Birrificio del Ducato A.F.O.

Bottled at Monks Café, Stockholm. Pours out in a clear amber colour with rich fluffy white foam. Big hoppy aroma of grapefruit with hints of flowers, red berries, lychee and wet grass. Medium-bodied with fresh hoppy notes of resin, flowers, grapefruit, mild caramel and cedar. Long bitter finish of grapefruit and grass.

A Mes rate: bottle at GBBF thanks to the brewer whose name I can’t remember.
A beautiful looking beer. Rich amber brown with a thin but very stable light beige head and a superb snowstorm when swilled. Lovely aroma. So much going on and it’s all about the hops. Awesome tropical fruit, freshly cut grass and very green all round. You can really notice the different characters of the American, English and German style hoppage. Initially the flavour is just like the nose but all of a sudden the malts show through in a glorious fashion giving up lovely earthy notes and just the right level of sweetness. Bitter, U.S. IPA like finish. Overall different, refreshing and very well made. Excellent beer.

Bottled (Ale For Obsessed). Amber colour, medium creamy white head. Aroma is wood, yeast, grass, caramel malts and some mild spices. Flavour is caramel malts, grassy hops, fruits and mild yeastyness. Very wellbalanced and pleasant.

Hand pump at Salone della Birra Artigianale e di Qualitā 2008, Milan
Cloudy amber color; creamy head. Delicate but nice hop aroma, there are resins, fruits and grass. It has a round mouthfeel, but the body is not so strong, it has anyway a strong toffee flavor and an extreme hopping, of good quality. Some more sweetness and it would be perfect. The final is very long and excellent.

Yellow-pistacchio head over bright red-amber beer; end of bottle cloudy. C-hops, very dry, bit of cookies, dried orange peel. Very well malt (caramel-,cookie-)backed USA hops for a good IPA. EXCELLENT balance. Very slightly burning MF, slick, well-bodied. It is rare to find such a balanced IPA. For an Italian one, this is an instant classic.