A.F.O.
Birrificio Del Ducato

A.F.O.A.F.O.
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From:
Birrificio Del Ducato
 
Italy
Style:
American Pale Ale
Ranked #984
ABV:
5.4%
Score:
83
Ranked #24,132
Avg:
3.55 | pDev: 10.14%
Reviews:
12
Ratings:
20
Status:
Active
Rated:
Dec 30, 2022
Added:
May 21, 2007
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  2
No description / notes.
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Photo of Sigmund
Reviewed by Sigmund from Norway

3.81/5  rDev +7.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Jan. 2010: 330 ml "cool" bottle, courtesy of Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. ABV is 5.4%. Also available at Vinmonopolet. Deep orange to brown colour, big off-white head. Some floaties from the sediment in the bottle. Lovely aroma of fruity American hops, notes of citrus. The flavour is distinctly hoppy with grapefruity notes, resin in the finish. Some caramel malts too, fairly well balanced. Bitter aftertaste.
Dec 30, 2022
 
Rated: 3.81 by steverx8 from England

May 28, 2016
 
Rated: 3 by BeerTruck from Portugal

Dec 14, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by hoppecatania from Italy

Sep 04, 2014
 
Rated: 3.25 by tom10101 from Canada (QC)

Mar 26, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by Cozzatoad from Italy

Oct 30, 2013
 
Rated: 3.75 by IPeteA91 from Texas

Aug 30, 2013
Photo of cpetrone84
Reviewed by cpetrone84 from Pennsylvania

2.9/5  rDev -18.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5
Pour is dark transparent copper with a yellowish white fluffy head. Nose is very soft and sugary, caramel and brown sugar, light toasted grain and some syrupy resinous citrus. Taste is very sweet, lost of caramel, very sugary, lightly toasted grain mid palate moving to a syrupy citrus hop in the finish. Heavy body, low carb, not on point with pale ale.
Oct 29, 2012
 
Rated: 3.75 by danieelol from Australia

Oct 29, 2012
Photo of StJamesGate
Reviewed by StJamesGate from New York

3.6/5  rDev +1.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Deep amber with piles of pitted taupe foam that leaves the odd trailer. Great American nose of resin, citrus and flowers - big and fresh.
Toast, sticky caramel and some nectarine then orange and pine sap hops.
Pink grapefruit zest linger and humming dry linger. Medium, decent chew, fizzy.

Solid, average APA - plenty of hops but a sturdy malt backbone. Not sure it needed 10 varieties of hops to come up with this flavor. And where Italians often exceed with a soft mouthfeel, this is actually a bit too prickly, cloys somewhat and slightly soapy.
Gets creamier as it warms, but somehow lose all the aroma hops, leaving just the citrus peel notes. Never transcends.

Del Ducato is yet to truly impress me.
Jun 27, 2012
Photo of GONZALOYANNA
Reviewed by GONZALOYANNA from Spain

3.74/5  rDev +5.4%
look: 5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
330ml bottle. Oversized glass. Enjoyed on dec´11. Orangish amber. Chill haze. Copious yellowish white crown. Good retention & collars. Intense resiny hop aroma. Pine & wood to the nose. Gentle maltiness followed by increasing hop bitterness . Medium body, soft carbonation. Resins on the aftertaste. Woody notes. Refreshing.
Apr 13, 2012
 
Rated: 4 by JAHMUR from Connecticut

Nov 14, 2011
Photo of biboergosum
Reviewed by biboergosum from Canada (AB)

3.45/5  rDev -2.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
330ml sleek, dramatically sloped and pudgy bottle - molto buono. Color me obsessed, and enamored with the ESL qualities of the name in general.

This beer pours with one of those crazy over-carbonated columns of thin, explosively puffy, pale beige rising head, which, slow to realize its impermanence and lack of welcome in this universe, sinks away in the manner of a bobbing styrofoam container. Eventually, I can see a cloudy, dark orange amber colour, and the lace left behind is chunky and well disseminated. It smells of grainy, somewhat biscuity malt, and zingy, bitter floral, grassy, hops - I'm missing the label's proclamation of red grapefruit and bitter orange. The taste is grainy, indistinct malt, a bit of aged citrus, and herbal, leafy hops. The carbonation is still a tad prickly, the body a questionable medium weight, and too foamy and raspy to be considered all that smooth. It finishes just off-dry, the edgy grain not much match for the persistent muddled, but still bitter hops.

Tactical issues aside, this is an agreeable pale ale, just a bit rough around the edges. For their emulation of 'across the ocean' beers, and the use of 9 different hops, this outfit provides an interesting enough Italian APA simulacrum in the process.
Oct 21, 2011
Photo of IronDjinn
Reviewed by IronDjinn from Canada (AB)

3.32/5  rDev -6.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3
From a 330 ml tear dropped shaped brown bottle. Pours out a turbid cloudy amber hue, massive off-white spongy head.

