hops contracts, take note!

Those were a handful of my favorites. After tasting those and several others, I still hadn't made it through a half dozen others that they were offering for tasting. There certainly seems to be some decent Italian beer coming our way here in the States.

As more distributors carry them more frequently and in greater numbers, I'll be curious to see how well they go over with consumers given their slightly higher-end price points. I could see myself picking up a bottle here and a bottle there, but likely not entire cases.

I later made my way across town, first to Nodding Head (cask IPA was wonderful) and then to Dock Street (how I wish I could find myself there more often). Perhaps more on both of these stops later.