Birrificio Italiano Cassissona

Brewed by Birrificio Italiano
Style: Fruit Beer
Lurago Marinone (CO), Italy

I’m surprised this one’s received such low ratings. Pours orange with a decent white head. Smells strongly of black currants gumballs and grapes. Tastes very tarte with a nice big apricot and black currant blend. Sweet and lively mouthfeel. Great, light finish. Maybe Italy’s the next big brewing country?

GBBF 2003 - tutored tasting: Sweet bubblegum like nose. Metallic also honey melon. Big foamy head, orange brown-amber color, liveley carbonation and a big foamy head. Taste is plums, tamarind and licorice. Medium aftertaste, nice bottle and well balanced. RERATE: May 2007.

Bottled December 31, 2004, Sampled October 2005
Explosively carbonated, I barely get an inch and a half of beer into my Duvel Tulip, the rest of the glass is foam. The beer is a lightly hazy copper color, with a light tan creamy Meringue like head. The aroma is dry and fruity with notes of Riesling, and spicy notes like Sauvignon Blanc. I also get notes of raisins, hints of vanilla, a light acidic note. The aroma is really nice and fruity, I really have not done it justice to just how good it is, it really is like a fruity dry white wine.

The taste is pretty dry, yet it still has a fruity sweetness especially towards the middle and end. The fruit character is again reminiscent of a fruity white wine. The beer though is quite light on the palate, and of course entirely spritzy as it rolls across the tongue. There is a light acidity here, separate from the biting carbonic acid note in the finish, that helps to accent the fruit notes as well. I get notes of grape, peach, pear, a bit of ginger, and some definite honey notes. There are some beery notes here as well, it is not all fruit; the grain is definitely noticeable, especially in the finish with a light clean malt note.

I really like this beer, it is so light and refreshing yet still quite flavorful, really a good mix between sparkling wine and beer.

<font size=-4>Purchased via mail order: <a href=http://www.liquidsolutions.ws/main/>Liq Solutions<font size=-1>

Smooth, interesting beer that makes use of black currant flavoring. I like this beer: It begins a bit sweet, hoppy, and spicy, but as you drink it the flavor mellows into a very smooth, mellow sort of flavor. The black currant is in there as the ultimate palate is a bit tart, which is a nice change from the initial sweetness. Tried it at the Seattle Int’l Beer Festival.

It took my a long time to pick this up, due to the high sticker price and low rating score. However, I spotted this with a reasonable price tag and I am not disappointed. As advertised, this weirdly shaped bottle (which makes tilting a pain) pours with a huge head, which never goes away leaving a very sticky lacing on the side of the glass. The color is a very dirty, murky, muted yellow, with no clarity at all. The more you pour the darker and dirtier it gets. I love the head but the color needs some work, just ends up looking like a dirty beer. At the last pour, with all the floaties, its almost a brown color. Aroma is full of thick, mainly slightly aged, Belgian malts with some alcohol coming through as well. Some airy Belgian character with sweet yeasty dough-ness and a light berry at the very end of the aroma. Taste is again surprisingly strong with some alcohol, thick golden maltiness which comes off as a bit like golden syrup. The best part is the finish which givrs a kick of chocolate and then dark chocolate berry liqueur. Its a strong, sweet kick and this is where the cassis shines.
750mL bottle, labels says 6.4%, Westvleteren goblet glass.

Bottle. Nose is sweet with light sour notes, light musk. Cloudy orange with huge white head, loads of carbonation and nice lacing. Flavor is sweet/sour, more grape and plum than current. The sour notes are in great compliment to the sweetness. This bottle might have spent a few years in a cellar, and is showing great balance. High carbonation but generally drinkable palate.

draft. a dry gritty wheat with light berry flavoring. reminds me of an ephemere - the funky, fruity tones of the yeast are really nice. tart , dry finish. i only had a sample of this one but it was extremely tastey. if it hadn’t been so pricey i would have had several.

<i>2008-10-31, tasting at Papsoe, 6-5-6-3-14=34</i>Cloudy deep blond, huge head. Creamy aroma, milky, not fruity. Good mouthfeel, sweetish malt flavor, light sourness and fruitness, delicate, balanced, leading into a more balanced flavor; good but not surprising.


<i>2002-07-24, bottle at the brewpub, 7-5-7-4-14=37<i>
Served in a 75cl bottle, it comes with a tray of different sorts of cheese; poured by the waiter in 2 giant original glasses &&#35;40;look at the picture, each is about 1 litre&&#35;41;.
Hazy amber colour, giant head &&#35;40;at least 15 cm&&#35;41;, rocky, that sticks to the glass in a beautiful lace.
Nice aroma, not particularly strong: malt, fruits &&#35;40;cassis&&#35;41;. <i>Italian Doppio Malto</i> as a base &&#35;40;that means Bock beer&&#35;41;, corrected by the fruit and a hopping stronger than the average. The malt is quite good, leaving some sweetness, and participating in a good body structure; the fruit is discrete, the hop may be too strong and the bitterness hides the fruit.
As most of the beers from this brewery, it´s bottom fermented; the fruits come as a syrup, I heard that it´s produced by some farmer in Alto Adige region.