The development of Italian sour beers
Until a few years ago, the realm of spontaneous fermented beers, that is that style of beer that exploits yeasts and bacteria in the air to ferment the must, was Pajottenland, Belgium.
After initial resistance, sour beers are beginning to conquer the taste of many Italians, which is why some brewers are beginning to experience the production of these beers with the same characteristics as the Belgian lambic.
It is possible to find a geographical area that goes from Piedmont to Emilia, passing through Liguria and Lombardy, where the breweries that produce at least one sour beer are located.
Italian sour beer
[wysija_form id=”8″]
In the case of sour beers, fermentation may be induced by yeasts and / or bacteria present in the air, but also by microorganisms contained in the fruit peel, which is used to trigger mixed fermentations. This is an operation that requires care and attention, as there is a risk of infecting the must.
Following this tradition, in Piozzo (Cn), the well-known Baladin brewery proposes Mama Kriek, produced in the same way as the Belgian Kriek thanks to the addition of grilled cherries and the use of Brettanomyces yeasts.
Among the Italian sour beers we find, again in Piedmont, BeerBera and Madamin of the LoverBeer brewery. The first one is a spontaneous fermented beer in wooden barrels to which Barbera d’Alba must is added, as good as an aperitif because of its freshness and sparklingness.
The Madamin is, instead, fermented and matured exclusively in oak barrels, which gives it a fruity taste with slightly bitter resinous and ending hints, great with cold cut and sausages, red meat and game meat, seasoned cheese and / or blue cheese and dried pastry.
The Montegioco brewery mummy is a fresh, sour and fruity beer, which is also matured in barriques and bottled in two versions, or with the addition of wine yeasts favoring a second fermentation or completely flat.
The Panil brewery produces the Panil Barriquée Sour and the Divine. The first one has a woody taste of balsamic vinegar and mature in large wooden barrels, previously addressed to the aging of wine. The sour note is given by lactic and acetic bacteria.
The Divine ferments naturally thanks to the action of wild ferments, present in the brewery. Every time the new lot is inoculated with a few beers of the previous lot.
Among the Italian savory beers we can not mention the Duchess of the Birreria del Borgo, produced by cutting the Duchess (saison to the Birreria del Borgo) with a 20% Lambic Cantillon aged one year. The result is a refreshing, light beer with a perfect acid filling as a accompaniment for herbaceous cheeses.
The Berseel Morning produced by the Brewery of the Duchy is a cross between a standard beer and a spontaneous fermentation, as a blend of New Morning and Lambic by Oud Beersel, aged for at least 18 months in the bottle. The result is a beer with citric notes, with shades of dried flowers and honey, which in the mouth leaves a feeling full of acid.
Imagine source:
openbaladin.files.wordpress.com
