Birra Moretti La Rossa
Apr 23 '01
The Bottom Line This is a real surprise coming from Italy, full of flavor, character and great aroma. Definitely worth a try, and definitely worth buying again.
Italy is a country which receives very little recognition in the beer world, where the industry is very much in the shadow of its wines. However among the younger Italian scene is a growing demand for beer, regarding wine as a drink for the older generation. Many European brewers have been jumping on the back of this demand in recent years. The Italian brewing industry is rather lightweight, and until now I had only personally tried Birra Moretti and Peroni, both respectable pilsners.
Now I have to admit that I had seen La Rossa on grocery store shelves several times without actually realizing what it was. So it came as something of a surprise when I noticed the word doppiomalto (double malt) printed on the bottle and soon after found out that this was something similar to a German style Doppelbock.
The beer pours to somewhere between a deep red and brown color, and is very foamy at first. The head doesn’t hang around too long. The real treasure of this beer is in the aroma, something I noticed from the pour and even savored in the bottom of the empty glass. It’s a very rich nose giving off an extremely tempting burnt sweet malt. It’s very rare that I will remember the aroma of a beer more than the actual flavor.
This is a fairly light beer on the palate, with just a slight carbonation. It does still drink well as the beer goes flatter and smoothes out a little. As for the flavor there’s a dominating maltiness with notes of yeast and chocolate, there’s also a hint of fruitiness. There’s a little citrus and sourness in the finish although the aftertaste does not linger too long on the palate.
Overall this brew didn’t feel as strong as the 7.2% printed on the label, certainly not as strong tasting as a Spaten Optimator, another Doppelbock which weighs in at about the same level. It’s very easy drinking and refreshing for such a strong brew and certainly invites you to take another. I have become over critical a little of late and if anything would say that it could use a little more weight in body and maybe a touch more depth in the flavor. Nonetheless I was extremely impressed and would certainly pick this one out again in future.
As for an Italian food pairing, this would dominate most pasta dishes, but may work well with a heavy cream sauce. It would make a good match for something like an Italian Sausage pizza and probably Veal Picatta.
My rating: 4+
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
andaryl
|
 - Top 500 |
|
Member: Andrew Smith
Location: The Desert, So Cal
Reviews written: 219
Trusted by: 174 members
|
|
|
© 1999-2008 Shopping.com, Inc.