Panil Ambrè

Brewed by Panil Birra Artigianale - Birrificio Torrechiara
Style: Belgian Ale
Torrechiara-Parma, Italy

[146-20061221] 750mL. Funky wheat and light fruit aroma. Cloudy, floaties in light orange-yellow body. Light licorice, musky wood and herby notes in flavour. Light-medium body. OK overall, nothing spesh.

750mL bottle shared by Olivier on 1/26/07. Best before May 2006.
Strong appearance for the style (for any style I guess). Extremely fluffy white head is large and rocky, receding very slowly to cover and leaving large clumps of lace everywhere. Tiny bubbled, natural carbonation rises up in small pockets. The body is a mostly clear (leaving sediment behind) soft peach-tangerine with strong caramel highlights.
Immediate notes of light DMS are perceptible in the nose, and they never fully come out even after breathing. Add to this a nearly lactic sourness and you’ve got a very problematic aroma. Behind this, a decidedly well-produced pils malt lurks. Well-attenuated honey, light and fluffy provides a soft, but substantial and full backdrop. Light bits of lemony hops and clean esters (nectarine, peach) further show that this beer has potential, if they could just rid it of the DMS and lactic infection. Even with the problematic notes, however, the aroma is very weak and easily overtaken by bland, doughy, unpasteurized yeast notes. No alcohol noted.
Curt bitterness nips at the palate at first, hops I guess, though there is almost no actual flavor to them. I suppose light lemon at most. Highly attenuated, leaving only light honey and touches of dough/bread. Actually a crisp finish, more akin to a lager than a Belgian ambree. Probably its best quality, that and the very fluffy, engaging carbonation and soft, even texture. Reserved esters and maybe a touch of some bland and slightly dirty yeastiness harry the flavor the whole way through, but I don’t see the strong DMS and lactic sourness emerging as strongly in flavor. Alcohol not noted. Simple, drinkable. Thanks Olivier.
Can you imagine that an unclean and probably much more watery/weak low gravity beer was probably the norm for drinking, at one time, in parts of Europe? Yikes.

Bottle shared with GregClow, Hogtown Harry, Jerc, Blankboy, and Mabel, courtesy of Harry. Mild sour and musty aroma. Cloudy Orange, gusher out of the bottle, so big head. Lots of lemon in the taste, with hints of dust and sourness. Pretty bland, which is very surprising coming from Panil. A rare score, but not really exciting.

Bottle shared with HogTownHarry, GregClow, jerc & mabel -- courtesy of HogTownHarry. Pours a cloudy orange-yellow with lots of little floaties and a small white head. Aroma and flavour of slightly tart fruit, wheat, yeast and spices. Dry, bitter finish. Light to medium bodied. I liked it more then my fellow raters, I thought it was pretty good -- it’s somewhat refreshing and easy to drink.

Bottle shared with HogTownHarry, blankboy, jerc & mabel - courtesy of HogTownHarry. Wow, only 10 ratings so far, and 2 are from my tasting buddies - quite a nice score, Harry! Too bad the beer wasn’t better. As Harry notes, it was a gusher, we didn’t lose too much of it. Pours a hazy light orange with lots of floaties and a large white head. Aroma of malt, fresh tobacco and pickle brine - not very appealing. Thin mouthfeel. Flavour of weak malt, a bit of cinnamon and wood, with a quick finish. Very disappointing.

Bottle (750ml). Shared with blankboy, GregClow, jerc and mabel, my bottle via trade with Boutip. This one was a gusher, but quickly under control. Poured light amber, cloudy, with a small head. Very mild aroma of sugar, grassy hops, stale lemon juice and an overriding barnyard pong - which wasn’t actually all that off-putting. Tasted a bit stale to me - weak sour malt that seemed a bit dishwatery, very sugary with a sort of herbal yet stale kick in the quick finish. The body was thick up front but devolved quickly to watery weakness, a bit flat and characterless. Ehh.

Hazy yellow-orange body with a small fluffy white head. Sourish, musky not quite barnyard aroma, touch of grassy reeds and dilute wooden notes. Flavour has a grainy sweetness and a lightly astringent bitterness in the finish. Average palate. 6/3/6/3/12

Robe orange très voilée surmontée d’une mousse blanche épaisse qui s’estompe. Arômes légères de brettanomyces. Saveurs de pain, de brettanomyces, de caramel et d’épices.