Monkey Cappelli
Mastri Birrai Umbri

Mastri Birrai Umbri "Monkey Cappelli"
300ml brown glass bottle coded "Best before: L.6221164C 26-08-2023" and sampled on 30-11-2022

Notes: Cappelli, or more specifically Senatore Cappeli, is a type of wheat grown in the Umbrian region of Italy. It makes up 23% of the grain bill although there are other varieties of wheat included. It's mainly barley and wheat but there's some beet sugar to bump up the strength and dry it a little bit.
Look: Hazy golden in color beneath a short head of bright white foam. Very good head retention and lacing.
Smell: Sweetish, bready, and lightly wheaty with herbal hops over delicate citrus and a hint of woodiness. There is no Belgian yeast character to it but they do use coriander seed and orange peel as well as a fair amount of hops that come through in both aroma and flavor.
Taste: The flavor follows the aroma closely. It's lightly sweet and softly malty with a delicately wheaty and bready character. It's on the drier side and there's a hint of acidity that helps to balance it along with a moderate bitterness of 16 IBUs. The light citrus character is probably coming both from orange peel and hops, and the herbal hops ebb and tide throught out the mid palate region. The subtle spiciness of the coriander seed appears mainly in the finish. As with the aroma, there is no Belgian yeast character to it.
Feel: Medium-light in body with the delicate zestiness of a fine-bubbled, natural carbonation ~ which is not to say that it's naturally carbonated, but that it appears that way.
Overall: This is not a Belgian-style witbier, and really more of just a spiced wheat ale, but it is interesting and enjoyable. The lack of Belgian yeast character is curious, and the herbal hops put a twist on it. It's nicely done, refreshing, and enjoyable throughout. One could certainly drink two, three, or even four of these in a row.
Review #8,410