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29-07-2020, 09:31
Visit The Beer Nut site (https://thebeernut.blogspot.com/2020/07/birra-casa.html)
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OC-qOhY1Nz4/XtJ08gwI0uI/AAAAAAAAS1I/W9js738Bamgyu46RR9iMizXKxkDTp4zyQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/birra_messina.jpg (https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OC-qOhY1Nz4/XtJ08gwI0uI/AAAAAAAAS1I/W9js738Bamgyu46RR9iMizXKxkDTp4zyQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/birra_messina.jpg)I had been impressed by the salty Cristalli di Sale lager from Heineken that I'd found (https://thebeernut.blogspot.com/2019/10/fancy-meeting-you-here.html) on last summer's trip to northern Italy. When I saw the flagship of the same brand, Messina, on sale in Dublin I snapped it up to see if I could use it to recreate a sunny Italian afternoon. It didn't take long for the opportunity to present itself.
It looks beautiful in the glass: a rich dark gold, topped with a handsome pillar of pure white foam, the way beer looks in classic adverts. The mouthfeel is thick, much thicker than 4.7% ABV would suggest. With the density comes a heavy malt sweetness: a flavour full of treacle and cereal, with a little banana and only the faintest hop balance; a dry mineral bite rather than actual bitterness.
Did it work as a transport to another realm? Yes -- and as a reminder that other realms are chock full of bad lager. This one is too sweet and cloying to be properly refreshing. I can see myself drinking one on a sunlit terrazzo, but also vowing thereafter to never touch it again.
More... (https://thebeernut.blogspot.com/2020/07/birra-casa.html)
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OC-qOhY1Nz4/XtJ08gwI0uI/AAAAAAAAS1I/W9js738Bamgyu46RR9iMizXKxkDTp4zyQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/birra_messina.jpg (https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OC-qOhY1Nz4/XtJ08gwI0uI/AAAAAAAAS1I/W9js738Bamgyu46RR9iMizXKxkDTp4zyQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/birra_messina.jpg)I had been impressed by the salty Cristalli di Sale lager from Heineken that I'd found (https://thebeernut.blogspot.com/2019/10/fancy-meeting-you-here.html) on last summer's trip to northern Italy. When I saw the flagship of the same brand, Messina, on sale in Dublin I snapped it up to see if I could use it to recreate a sunny Italian afternoon. It didn't take long for the opportunity to present itself.
It looks beautiful in the glass: a rich dark gold, topped with a handsome pillar of pure white foam, the way beer looks in classic adverts. The mouthfeel is thick, much thicker than 4.7% ABV would suggest. With the density comes a heavy malt sweetness: a flavour full of treacle and cereal, with a little banana and only the faintest hop balance; a dry mineral bite rather than actual bitterness.
Did it work as a transport to another realm? Yes -- and as a reminder that other realms are chock full of bad lager. This one is too sweet and cloying to be properly refreshing. I can see myself drinking one on a sunlit terrazzo, but also vowing thereafter to never touch it again.
More... (https://thebeernut.blogspot.com/2020/07/birra-casa.html)