Menabrea Ambrata
Birra Menabrea SpA

 

 

Bottle poured into glass at Baroncini. Solid Vienna lager.

Gentle pour but with agitation I created a modest head. It lasted, though. Good webby lacing on the glass. Darker amber color. Crystal clear.

The smell is thinner with weak caramel malt aromas. Sweeter nose than most.

The body is neutral and the carbonation slightly elevated. Dryer than expected, there’s a toasted malt flavor with a lighter hop presence. Nothing spectacular but certainly good in a pinch.

 

Clear copper to brown with a foamy tan head of moderate height settling to a thin blanket and creamy collar leaving some spots of lace.

Caramel malt that's lightly toasted is met by a slightly abrasive, metallic and drying hop presence before exhaling a more pleasant herbality and an almost honey sweetness.

The medium-light body has a finely firm froth and comes to a quite papery dry finish.

 

 

 

 

Dark copper colored with a fingernail of brown around the rim covering half of the top. There’s light, soapy lacing. There’s a faint caramel aroma. I’m tasting a splash of caramel. The mouth is pretty light and thin.

Dark amber, white head. Malty, bread smell. Sweet, marzen like , brown bread, caramel, dry, crisp.

 

 

 

L: Ambrata. First result. It has a lovely amber color but it's also transparent. Like a vibrant copper hue. Moderately carbonated, not extremely glossy, commentary not complaint, guessing on the look it's going to be crisp, refreshing, dry, it's not a cloudy Chimay or anything. Right now I'm thinking it's comparable to a Michelob Amber Bock. Cold brew, lagered...

S: Not heavy sitting on the nose, guessing not on the palate as well. It's not empty, bud light, miller lite, those are empty... They're trying to do something here. In fact, there is something here that you won't find anywhere else. There is something extra. Probably something as simple as a roasted grain. I bet if we figured out what they were doing, they'd be embarassed.

T: Nice. Lovely. More on the palate than anticipated. Malt based experience. Roasted. Cold brewed lager... sits around for months... to mellow out what would otherwise be harsh... And it's rather effervescent.

F: I love the roasty toasty. I don't know what they toasted, what they used, but there's something in here I like. Now, some breweries, when we have the mystery ingredient, I am suspicious. They tell us it's a well guarded secret because it's profitable and reproducible, but secretly I wonder if they are not ashamed of their brewing process... Like Guinness is

O: Quite a wonderful color. The flavor, but not the weight. It's refreshing, I've been thirsty, and had a drink, and been refreshed. It's good. It did it's job. But at what cost? I just wish I knew how it was made, what could they possibly have done to justify this price tag? I am not convinced that this is a premium label.

Pours amber with a 1" cream colored head, which slowly fades. Light lacing.

Aroma is floral, Bready, caramel, sweet.

Taste is caramel, honey, malty, slightly sweet.

Light bodied, moderate carbonation. Semisweet finish.

Pretty decent Amber lager. Much better than AAL's.

L: Served on draft at an Italian restaurant. Pours a clear copper. No lacing.
S: Faint malt.
T: Malt, slight caramel.
F: medium bodied
O: Okay. Good choice at an Italian restaurant if you don’t like wine, but not worth seeking out.

 

After bring a 12oz bottle home, I noticed there is a date of 11/2020 on it (currently 12/2020). I assume that's the best by date. Definitely seems aged. Hop notes are missing. Malty. An Italian made Vienna Lager seemed interesting. Will update in the future if I find a fresher example.

De color cobrizo, con un cordón espumoso de baja retención. Cuerpo ligero y carbonatación media/baja. Aroma a miel y pan. En boca es una cerveza dulce, gracias a la miel, el caramelo y una sensación de almíbar pero sin llegar a ser empalagosa.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

86,5

750ml Bottle as a gift:
Quite a clear, copper tinged amber that comes with a very nice three centimetre tall head on top that's foamy & white with the odd bubble on the surface & good retention too. The nose is a sweet one with toffee & caramel malts kicking things off along with some biscuit but it's not too strong & the sweetness definitely dominates with a lot of sugars in there too. The taste is almost identical to the nose, perhaps with even more sweetness from the caramel & toffee coming through but I got a slightly earthy feel towards the middle with yet more sugars. It's a smooth, obviously sweet beer but not to the point of being sickening & it sat with a light-medium body coupled with average carbonation level that made it fairly easy to drink.

In a Peroni glass at a pizza/pasta place in Brooklyn (No ales on the menu).

Beautiful clear dark amber-brown. Clean malty smell with slight floral notes. Taste was mostly sweet malt, not much finish and very little hop taste, but uncomplicated and went well with the meal. I would have this again.

Utterly ordinary stuff. No head, no lace or anything like that. Copper red brew. A whiff of malt. Average red malt to taste, on the sweet and malty side. Just a notch in the beer belt, not much else. Not offensive or defective in any way, just dull.

 

I unfortunately never had the German/Austrian version of this style, but based on the requirements this beer did well. It pours a dark amber color with medium lace. I didn’t really detect much aronas but from what I did it was along the lines of cereal/malt. There was a balance of toasted grain/ malt and caramel to it. From the first sip, the fizziness is one of the first things you feel. Little to no bitterness. Not a bad if you like this style.

 

 

Pours a copper tinged amber color. Completely clear. Thin tan head dissipates leaving just a small circle of foam in the center of the beer.

Aroma has notes of toasted grain and toasted bread. A hint of brown sugar sweetness, and some earthy nuttiness on the finish.

Taste has notes of nutty, earthy toasted bread. Almost no sweetness in this. Almost no hops come through in the flavor, but there is a slight bitterness on the finish. There is a slight spiciness in this that I suspect is from the yeast.

Feel is medium bodied, somewhat doughy or sticky. Vivacious fizzy carbonation. Semi-dry finish. '

Overall a solid Vienna lager - certainly an enjoyable beer.