Turbone
Birrificio Montelupo

a very uncommon wheat beer from italy, no clue how long ago these actually came in to colorado for sale, i know of one store in town that still has a few of them collecting dust. there is no way this tastes like it was originally intended to, but its so tasty it warrants comment here. i bought bitter awhile back, and was amazed how it sort of turned into a wild ale in its years on the shelf, well, this one has done the same thing, and to an even more remarkable degree. a little poking around the internet suggests that this is nobodys favorite wheat beer when its fresh, so maybe indefinite age is the answer? a little head on a ale hazy yellow brew, it fizzles out quickly though, a little sediment towards the bottom of the bottle, which has gorgeous label art by the way. it smells like lambic, i am shocked, straight up, that mix of bretty funk, aged hops, and slightly medicinal wildness, its all there, save maybe the oak component, but the wheat malt has matured that way rather than broken down or gotten stale, and the flavor seriously tastes like good lambic, i swear. a little acidity here, but very complex and interesting flavors with the wheat malt and whatever yeast has taken over this. i wish it wasnt so flat and thin, but its hard to complain about a random beer that has turned on so nicely after time. i had a similar experience with their bitter, and suspect they never imagined their beer would be around for years and years, maybe they are unaware of this wild yeast element because it never takes hold in the fresh beer. these were both good enough for me to be interested in what they are actually supposed to taste like, shame they arent around here anymore... a weird but enjoyable evolution!