Cotta 21
Mastri Birrai Umbri

Copenhagen 9/10 2016. 75 cl bottle from Netto, Lygten, Kbh. NV. Very formal label with a name, number and a type. Quite charming swing cap bottle by the way.

Pours hazy pale yellow with a big white head. Stable. Settles as a thin layer of foam stretching to cover the surface of the beer. Moderate lacing.

Aroma is slightly sour and fruity. Lime, lemon and orange gone slightly bad and fermented. Reminds me of summer in Italy with lemonade.

Medium strong carbonation and watery palate. Lively texture.

Flavor is mostly sour with a light sweetness. Quite watery.

Probably pretty good on an Italian summer day - but not a terrible interesting beer.

 

Very refreshing and pretty well-balanced beer. I never drink blonde ales. I find them boring. But this one has some character. Smells like lemon, honey, yeast, and slight bread crust. Smells more Belgian than Italian. The yeast doesn’t really show up much in the taste. Otherwise the flavor mostly follows the nose. Lemon, honey, bread crust. There’s a lovely floral component of lemon blossom. Teeny bit of strawberry and tangerine. There’s a slight bitterness on the back end. A soft, spicy bitterness gives way to a small sharp bite. Vaguely resembles some kellerbiers. Light, sweet, pleasant, lovely. A beautiful Italian blonde with class. Maybe she’s a problem, maybe not. The Dolce Vita feels real right now. Goes great with a classic Italian sandwich.

RB transfer

 

A: Pours a clear pale golden/yellow color. Almost no head forms, and its just the golden liquid left.
S: A really neutral cereal grain aroma. I'm struggling to come up with anything else.
T: There is a fair bit more here. Again that cereal grain character, but doughy, yeast and a pleasant fruity ester character.
M/O: A light body with effervescent and crisp carbonation. Not something I'm going to seek out a lot, but perfectly OK to drink.

There is almost the slightest amount of "Belgian" like character here. With just enough yeast and ester flavors. Though it is very light. It went fine with the Neapolitan pizza I had at a local place when it was on happy hour. Though I can't say I'll be looking for this in any other context.

Bottle 0.5 L.
Hazy, golden body with a small, fizzy, white head, fully diminishing with virtually no lacing.
Light malty (grains, cereals) and hoppy (herbal) aroma with faint honey notes.
Light sweet flavour with moderate bitterness.
Light body with a watery texture; flat carbonation.

 

 

 

 

 

a tasty, distinctive, and well made spelt based blonde ale, the better of the two beers i had from these guys. neat they are available in idaho now through the boise coop, never seen this brand before now. this is more golden than yellow, creamy lathery white headed, with lots of carbonation, nice retention too. usually i look for this style to be crisp, so the absence of crispness here is sort of shocking at first, its not overly sweet or anything, but its fuller bodied, more layered than most, with some neat grain depth from the spelt and a little something from the yeast too, its a longer flavor experience than the style usually grants, and it grows on me really quickly. light honey sweetness, a sort of earthy spicy wrinkle, and a mellow fresh doughy element to the yeast. not a lot of hops here to me, but they arent missed. a trace of clove or something late, green grape and pear fruitiness, and rushing carbonation to help it finish refreshing even if its off dry. a cool food beer, especially in the context of a big italian dinner, like dipping good bread in good olive oil, this works with that awfully well, and i found myself wishing i had more than one of these. subtly super different for the style, good value too, really dug this one. hearty as a blonde goes, neat in the winter time. i will look for more from these guys.

 

Poured out of a bottle at Francoli Northern Italian Restaurant in The Orange Circle in Orange, CA.

Initial impression: like Gwyneth Paltrow in a bikini, it’s actually not all that bad. See, I really think it’s like her cuz it’s not full bodied like Kate Upton parading down the beach. No, it’s Gwyneth: light and tall, and it’s just good enough.

Rawhide!