Torrente
Birrificio Del Ducato

11.2 ounce bottle, no dating that I noticed on the bottle or label. Thanks to Brutaltruth for this! Served in a chalice, the beer pours a mostly clear gold color with about an inch or so off-white head. Head retention and lacing are both good. I like the aroma, the brew smells like pine, pineapple, mango, lemon peel and some bready malt. Taste is similar to the aroma, but there's also the addition of some floral hops and grapefruit. Mouthfeel/body is medium, it's smooth and a bit creamy with a moderate amount of carbonation. Thought this was good enough, certainly worth a try if you come across some!

11.2oz bottle served in a tulip glass. No date on bottle.

Appearance: Golden yellow beer (definitely hazy, but does let light through- nearing translucent), with a thin white head and some strands of persistent lacing.

Smell: Citrus with a little bit of some underlying floral and piney / noble hop notes.

Taste: Citrus (leaning toward more lemony flavor, but there is some orange and other citrus in here) hops up front, cracker-like malt (bottle says 100% pilsner malt, comes close to a pilsner malt flavor), then sweetness and noble hops + citrus bitterness at the finish.

Mouthfeel: Prickly carbonation, a little chewy on the teeth, dry finish.

Overall / Drinkability: Interesting. I think it's more of an Italian take on a APA or IPA than this being a Belgian Pale Ale. It's definitely an Ale (not a lager), but it's missing the Belgian character. So I think I should consider it as an APA or IPA for rating. Very balanced, easily drinkable, and I could easily have another if offered.

 

From the super cool shaped little bottle in a snifter. This solid little
Belgian pale pours a clear pale straw color with a very nice head of
white foam that settles to a thick layer with excellent lacing. Nose of
pineapple, mango, pine, and honey sweet malt dashed with light
cracker. Flavors hit the mark with cracker, mango, pineapple, light
lemon zest, subtle pine, and light candy sugar. Mouth feel is medium
light, medium light carbonation, smooth, and finishing lightly crisp
with a nicely balanced citrus and subtle pine note that is lightly dry.

Of note melon comes through with warmth....nice!


Overall, a solid offering!

Cheers

Tastes like an Italian Pilsner, hopped to IPA levels. Crisp, light, bitter, characterful hop notes, a tasteful melange including: Mandarina Bavaria, Equinox, Chinook, Yellow Sub, and Citra. Fresh bottle, sampled at Forno Rosso.

Look: It pours cloudy yellow with some orange hues. It has an off white head with average head retention.

Smell: The aromas are a bit sweet up front with peach, Belgian funk, and a bit of a sour note. There is a bit of yeastiness with peach.

Taste: It has some bready notes to it with peach and Belgian funk. There is a very light sourness to it with some citrus and a touch of tropical notes.

Feel: It has a medium body with a very lightly soured and sweet finish.

Overall, it is a fairly unique beer when compared to other beers I have had. The flavors do not mesh well together for me.

 

 

12oz can. Brewed in Italy and canned in the U.S. No dating information found for canning date.
Cloudy, straw colored body. Multi finger pillowy white head, and this reduces to a cap and left behind patches of lacing.
Aroma of yeast, orange and lemon citrus, and peach.
Taste is Clementine orange, lemon, peach, and pineapple. Some pine bitterness mid point onwards. Some yeast funk. Bitterness at the end.
Medium mouth feel. Very drying in the finish. Very good carbonation.
The citrus flavors linger but the yeast dries out any really bright expression. Earthy and fruity, and a touch of yeast.

 

It came in a clear tulip glass, drawn from a tap. A great pour it was, as there's about half an inch off-white head atop a golden amber beer. An aroma that's malty and not to burdened by esters emanates. It drinks sweetly and with some of those esters contributing, fruity. Not full on peachy, but not too far off. The mouthfeel is rich and could have carried more flavor. The 7% ABV isn't noticed. Light glass lacing follows the drained liquid. Pleasant enough, but not close to exceptional.

