Menabrea 1846

Brewed by Menabrea (Forst)
Style: Pale Lager
Biella, Italy

Hazy straw colour with white head that disappears quickly. Hop/corn aroma. Sour bitter tatse. Not the most enjoyable beer from Italy.

Bottled. A light blonde coloured lager with a decent enough white head. The aroma is very corny and frankly pretty unpleasant. The taste is better. It’s over sweet but there are some hoppy notes shining through. Having said that it’s not the kind of beer I’d drink again.Score 1.7
Subsequent rating scored 2.3. Average becomes 2.0

Very nice-looking bottle/label...unfortunately that’s probably the highlight of this one. Very, very pale yellow color with a decent-sized foamy white head. Aroma slight hops with a bit more pronounced corny/malyt aroma. Flavor a bit above the standard pale lager but not very interesting. Went pretty good with the pizza I had for supper but I wouldn’t want to drink this all by itself.

Tasted 19/09/2007. 330ml bottle from BrewNZ. Pale yellow gold with a firm white head, not quite brilliant. Mild honey notes dominate the simple sweetish nose with an integrated little hint of a floral character. Sweet and full-bodied in the mouth, with more honey and amlt sweetness, a little grassy hop action and a medium bitterness. Full, simple, drinkable but uninteresting.

Poured a pale, hazy straw with a small fizzy head. The nose was sweet and grainy, containing some clover honey, as well as some grassy notes. The flavor was also grainy and malty sweet. midway I tasted a cloying honey sweetness, and floral, grassy hops. The aftertaste was a bit metallic on the tongue. It had a good mouthfeel but also had a copper-like texture on the palate. I’m not a huge fan of Italian beers, and this has done nothing to win me over.

Actually not bad when mixed with its native cuisine. For (I guess) a mass produced pils, it has some complexity and a decent malt signature to go with average hop bitterness. Paired well with heavy and spicy food.

Bottle: Lightly hazy blond color, puffy white head, nice lacing. The nose is toasty with a bit of metal and hay, plenty of sharp noble hops. The flavor is decent, some toasty and fairly present malts. Not that clean of a finish and more of a dry hop husk tail. Corny?

12 oz bottle. Poured a clear golden color. Head was rocky and white, reducing over few minutes to a thin film. Aroma was of light malty molasses and cereal grain. Flavor was similar with the addition of noble hops. The hop flavor lingers. Slightly sweet. Not a show stopper.