Clean crisp grains, and floral, dry grassy hops on the nose.

Very clean flavour, yet very mild as a result it seems. Slight metalllic grains up front, hints of citrus in the middle, finishing with floral hops, which pick up some herbal grassy notes well into the aftertaste.

Medium-bodied mouthfeel, a bit slick and slippery in the texture, moderate yet brisk carbonation.

A very clean pale ale, yet mild for an APA by any means, and because of that it's enjoyable at the time for lack of flaws, yet not that memorable after the fact.
Oct 08, 2011
Photo of LittleDon
Reviewed by LittleDon from Texas

4.02/5  rDev +13.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 4
33 cl bottle with 1 July 2011 best by date. Served in a pint glass

Very cloudy with a stick white head. Lots of lace. Red-amber color. Sweet caramel aroma with a good dose of resinous pine. Medium-high amount of carbonation makes for a lively mouthfeel. Light-medium body. Flavor is consistent with aroma, except more dry. Pine and grapefruit predominate but don't overwhelm. A hint more caramel comes out toward the finish. Flavors fade somewhat in the end. A mildly hoppy after taste results.
Jun 26, 2011
Photo of Ochsenblut
Reviewed by Ochsenblut from Italy

2.98/5  rDev -16.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3
I had this one on tap at a local student pub called Giovane Italia in Parma. Unfortunately they only trusted us with plastic cups, which is a shame for reviewing's sake.

My 30 cl plastic cup holds a chill hazed dark copper brew sitting beneath an off-white soapy head. I assume the retention could be better with appropriate glassware.

The smell is piny and slightly sweet/malty. The taste is however devoid of any such sweetness. It starts off faintly crackery/bread crusty and immediately turns husky. The hops come in fairly one dimensionally, are assertive and have a tea-like tannin that lingers forever in the aftertaste.

The carbonation is very high and dominates the mouthfeel. After sitting a bit on the palate, the lack of a substantial malt presence makes it seem watery.

In fact, I'm not entirely unhappy with this beer. The average brewer here is either making Belgian, German or Euro Lager style beer and it's nice to see someone throw a few more hops my way. I'm not suggesting anyone in America go out and import this, but if you're in Italy and choices are limited, this makes for a hoppy choice, albeit a fairly banal one.
Feb 19, 2011
Photo of Nickls
Reviewed by Nickls from District of Columbia

3.43/5  rDev -3.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3
Pours with a blooming two fingers of slightly off-white head that holds really well and nice sticky chunks of lacing. Really hazy brown copper hue with orange highlights.

Aroma is a bit subdued with some citrusy hoppiness that give a hint of pine; lightly sweet maltiness; pretty basic and nothing off. Taste definitely on the hoppier side, and the citrus is a bit sticky. Floral hints sneak in as well; dryish and the malt sweetness doesn't really rear with is nice. Medium MF, and a bit heavier than I would like for the style but the prickly carbonation scrapes the palate to clean between sips. (5.2% for the record). Just OK drinkability as the heaviness of the body wears on me after a bit. Tasty enough, and not a bad stab at the style. Just nothing to write home about. Solid brew, and definitely worth the look.
Feb 08, 2010
Photo of Sammy
Reviewed by Sammy from Canada (ON)

3.8/5  rDev +7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Mondiale 2009. Very good bitterness from this pale, which boasts the use of 9 hops including 3 American: Chinook, Willamette and Cascade. Light body. As good as a good American pale with orange and malt, with above average IBU. Copper colour and off white head.
Jun 10, 2009
Photo of Suds
Reviewed by Suds from Missouri

3.8/5  rDev +7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Thankfully (given the name), this is not a subtle beer. It's a rich, brownish amber color with a frothy off-white head. Decent lace. The aroma is fairly strong, with a lot of fresh hop aroma (flowery and resiny...something between dry and kettle). Nice bitterness as well, with a piney, hop flower flavor. Almost an IPA in my mind. There is also a lot of malt character, with a caramel sweetness in the undertone. The malt, however, is completely overshadowed by the hops. This is a bit unusual for an Italian beer, from my experience. Long and lingering bitter finish. The beer is a bit thin, however, and is a bit one-dimensional in the mouthfeel. Despite this, though, this one's a decent and quite hoppy brew.
Mar 27, 2009
Photo of stcules
Reviewed by stcules from Italy

2.92/5  rDev -17.7%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3
Dark honey color, with an average cream colored foam, quite sticky.
In the smell classic malt, caramel, grapefruit and some piney notes.
The taste is right, in style.
Maybe just some lack of personality, but a good start.
Hoppy aftertaste, even if not really long.
Pleasant.
May 21, 2007
A.F.O. from Birrificio Del Ducato
Beer rating: 83 out of 100 with 20 ratings