 

 

No date on bottle

L: Pours pale gold with low haze. A gentle pour results in a fine white two finger head with good retention. The head leaves some spotty and a bit of webbed lacing as the beer goes down.

S: Not getting a whole lot here: bit of peach and some citrus. Maybe a hint of crusty, bready malt. It seems to me that the nose may have faded a bit.

T: I get pineapple and grassy notes through the front and mid palates with a bit of malt sweetness coming in through the rear mid and into the back end. The rear palate gives me a touch of pine and grapefruit rind and the sweetness is balanced out by some light bitterness on the finish. I am getting the feeling that the palate has faded a bit also.

F: Medium body with medium-light carbonation. The mouthfeel is soft and a bit oily slick. Slight dryness on the finish

O: There is a great beer in here somewhere, but this bottle just isn't it. I would love to be able to visit Birrificio Del Ducato in Italy some day and get this direct from the brewery in a more fresh state. Even in it's faded state the beer is drinkable and pleasant, but I wish I could get fresher European take on the modern IPA.

 

another one from these guys making it over in a tank and canned here, pretty cool from the importer, but the ones i have had so far, from ducato and others, have tasted a little tired anyway. its a shame, because the brilliance of this is obvious, even with some trace oxidation and hop fade. its amazing how they use new school and new world hops in this, but that it still has such a rustic charm and is as yeast forward as it is, not many beers like this around, so a welcome add even if its less than in its fully ideal state. gorgeous backlit looking yellow color with a light haze and a high and lasting and peaky white lace head, sexy brew, even in a shaker pint. smells and tastes a bit sweet and corny on the malt side, definitely not all the way dried out by this expressive yeast, confectioners sugar and honey, juicy hops, pear and rock candy, green apple and elderflower, hay and straw and green grass too, light white pepper spice, highly unique and alive, and really good even with the fade. nice carbonation, average body, fruity hops, pineapple candy and passion fruit and meyer lemon, fluffy feeling, agricultural. i bet this is amazing a little closer to the source, as its pretty darn good this far away. underrated for sure, glad to have it around.

I had toyed with hieing out to Bistro on Bridge in Phoenixville for their 10th Anniversary Party today, but then it dawned on me that such excursions are how I built up my backlog in the first place. I'm staying put, watching TV, reading books & drinking beer. That's a good day!

From the CAN: "Brewed in Italy[,] Cold Shipped by Tank Container[,] CANned Fresh in the USA"; "Unpasteurized Unfiltered"; "Torrente’s alluring aroma draws you in with notes of ripe citrus, peach, tropical fruit and pine. The beer is soft on the palate and develops progressively with waves of overripe tropical fruit, citrus and pine. This culminates with a pleasantly dry and herbaceous bitterness."; "Hops[:] Mandarina Bavaria, Equinox, Chinoo[k], Vic Secret, Mosaic".

I Crack!ed open the vent & while it may have been marked as "Unfiltered", I took it as a challenge to see if I could get clarity to result. It foamed up nicely to form two-plus fingers of dense, foamy, rocky, bone-white head with great retention. Color was an oh-so-slightly-hazy Yellow-Gold (SRM = 4 - 5). Nose was quite tropical, more akin to an AIPA, but I was okay with it as a BEL PA. Mouthfeel was medium-to-full, not quite creamy, but close. The taste was MOSDEF overripe tropical fruit! This might be a little tough for some since I have known people to gag on overripe fruit, but I am a seasoned veteran at this sort of thing. The weirder & odder, the better. This was definitely weird & odd. I really did not get citrus and/or pine, but it was unrelenting in its tropical fruitiness. Finish was dry, but I was satiated after one. YMMV.

 

From the Craft Beer Cellar in Belmont, poured into pint glass a few months later. Had no idea what style. Definitely a pale ale. Clear. Drinkable.