Birra Friuli
Birrificio Forum Iulii

picked this up at a bottle shop in walla walla, never seen this before or even heard of the brewery, but i love italian beer and was keen to crack into this one, really pretty special stuff, something i would buy all the time if it were available to me, it plays in that super premium lager space, is more hoppy than most, and really has a ton of personality, drinkable and distinctive, not just another international yellow beer, far from it. it practically leaps out of the bottle, almost assuredly bottle conditioned, its insanely lively, fully effervescent and the bubbles are frenetic, an incredible texture for this, keeps it light and fast even though it does have a lot of flavor. i smell and taste some noble type hops, a little spicy grassy thing but really not as much bitterness as it seems like it will have, all very fresh and snappy, lightly floral as it warms but i hardly let it, this one is a fast drinker for sure. its blonde but does have just a little more grain depth than a lot of these, maybe eraclea malt in it, a honey type malt anyway, on the dry side but with some subtle breadiness earlier on. the thing that also makes this unique is the yeast, its almost like a lager and a saison had a baby, not that its crazy estery but its distinctive to me, somewhat rustic despite the beers overall refinement, and not at all familiar. it still has cold fermented crispness and all, and a light doughy aspect, but i also smell just subtle dried flowers and white pepper in the ferment, and taste more of a green grape and white wine thing, its mellow but it adds a lot of intrigue to this for me. its so refreshing for being as flavorful as it is, the carbonation rules, and overall i thought this was awesome. cant wait to drink it again, and to track down some more beers from the brewery. great lager!