Super Cheese
Birra Baladin

I picked this beer up on the recommendation of a beer-store owner. Baladin has always been one of my favorite Italian brewers. They never seem to disappoint, and come up with some interesting and unique brews. This is no exception.
Brewed specifically to be enjoyed alongside great cheese (hence the name), this beer is a little hard to pigeonhole into a specific beer style. I've heard it described (as it was to me) as a barlywine. It's not like any barleywine that I've ever tasted, and I've settled on calling it a Belgian style strong pale ale.
The beer pours a cloudy, hazy, almost whitish-orange color. The head is tall, rocky, and fairly stable. Great lace. The aroma is interesting...very light and engaging. yeast, fruit (apples, pears), fresh flowers. There's a peppery phenol quality buried deep within, as well as distant pale malts. (Not at all like a barleywine). The taste is quite dry. Spritzy and almost tart (but not quite) with a lot of fruit and malt flavor. Low residual sugars thought. Lots of yeast flavors. The finish is equally dry, with a return to the flowery, fresh theme. This is clearly a 'mood beer'. Enjoy outside, with plenty of sunshine.
As recommended, I tried this one with cheese (parmigiano reggiano with balsalmic and a nice toma). I can think of better cheese-beer pairings, but it certainly did the trick!