Mamma Mia Pizza Beer
America's Brewpub

Beer Geek Stats
From:
America's Brewpub
 
Illinois, United States
Style:
Saison
ABV:
4.6%
Score:
Needs more ratings
Avg:
3.31 | pDev: 9.06%
Reviews:
5
Ratings:
5
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Sep 16, 2010
Added:
May 22, 2007
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  0
Brewed once at the brewery in 2007.

Bottles are contract-brewed at Sprecher:
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/16836/41127
Recent ratings and reviews.
Photo of pastradul
Reviewed by pastradul from California

3.74/5  rDev +13%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Picked up a bottle of this for a bottle share.

Pretty intersting... it is exactly what you would expect...

pours a light orangeish with minimal head.

the smell is tomatoes, basil & mozzarella.

taste is more of the same. The funny part is that the cheese flavor shanges a bit as the temp of the beer rises. When the beer is cold the cheese tastes like cold cheese. When the beer warms it tastes as though the cheese has been melted a bit.

This is a beer everyone should try at least once!
Sep 16, 2010
Photo of srandycarter
Reviewed by srandycarter from California

3.03/5  rDev -8.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Sounded like fun, but didn't work out for me.

A - Medium caramel, slightly murky, small near white head to ring fast. Not much lace.

S - Sharp tones of basil and oregano.

T - Damn, Smell plus tomato. It's a pizza. I love pizza and I love beer. In the same glass, though....

M - Light, not much coating, balance is all screwed up.

D - A cool idea that doesn't work for me.
Oct 15, 2009
Photo of MillRat
Reviewed by MillRat from Illinois

3.12/5  rDev -5.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2
This was on tap at the North Aurora (IL) Beer Fest yesterday. Since it was included in the admission price, I had to try it. It pours an ordinary yellow-colored ale with a short-lived white head. You get put on notice that this is gonna be one weird beer as soon as your nose was over the glass. Instead of the usual malt and hops aromas, this one hits you with basil and oregano. Did they dry-spice it? A taste leads into nice tomato, onion, and garlic flavors, which works as well as one could hope for with the base beer. The sourness of the saison is a good selection here. The beer is fairly dry and light bodied, which is again the right choice. A sweeter, maltier body would have clashed with the whole pizza presence. This beer is a bunch of compromises built around the pizza flavor idea. So while I would not have more than one of these, I can't really recommend changes that would improve this beer. If you have the opportunity, try this beer. It's a masterful realization of an audacious, if not plain ridiculous, idea.
Aug 05, 2007
Photo of orbitalr0x
Reviewed by orbitalr0x from Illinois

3.6/5  rDev +8.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3
Took a recent trip to the Roundhouse and couldn't help but try the pizza beer. It arrived in a 10oz wine glass a hazy golden yellow hue with a half inch of creamy white head. Looked good in the glass. Putting my nose to the glass I get a nice whiff of basil right off the bat. There's a light creamy grainy malt along with some tomato and faint garlic. Lots of spices and well, it does smell like pizza! Probably the oddest brew I've ever smelled but I can't say it smelled bad..it actually drew me in and made me want to take a sip.

First sip brings a light malt body met by what's basically liquid pizza. Basil and oregano spiciness is evident from the start with some light tomato flavor in there as well. It flows down and a light garlic taste becomes evident in the finish. The basil really comes out the most for me in the brew. It ends a bit on the dry side with a lingering herbal spiciness. Tasty overall and interesting for sure! The malt bill could have possibly been amped up a little to stand up against the herbs and garlic.

Mouthfeel is on the lighter side with a nice creaminess and steady carbonation. The 10oz pour was plenty for me and this isn't one I'd order more than one of. However, I myself found it quite tasty and probably would have it again next time I'm there if it is still on tap. An experiment in brewing that I was glad to be able to try. This is brewed with saison yeast along with fresh tomatoes, basil, oregano and garlic along with a few actual pizzas being tossed in as well!
Jun 26, 2007
Photo of karst
Reviewed by karst from Missouri

3.08/5  rDev -6.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5
Made a special trip to the Round house on May 19th for a glass and growler of this Spiced ale. After reading this description on walterpaytonsroundhouse.com

"Gold Medal Winning Brewmaster, Mike Rybinski of Walter Payton's Roundhouse has teamed up with Award Winning Homebrewer, Tom Seefurth to brew his creation, "Mama Mia Pizza Beer". Tom's beer is a Saison based light ale brewed with lots of real tomatoes, basil, oregano and garlic. Just for fun they have tossed a few wood grilled pizzas from America's Brewpub into the mix. The final product smells and tastes like pizza so, you can have your pizza and drink it too.

May 9th the tap will be ready to pour so stop by and have a taste. It's impeccable!"

Served in 10 oz goblet the turbid golden yellow was topped with ivory persistent head that produced minor lace. Belgian aroma (little pizza spice) followed by muddled middle from the unusual spices and the too delicate Saison style. As the beer finished a little too sweet for my taste a blossom of pizza flavors hit the back of my throat like a belch.

Several days earlier I had pizza and a nice St. Bernadus 8 at Cicero's in St. Louis - a much nicer beer with an authentic pizza finish.

Momma Mia takes a big hit on drinkability due to the base beer not being big enough for these flavors. Little spice aroma and sweet finish also distract from enjoying this spiced ale. Wondering if next batch will improve. It is not easy to scale up some recipes and I think this one would be troublesome.

Took home a growler of Payton's Pilsner.
May 22, 2007
Mamma Mia Pizza Beer from America's Brewpub
Beer rating: 3.31 out of 5 with 5 ratings